Thanks to Lando Norris’s victory in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, the British team clinched the constructors’ title ahead of Ferrari. McLaren will undoubtedly be the team to beat next year. However, to secure the drivers’ title, they will need to manage the duo of Norris and Piastri.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc tried everything, to no avail. The astonishing climb of the Monegasque from 19th to 3rd place was not enough. For once, the second time in his career, Norris, the poleman, did not falter at the first turn. Oscar Piastri, 2nd on the grid but who was clipped by Max Verstappen at the first turn, was relegated to the back of the pack.
For Scuderia to win the constructors’ title, the Englishman’s McLaren had to break down or he had to make a mistake. Norris was unyielding, his car was imperial, and his entire team could, at the finish, carry him in triumph. Woking, for the first time since 1998, regains a world crown thanks to this perfect race by the 2024 vice-champion.
Lando Norris resists the two Ferraris and delivers the constructors’ title to McLaren
And this impeccable driving will count for a lot in the coming months. For the bonus that all the employees of the English team will receive, but especially for Norris in his attempt to conquer his team. On the podium, Zak Brown, the president of McLaren, the man who has always pushed and supported the Englishman, was not far away. At the finish, the American boss shouted his love for him on the radio and on TV as further proof of this validated conquest.
However, nothing is settled. Even though Oscar Piastri made a big blunder on Sunday in the race, smashing his hopes on Colapinto’s Williams in a very daring braking maneuver, the Australian always bounces back quickly. He will be one to watch next year at the wheel of this car, which, strengthened by this title, will undoubtedly be a favorite.
The first signs of tension at the Hungarian GP
Two years ago, the English team was lost, and now the team created by Bruce McLaren is back on top. This success is as much due to the management of Zak Brown, who managed to get the accounts back in the black after nearly going bankrupt in 2020, as it is to his duo of drivers, wisely secured for the long term before the start of this Championship.
Skillfully? Perhaps not, as they now have to tame the appetite of these two beasts. This year, the first sparks have appeared. The first one, in Hungary, took the team by surprise. Piastri was comfortably leading the race when strategy offered an impressive “undercut” to his English teammate. Lando Norris, delighted to find himself in the lead and then chasing the drivers’ title, took a long time to obey orders and let his teammate pass, who that day achieved his first Grand Prix victory.
In Brazil, during the sprint race, when the Australian was asked to do the same, he complied but grumbled. It is clear that neither Norris nor Piastri easily accept race instructions. So, for both, the idea is to discreetly take control within the team, to win the sympathy of the troops and the management.
Oscar Piastri, a nice guy in civilian life, does not change one iota in the garage, always close to his mechanics. Lando Norris, marked by his bad boy image during the Hungarian episode, has since been trying to forget it. This Abu Dhabi race will inevitably count in people’s minds but will not be enough against the mental colossus that is Piastri. The Australian has joined Schumacher (2002), Hamilton (2019) and Verstappen in a limited list of drivers who have completed every lap of a season.
The latest example, on Saturday, during the post-qualification conference. Norris, the poleman, talks about his past “bromance” with Carlos Sainz (3rd on Saturday) sitting next to him on the sofa and tries, discreetly, to lecture his neighbor on the right. “With Carlos, we experienced the bad days of McLaren,” he begins before being instantly corrected. “I was still there when we started last season” (17 points scored by McLaren in the first eight GPs of 2023), Piastri confidently replies. Next year, he will start his third season and McLaren will have to make a choice quickly because neither of its two drivers will want to give in.
“It hurts to fail by so little”: Charles Leclerc and Ferrari miss the constructors’ title
On Friday, when asked about the issue, Andrea Stella, the boss of the two hungry drivers, did not hide his concern. “I would like to have this problem to solve,” he tried to joke. “It would mean that we are leading both championships. But I also know that it will give us complications in the team. So I would answer that our philosophy is always to put the team’s interest before that of the driver. And I believe that has worked well…”
Stella will surely have much more to do than believe in these good but naive words if his MCL39s are rockets. He will then have to seek advice from Toto Wolff who had to manage the Hamilton-Rosberg war (from 2013 to 2016) or Fred Vasseur who might have to calm the ardor of his next duo Leclerc-Hamilton. The last races show how each of the two is already sharpening his weapons because both Norris and Piastri already have the 2025 title in mind. Since 2018, the winner of Abu Dhabi has been the champion the following year.
