McLaren’s powerful surge to Championship victory

The 2024 Formula One season came to an end with the long-awaited Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Following 26 years of turmoil within the team, 2024 showed exceptional performances from drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, as McLaren were finally crowned winners in the Constructors’ Championship.

Having last won the Constructors’ Championship in 1998 and occasionally finishing as one of the slowest teams on the grid, McLaren began to be viewed as the underdog. However, with the appointment of Zak Brown as McLaren’s CEO in 2018 and Andrea Stella as Team Principal in 2022, it wasn’t long before the team rose up to compete with Ferrari and Red Bull at the top of the grid.

The drivers put their all into every race and reaped the rewards

Whilst Brown has proved to be a great asset to McLaren with his great mind for business strategies, the team saw rapid improvements under the direction of Stella, albeit after a rocky period at the beginning of the 2023 season. With 15 years of experience at Ferrari, working with championship-winning drivers Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen, and Fernando Alonso, Stella moved to McLaren, bringing with him new ideas to begin the uphill climb to victory.

McLaren has seen its fair share of drivers, having joined the world championship in 1966, making it one of the longest-running F1 teams, second only to Ferrari. Lando Norris joined the team in 2016, making his Formula One debut in 2019, and completed his rookie season driving with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz before partnering with Daniel Ricciardo. Piastri was previously a part of Alpine Academy until he signed with McLaren for the 2023 season following disputes with Alpine regarding his contract. The pair appear to be good friends, only two years apart in age, and have even been dubbed ‘Landoscar’ across various social media platforms.

McLaren seized the championship with Lando winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and Ferrari following a close second 

McLaren had a smashing success this season, with Norris and Piastri producing a combined six wins and 21 podiums, alongside being the only team on the grid to avoid a ‘DNF’ (did not finish). The drivers put their all into every race and reaped the rewards, with Lando coming in second in the Drivers’ World Championship. Whilst this season saw Norris reassume the role of veteran in his fifth full season next to Piastri, tensions rose between the teammates in the Hungarian Grand Prix, which saw Piastri’s maiden win at the expense of Norris following McLaren’s commands for him to let his teammate take the victory.

The championship-winning race began with Norris starting in pole position, which he was able to maintain for all 58 laps. Piastri had less luck, crashing out at the first corner due to an unfortunate collision with already-crowned World Champion Max Verstappen, who continued on but received fairly earned grid penalties. Tensions were flying high in Yas Marina as McLaren and Ferrari raced neck-and-neck for the championship, Ferrari in P2 and P3 as Norris battled on alone. Despite a stellar performance from Charles Leclerc, who moved up 11 places from P19 in the first lap alone, McLaren seized the championship with Lando winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and Ferrari following a close second with a 14-point difference.

The Constructors’ Championship was hard won, with every member of McLaren contributing towards their success. Could this win be the push McLaren needs to not only win again but to steal the 2025 Drivers’ Championship from four-time winner Max Verstappen?