Race Report: Norris win in Abu Dhabi seals McLaren’s constructor victory

Lando Norris took the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi to give McLaren their first constructors’ championship in 26 years.

Norris was dominant throughout as he held off both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari who came second and third respectively to claim his fourth win of the season and clinch the constructors’ championship by 14 points.

Ferrari were up against it before the race had started as Leclerc had a 10-place grid penalty which saw the Monegasque driver start from 19th.

However, a great first lap saw him propelled into the top ten passing Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri who suffered following an incident with the recently-crowned world champion, Max Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton finished in fourth place in his final race for Mercedes after he passed teammate George Russell in turn nine with an excellent move around the outside on the final lap.

Verstappen was given a ten-second penalty for the incident with Piastri with the Australian driver forced out of the race for points.

Leclerc was determined not to let the championship go without putting up a fight and he passed five cars at once through turns six and seven.

Leclerc continued to make his way through the field passing both Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg. After pitting Leclerc was able to fight back to claim a podium finish, but despite the strong race it wasn’t enough to push his team into first.

Norris crossed the line with a six second lead. The Brit secured his place in second and more-importantly helped push McLaren to the top of the tree for the first time in over two decades.