Martin Brundle on Abu Dhabi GP: McLaren’s rise from last to F1 champions assessed and Lewis Hamilton’s final Mercedes flourish

Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle reviews the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, explaining how new constructors’ champions McLaren went from last to the summit of F1 in two years and how Lewis Hamilton capped his extraordinary Mercedes career with one final vintage performance

Martin Brundle

Expert Analyst @MBrundleF1

Monday 9 December 2024 12:36, UKShare

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The video you are trying to watch cannot be viewed from your current country or locationThe best of the action from the final race of the 2024 Formula One season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes all put on a great show in 2024 with multiple victories each, ably chased increasingly hard by the rest of the pack. But it’s McLaren who took the Constructors’ Championship in a well-deserved and impressive style.

Not least because McLaren are a customer engine team with Mercedes power units as opposed to a fully works team like Alpine, Mercedes and Ferrari.

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It’s easy to argue that McLaren have the equal-best duo in Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and those two drivers have been consistently fast. More importantly, they’ve not made many errors and have barely damaged their cars in this, the longest season in F1’s 74-year history with 24 races and six Sprints scattered across the planet.

Formula One Thur 1, 1:00

Winner

Drivers Championship

Max Verstappen2/1 Lando Norris2/1 Charles Leclerc4/1 Oscar Piastri8/1 Lewis Hamilton9/1 George Russell20/1 Yuki Tsunoda66/1 Liam Lawson66/1 Kimi Antonelli66/1 Pierre Gasly150/1 Fernando Alonso150/1 Carlos Sainz150/1 Alex Albon300/1 Oliver Bearman300/1 Esteban Ocon300/1 Nico Hulkenberg500/1 Jack Doohan500/1 Lance Stroll1000/1 Gabriel Bortoleto1000/1

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Odds subject to fluctuation. Further T&Cs apply. 18+

That means most of their energy and budget cap has been focused on performance and not repairs.

The team has also been pragmatic and cautious in putting upgrades on the car, ensuring they know exactly what they have, and that it actually works, so as not to get lost as other teams have done.

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Martin Brundle on Abu Dhabi GP: McLaren’s rise from last to F1 champions assessed and Lewis Hamilton’s final Mercedes flourish

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