| 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 24 of 24 in the2024 Formula One World Championship
| ||||
 Layout of the Yas Marina Circuit | ||||
| Race details[1] | ||||
| Date | 8 December 2024 | |||
| Official name | Formula 1 Etihad AirwaysAbu Dhabi Grand Prix 2024 | |||
| Location | Yas Marina Circuit Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | |||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | |||
| Course length | 5.281 km (3.281 miles) | |||
| Distance | 58 laps, 306.183 km (190.253 miles) | |||
| Weather | Clear | |||
| Attendance | 190,000[2] | |||
| Pole position | ||||
| Driver | McLaren-Mercedes | |||
| Time | 1:22.595 | |||
| Fastest lap | ||||
| Driver |  Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | ||
| Time | 1:25.637 on lap 57(lap record) | |||
| Podium | ||||
| First | McLaren-Mercedes | |||
| Second | Ferrari | |||
| Third | Ferrari | |||
Lap leaders | ||||
The2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (officially known as theFormula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2024) was aFormula One motor race that was held on 8 December 2024 at theYas Marina Circuit inAbu Dhabi,United Arab Emirates. It was the twenty-fourth and final race of the2024 Formula One World Championship.
Lando Norris ofMcLaren took pole position for the race, which he converted to a victory. Norris's victory helped his team take their ninthWorld Constructors' Championship title, and the first since1998.Ferrari'sCarlos Sainz Jr. came in second in his last race for Ferrari ahead of his teammate,Charles Leclerc. This was the final Formula One race forZhou Guanyu andKevin Magnussen. It was alsoLewis Hamilton's last race start forMercedes before moving to Ferrari in2025, ending the most successful driver-team partnership in Formula One history.Sergio Pérez andValtteri Bottas made their last race start forRed Bull Racing andKick Sauber respectively.
The event was held at theYas Marina Circuit inAbu Dhabi for the 16th time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 6–8 December.[3] The Grand Prix was the twenty-fourth and final race of the2024 Formula One World Championship and the 16th running of theAbu Dhabi Grand Prix.[4]
Going into the weekend,Max Verstappen, who clinched the title at theLas Vegas Grand Prix, led theDrivers' Championship with 429 points, 80 points ahead ofLando Norris in second, and 88 ahead ofCharles Leclerc in third.McLaren, holding 640 points, entered this round as the leader of theConstructors' Championship fromFerrari andRed Bull Racing, who were second and third with 619 and 581 points, respectively.[5]
McLaren andFerrari had an opportunity to secure theWorld Constructors' Championship title at this event, the first since1998 for McLaren, and the first since2008 for Ferrari. Ferrari had to outscore McLaren by at least 22 points to win the title, or 21 points if Ferrari won the Grand Prix. Defending Constructors' ChampionsRed Bull Racing were eliminated from contention after the previous round inQatar, and were 59 points behind McLaren, with a maximum of 44 points available.[6]
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with three exceptions:[7]Franco Colapinto, who replacedLogan Sargeant atWilliams from theItalian Grand Prix onwards,[8]Liam Lawson, who replacedDaniel Ricciardo atRB from theUnited States Grand Prix,[9][10] andJack Doohan, who replacedEsteban Ocon atAlpine for this event. Doohan made his Formula One debut ahead of his first full-time season for Alpine in2025.[11]
During the first practice session, six teams fielded alternate drivers who had not raced in more than two Grands Prix, as required by the Formula One regulations:[12]
Browning, Hirakawa, and Leclerc made their Formula One practice debuts.[13][16][18]
The Grand Prix markedLewis Hamilton's final race as aMercedes driver before moving to Ferrari in 2025,[19] Carlos Sainz Jr.'s final race as a Ferrari driver before moving to Williams,[20]Valtteri Bottas andZhou Guanyu's final races asSauber teammates,[21] before being replaced byNico Hülkenberg andGabriel Bortoleto,[22][23] and the last career race ofKevin Magnussen, driving forHaas.[24] The race markedSergio Pérez's last career race with Red Bull Racing before moving toCadillac in 2026. Pérez's contract with Red Bull was initially set to end in 2027, but he left the team following the season's conclusion.[25]
Tyre supplierPirelli brought the C3, C4, and C5 tyre compounds (the softest three in their range) designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.[26]
Threefree practice sessions were held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 6 December 2024, at 13:30 local time (UTC+4),[1] and was topped byCharles Leclerc ofFerrari ahead ofLando Norris ofMcLaren andLewis Hamilton ofMercedes.[27] The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 17:00 local time,[1] and was topped by Norris ahead of his teammateOscar Piastri andNico Hülkenberg ofHaas.[28] The third practice session was held on 7 December 2024, at 14:30 local time,[1] and was topped by Piastri ahead of his teammate Norris and Hamilton.[29]
