McLaren edge closer to the Constructers Championship in Qatar
With the 24th and final round of the 2024 Formula 1 Championship season set to close this coming weekend, Monster Energy’s Oscar Piastri helped the McLaren team in its battle for the overall Constructor Championship by scoring a 3rd place podium finish at the Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday.
As it stands, the Monster Energy-backed McLaren program – led by the #81 Piastri and #4 Lando Norris – enters the final round with a fairly comfortable 21-point gap over the Ferrari team, 640-619, with Red Bull way back in 3rd (581).
At Qatar, McLaren looked to have the fastest cars around the Lusail International Circuit (along with Mercedes), but a series of events would keep Piastri behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, including a costly yellow flag (for debris on the track) by F1 officials that sent the field into the pits for tires – with Leclerc benefiting wholly from the situation and snatching 2nd place from Piastri – a position he’d keep through the checkers.
“Nice to stand up on the podium, but not quite the result we were looking for,” said Piastri. “Hopefully we can be strong in Abu Dhabi, but it’s going to take everything we’ve got to seal the deal [for the Constructor Championship].”
Norris, who had run as high as 2nd place at Qatar, also got caught up in the debris on the track. When leader Max Verstappen complained that the fast-closing Norris had not slowed for the yellow flag, and had (allegedly) gained 0.8 of a second on him, race officials agreed… and forced a brutal 10-second stop-and-go penalty on Norris, which dropped him all the way back to 15th.
Norris would rally back – including a race-best lap time, which earned him extra Championship points – but 10th was as high as he could climb in the remaining time.
The F1 season concludes this weekend with the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, in which Oscar and Lando must keep 21 points ahead of Ferrari to seal it for McLaren!
