2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

For those of you that may have missed it, the final of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has come and gone. However, do not worry. You can catch it on their official YouTube page. We've attempted to embed it for you onto our website, but the owners of the content insist that you watch it directly on their YouTube page, so the link is here. For your reference, the info. below is pasted in from our friends at Wikipedia. You know what they say about spoilers, so if you don't want to know the result, do not read any further!

The 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2024) was a Formula One motor that was held on 8 December 2024 at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It was the twenty-fourth and final race of the 2024 Formula One World Championship.

Lando Norris of McLaren took pole position for the race, which he then proceeded to convert to a victory. Norris' victory helped his team take their ninth World Constructors' Championship title, and the first since 1998. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. came in second in his last race for Ferrari ahead of his teammate, Charles Leclerc. This was the final Formula One race for Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, Franco Colapinto, and Kevin Magnussen. It was also Lewis Hamilton's last race start for Mercedes before moving to Ferrari in 2025.

Background
The event was held at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi for the 16th time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 6–8 December. The Grand Prix was the twenty-fourth and final race of the 2024 Formula One World Championship and the 16th running of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Championship standings before the race
Going into the weekend, Max Verstappen, who clinched the title at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, led the Drivers' Championship with 429 points, 80 points ahead of Lando Norris in second, and 88 ahead of Charles Leclerc in third. McLaren, holding 640 points, entered this round as the leader of the Constructors' Championship from Ferrari and Red Bull Racing, who were second and third with 619 and 581 points, respectively.

Championship permutations
McLaren and Ferrari had an opportunity to secure the World Constructors' Championship title at this event, the first since 1998 for McLaren, and the first since 2008 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' Champions Red Bull Racing were eliminated from contention after the previous round in Qatar, and were 59 points behind McLaren, with a maximum of 44 points available.

Entrants
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with three exceptions: Franco Colapinto, who replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams from the Italian Grand Prix onwards, Liam Lawson, who replaced Daniel Ricciardo at RB from the United States Grand Prix, and Jack Doohan, who replaced Esteban Ocon at Alpine for this event. Doohan made his Formula One debut ahead of his first full-time season for Alpine in 2025.

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:

Isack Hadjar for Red Bull Racing in place of Max Verstappen.
Luke Browning for Williams in place of Alexander Albon.
Felipe Drugovich for Aston Martin in place of Lance Stroll.
Ryō Hirakawa for McLaren in place of Oscar Piastri.
Ayumu Iwasa for RB in place of Yuki Tsunoda.
Arthur Leclerc for Ferrari in place of Carlos Sainz Jr.
Browning, Hirakawa, and Leclerc made their Formula One practice debuts.

The Grand Prix marked Lewis Hamilton's final race as a Mercedes driver before moving to Ferrari in 2025, Carlos Sainz Jr.'s final race as a Ferrari driver before moving to Williams, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu's final races as Sauber teammates, before being replaced by Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, and Kevin Magnussen's final race with Haas.


Tyre choices
Tyre supplier Pirelli 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.

Practice
Three free 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), and was topped by Charles Leclerc of Ferrari ahead of Lando Norris of McLaren and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes. The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 17:00 local time, and was topped by Norris ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri and Nico Hülkenberg of Haas. The third practice session was held on 7 December 2024, at 14:30 local time, and was topped by Piastri ahead of his teammate Norris and Hamilton.

Qualifying
Qualifying was held on 7 December 2024, at 18:00 local time (UTC+4).