Qualifying was held on 7 December 2024, at 18:00 local time (UTC+4).[1]
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Final grid | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | |||||
| 1 | 4 |  Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:23.682 | 1:23.098 | 1:22.595 | 1 |
| 2 | 81 |  Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:23.640 | 1:23.199 | 1:22.804 | 2 |
| 3 | 55 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1:23.487 | 1:22.985 | 1:22.824 | 3 |
| 4 | 27 |  Nico Hülkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | 1:23.722 | 1:23.040 | 1:22.886 | 71 |
| 5 | 1 |  Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 1:23.516 | 1:22.998 | 1:22.945 | 4 |
| 6 | 10 |  Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | 1:23.548 | 1:23.086 | 1:22.984 | 5 |
| 7 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:23.678 | 1:23.283 | 1:23.132 | 6 |
| 8 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston MartinAramco-Mercedes | 1:23.794 | 1:23.268 | 1:23.196 | 8 |
| 9 | 77 |  Valtteri Bottas | KickSauber-Ferrari | 1:23.481 | 1:23.341 | 1:23.204 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 |  Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 1:23.559 | 1:23.379 | 1:23.264 | 10 |
| 11 | 22 |  Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | 1:23.735 | 1:23.419 | N/A | 11 |
| 12 | 30 |  Liam Lawson | RB-Honda RBPT | 1:23.733 | 1:23.472 | N/A | 12 |
| 13 | 18 |  Lance Stroll | Aston MartinAramco-Mercedes | 1:23.729 | 1:23.784 | N/A | 13 |
| 14 | 16 |  Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:23.302 | 1:23.833 | N/A | 192 |
| 15 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1:23.632 | 1:23.877 | N/A | 14 |
| 16 | 23 |  Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 1:23.821 | N/A | N/A | 183 |
| 17 | 24 |  Zhou Guanyu | KickSauber-Ferrari | 1:23.880 | N/A | N/A | 15 |
| 18 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:23.887 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
| 19 | 43 |  Franco Colapinto | Williams-Mercedes | 1:23.912 | N/A | N/A | 204 |
| 20 | 61 | Jack Doohan | Alpine-Renault | 1:24.105 | N/A | N/A | 17 |
| 107% time: 1:29.133 | |||||||
| Source:[30][31] | |||||||
Notes
The race was held on 8 December 2024, at 17:00 local time (UTC+4), and was run for 58 laps.[1]
PolesitterLando Norris kept the lead, while his teammateOscar Piastri was tagged into a spin byRed Bull'sMax Verstappen into turn 1. Meanwhile, Verstappen's teammate,Sergio Pérez, was also spun byValtteri Bottas. On lap 3, Piastri made contact withFranco Colapinto, but Piastri did not suffer any damage, causing Colapinto to slow down and suffering a puncture to let Piastri through. His race engineer reported the collision at the start and Verstappen was given a ten-second time penalty. Pérez, in his last Formula One race forRed Bull, retired from the collision from Bottas, despite Bottas receiving a penalty for causing the collision with Pérez, as he reported a loss of drive from hitting the kerb hardly before spinning.[35][36]
Charles Leclerc, who started 19th due to serving a ten-place grid penalty, had a good start: by the end of lap 1, he moved up to eighth, and on lap 7, he overtook Nico Hülkenberg, thenFernando Alonso three laps later. Verstappen also made the move on Alonso two laps later, in which the Dutchman progressed to seventh, while the Spaniard dropped to eighth. During lap 24,Liam Lawson was called in for a pit stop on hard tyres, but his front-left tyres were not fitted properly as the jackman dropped Lawson's car. On the same lap, Leclerc progressed by overtakingPierre Gasly, as did Russell on lap 27. However, on lap 31,Kevin Magnussen was spun by Bottas in the same corner, in a similar move what he did with Pérez, causing Bottas to lose half of his front wing and sustaining a puncture.[35][36]
Verstappen overtook Alonso again and served his penalty in the past couple of laps, while progressing by overtaking his old Red Bull teammatePierre Gasly. Piastri, now running in twelfth, made a mistake while attempting to make a move onYuki Tsunoda. Piastri made up a place on the Japanese driver on lap 49, and then five laps later, he took the last point position, tenth place, by overtakingAlexander Albon. Hamilton, on the final lap, was chasing his teammateGeorge Russell. The race was won by polesitter Norris. Norris's victory allowed his team,McLaren, to win the Constructors' Championship for the first time in26 years. The podium was completed byCarlos Sainz Jr. in second, his last podium finish for Ferrari, and Leclerc in third place. Some time after Norris had taken the chequered flag to win the race, Hamilton and Russell battled for fourth place. The two almost made contact, but Hamilton passed Russell on the outside of turn 9 and got ahead, completing his final stint withMercedes.[35][36]
Notes
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| Previous race: 2024 Qatar Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 2024 season | Next race: 2025 Australian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Next race: 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |
