Lando Norris converted pole position into the win at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to clinch the Formula 1 Constructors’ title for McLaren, despite Ferrari’s double podium.
The entire grid decided to go with the middle-range Medium compound, except for Lewis Hamilton, down in 16th place, on the Hard in his final Mercedes appearance.
Norris aced his start to remain unopposed into the opening turn, but there was chaos behind him as Max Verstappen clashed with Oscar Piastri’s McLaren on the exit.
The stewards noted the collision between the two and Verstappen, who was now down in 11th place, was given a 10-second time penalty much to his dissatisfaction.
Sergio Perez headed into the race with speculation mounting over his position and his potential final Red Bull appearance ended in a retirement with a clash at Turn 6.
Valtteri Bottas, who had qualified his Sauber up inside the top 10, turned Perez around at the chicane when Kevin Magnussen’s Haas had come charging up his inside.
Leclerc had capitalised on the carnage to move up 11 positions to be sitting in eighth when the Virtual Safety Car interrupted proceedings to remove Perez’s Red Bull.
Once the racing continued on the third lap, Piastri got caught behind Williams’ Franco Colapinto at the back and slammed into the Argentine, who incurred a puncture.
Piastri was handed the same punishment as Verstappen earlier on and his woes were compounded as damage to his tyres meant he had to come in on Lap 4 to stop.
Leclerc’s charge up the order resumed as he dived down Magnussen’s inside at Turn 5 and then utilised the DRS down the back straight to get past the Haas on Lap 7.
That became sixth place three laps later as Leclerc utilised DRS again to pass Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, while Hamilton fought Liam Lawson next time around.
Hamilton appeared to have gathered the high ground as he sliced up the inside into Turn 5, but the New Zealander battled back on the exit to cling onto 11th in the RB.
Meanwhile, Leclerc charged past Nico Hulkenberg in the lead Haas to elevate his Ferrari into the top five, while Verstappen had no trouble passing Alonso for seventh.
Russell ahead had managed to get onto the Alpine’s tail, but Pierre Gasly resisted his advances at Turn 9 as he then headed into the pits to switch to Hards on Lap 14.
Leclerc had managed to get into DRS range on Russell, but he was struggling to get close enough to make an attack, prompting Ferrari to bring him into pit on Lap 20.
Lawson complained that his wheel hadn’t been attached when he came into the pits, leading him to circulate at a reduced speed before completing a second pit stop.
Sainz had been gaining slow ground on Norris ahead to close the gap to four seconds once Ferrari executed an attempted undercut on the McLaren ahead on Lap 26.
McLaren responded on the next lap with a slick two-second pit stop, which was much needed as Norris emerged back onto the track with less than a two-second gap.
Russell also pitted on that lap and came out right behind Gasly, who had lost a position to Leclerc’s charging Ferrari. The Mercedes used the DRS to get past at Turn 9.
Elsewhere, Colapinto’s final race with Williams ended without him seeing the chequered flag as an issue with his car forced him to return to the pits to retire the FW46.
Bottas’ race went downhill as a lock-up into the chicane saw him collide with Magnussen, landing him a puncture which brought a premature end to his Sauber career.
Mercedes was hoping that a Safety Car would interrupt proceedings to enable Hamilton, who was running in third, to complete his one pit stop at a reduced time loss.
However, that didn’t materialise as Hamilton headed into the pits on Lap 34. The seven-time F1 champion emerged in seventh place, ahead of Alonso and Verstappen.
At the sharp end, Norris had repelled Sainz’s threat and was beginning to expand his advantage to over three seconds, while Leclerc was over 20s behind in third spot.
Hamilton made lightwork on passing Hulkenberg’s Haas and Gasly’s Alpine to elevate his Mercedes into the top five. Verstappen then overtook Hulkenberg on Lap 44.
Piastri was endeavouring to get back into the points places, but he almost lost the McLaren going into Turn 12 as he was tucked up behind Yuki Tsunoda in 12th spot.
Hamilton in his final-ever Mercedes race completed an overtake on his team-mate Russell on the last tour into Turn 9 to complete a 12-race climb from 16th to fourth.
But although Tsunoda was able to maintain the position the next time around, Piastri danced around the outside at Turn 9 on Lap 48 to send his McLaren up into 11th.
Norris was uncontested across the race as he won the season finale at a canter to put an end to McLaren’s Constructors’ Championship drought dating back to 1998.
The Briton’s return to the top step was enough to protect McLaren’s points advantage over Ferrari, which ended up short with Sainz finishing second and Leclerc third.
Hamilton concluded his glittering partnership with Mercedes as the team’s lead driver in fourth place, pipping his team-mate Russell to complete the top five runners.
Verstappen was a distant sixth to round out his championship-winning campaign, while Gasly’s seventh position ensured Alpine edged out Haas to sixth place overall.
Hulkenberg’s Haas swansong delivered more points with eighth place, with Alonso’s Aston Martin ninth. Piastri in the second McLaren took the last point in 10th spot.
