We have reached the final race of the 2024 season, which for many meant a farewell, for some a debut, and for others a world championship title.
The start was interesting, as Max Verstappen made a very agile move on Oscar Piastri, spinning the Australian out and also himself in the process... Meanwhile, the other Red Bull, Sergio Perez, lost out in the battle against Valtteri Bottas and ended up off the track. A VSC phase followed, and then Piastri dealt with Franco Colapinto's race, who unfortunately suffered a flat tire. At the front, Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, and Pierre Gasly were leading, but this was only the case until the pit stops.
Due to different strategies, we saw a sequence of Norris, Sainz, Russell, and practically a long train of events without action. Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas suffered a flat tire and also took out the unlucky Kevin Magnussen. Paradoxically, Bottas's race, which had been excellent throughout the weekend, ended in disgrace... The incidents after the start did not go unpunished, as Verstappen received a ten-second penalty for his "action" against Piastri, while the latter received the same for his mishap involving Colapinto.
Once Lewis Hamilton, who pitted last, returned to the track, the display showed Norris, Sainz, Leclerc in that order. The front runners became set, with Norris, the two Ferraris, and the two Mercedes, and Verstappen behind them. There were only smaller battles in the upper midfield, with overtakes back and forth; in the gray closing race, the performances of Gasly and Hülkenberg were particularly noteworthy. Not to mention McLaren's Lando Norris winning the constructors' championship title at the last moment, alongside Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc on the podium, and of course, Lewis Hamilton's beautiful last-lap overtake against George Russell.
