GP: Abu Dhabi
Date: 8 December 2024
Winner: Lando Norris - McLaren-Mercedes
It hadn't happened since 1998, McLaren took the Constructors' title, beating Ferrari, which had been in the hunt up to this final round, by 14 points, 77 ahead of Red Bull Racing in third.
For the Mercedes-powered English team this return to the top had been masterminded by Andrea Stella, who pulled off a surprising technical turnaround, even if there were a few errors in the management of its Norris-Piastri driver pairing, with the Englishman occasionally too tentative to secure the Drivers' crown.
That went to Max Verstappen for a fourth time.
This was McLaren's ninth Constructors' title, putting it level with Williams, one ahead of Mercedes in a leaderboard headed by Ferrari on 16.
McLaren's first dated back to 1974 courtesy of the drivers, Fittipaldi, Hulme and Hailwood and the Ford Cosworth engine. In 1984 and '85 it won with Lauda and Prost and the Tag Porsche engine, then came the Honda years, in 1988 and 1989 with Senna and Prost and 1990 and '91 with Senna and Berger, while 1998 saw Hakkinen and Coulthard secure the title with Mercedes power.
In recent years' the colour of the cars has reverted to the “papaya” orange first adopted by the team's founder, Bruce McLaren in 1963.
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