Despite a comfortable 21-point lead, McLaren were not out of the woods with regards to the Constructors’ championship battle at the Abu Dhabi GP. A spin for Oscar Piastri on lap 1 meant that Lando Norris had to secure the race win to guarantee the title for the Woking outfit. The Briton delivered on his objective, but it was his pit crew that made the crucial difference.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown applauded the pit crew for pulling off a stellar pit stop under pressure from Ferrari, who had triggered an undercut with Carlos Sainz in P2. The Spaniard pitted first on lap 26 and the Scuderia’s pit crew serviced his SF-24 in only 2.2 seconds.
The McLaren crew had to cover Sainz’s stop by bringing in Norris and avoid any fumbles. On the very next lap, Norris came in, and the papaya team’s mechanics pulled off a flawless two-second stop, allowing him to rejoin the track just 1.6 seconds ahead of the Ferrari.
This gap was crucial, as it kept the #4 driver out of Sainz’s DRS range, which would have allowed the Ferrari driver to close in and potentially overtake. “You could say we were about seven-tenths away from losing the championship,” Brown said on the High Performance podcast.
“Lando came out 1.6 or 1.7 seconds in front of Carlos and Carlos was fast… had he been in DRS I don’t think we would have been able to defend it. The Ferrari was very quick.”
It’s time for the last DHL Fastest Pit Stop of the 2024 season, and it belongs to our world champions, @McLarenF1! #F1 #DHLF1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/tdHd322uXY
— DHL_Motorsports (@DHL_Motorsports) December 10, 2024
According to Brown, it was an extremely intense race and it even made him forget how many laps were remaining after that pit stop.
Brown recalls the immense pressure in Abu Dhabi
While the two-second stop allowed Norris to protect his lead and eventually win the race, Brown admitted the tension behind the scenes was overwhelming. The McLaren CEO admitted that he would not have wanted to be in the pit crew’s position, given the intense focus and precision required in such a critical moment.
At one point, he was so anxious that he even miscalculated the number of laps remaining after the stop. “Brundle came on during Sky and I was like, ‘Guys 28 laps left’ and he was like, ‘No Zak, there’s 18 laps left’ and I was like ‘Oh, it feels like 28 laps left’. So it was the longest Grand Prix ever,” Brown shared.
However, this victory marked a historic achievement for McLaren, securing their first Constructors’ title since 1998 — around 26 years ago. It highlights McLaren’s incredible resurgence in F1, with the team now positioned as a dominant force heading into the 2025 season.
