McLaren clinched the System 1 constructors’ championship with their sixth grand prix victory of the season final weekend.
The workforce has been ready 26 years for its newest title win. This was its ninth, giving them as many as Williams, and solely Ferrari have extra.
McLaren’s half-dozen wins is the fewest any constructors’ championship-winning workforce has achieved since 1999, when Ferrari succeeded them, additionally successful six instances. McLaren gained seven instances that yr, and in addition outstripped their 2024 wins complete with out taking the title in 2000 (seven), 2005 (10), 2007 (eight, disqualified from the standings) and 2012 (seven).
The race marked the tip of Lewis Hamilton’s tremendously profitable affiliation with Mercedes’ works workforce. He joined them from McLaren, and since then Mercedes have taken extra wins than McLaren each season, till this yr.
Lando Norris’s victory within the season finale meant no driver has taken back-to-back wins during the last 15 grands prix. The final to take action was Max Verstappen within the Canadian and Spanish grands prix. That is the longest run with out a consecutive race winner since a 15-round run throughout the 2012 and 2013 seasons, which was bookended by back-to-back victories for Sebastian Vettel.
Norris scored the fourth victory of his profession, giving him as many as Carlos Sainz Jnr who completed second behind him. Dan Gurney, Eddie Irvine and, fittingly, Bruce McLaren are all four-time winners, although solely certainly one of McLaren’s wins got here on the wheel of a McLaren, not like all of Norris’s.
Ferrari achieved their greatest ever consequence at Yas Marina, getting each their automobiles onto the rostrum for the primary time. However victory continues to elude them on the circuit adjoining to the Ferrari World Abu Dhabi theme park: In 16 seasons they’re nonetheless but to assert a win there.
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Maybe Hamilton will change that. He has essentially the most victories at Yas Marina of anybody, and is the one driver to have gained on the observe with two completely different groups: 4 with Mercedes, plus McLaren’s solely victory on the observe previous to final weekend.
Hamilton’s last-lap go on George Russell was vital for the battle between the pair of them during the last three years. By passing his workforce mate, Hamilton ensured he has out-scored him by 697 factors to 695 over their time collectively.
Verstappen may have equalled Hamilton’s Yas Marina win tally, however a first-lap collision with Oscar Piastri left him sixth. He additionally missed the prospect to equal the file for many consecutive wins on the identical grand prix, having taken victory in Abu Dhabi yearly since 2020. The file is 5, held by Ayrton Senna (Monaco, 1989-93) and Hamilton (Spain, 2017-21).
With Sergio Perez’s future unsure, it stays to be seen whether or not this would be the ultimate race for him and Max Verstappen as workforce mates. If not, they missed their final probability to file their one hundredth podium collectively.
Jack Doohan made his grand prix debut on the ultimate spherical of the season, which was the primary time in a decade this has occurred. Will Stevens was the final driver to start out his profession on the ultimate race, additionally at Yas Marina, in 2014. He drove for Caterham in what proved their ultimate begin.
Kevin Magnussen bowed out of his ultimate race in some fashion by setting the quickest lap. Within the ultimate race wherein a bonus level was out there for this, nobody scored it, as Magnussen completed outdoors the highest 10.
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Nevertheless he ensured F1 equalled the file for many completely different drivers who set quickest lap in a season. This file was set in 2012, and surprisingly, of the 2 drivers who did it in each years, neither of them was Fernando Alonso, who completed runner-up within the championship that season with out setting the quickest lap:
Lastly, Valtteri Bottas bowed out of F1 by turning into the third driver in historical past to obtain a penalty which, as but, he has no alternative to serve. He collected a five-place grid penalty for his collision with Magnussen. Robert Shwartzman incurred the identical whereas taking part in a follow session earlier this yr and failing to look at a yellow flag.
In the meantime Jenson Button stays but to serve the three-place grid penalty he received for flipping Pascal Wehrlein onto a barrier in the course of the Monaco Grand Prix seven years in the past. Coincidentally, poor Wehrlein suffered a remarkably comparable crash within the System E season opener in Brazil final weekend.
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