THE BIG PICTURE: What an absolute wonderful season. We've said it before. What started out as another Red Bull runaway turned into the type of competition Ross Brawn envisioned with these new rules. Seven different winners (all multiple) with four different teams. It got to the point you didn't know which one of those seven would win going into a weekend. We can't wait for next year.

EVENT: Still shouldn't be the final race of the season.

TRACK: The changes still aren't completely doing their thing. But, there were some good passes.

QUALIFYING: McLaren came to Abu Dhabi meaning business and grabbed the front row, Sainz salvages something for Ferrari with third, Hulkenberg pulls a stunner, as does Bottas making it to Q3, Perez only survives Q2 because Leclerc is barely off course but promptly finished 10th, and Hamilton says farewell to Mercedes by getting a bollard stuck under his car leaving him stuck in Q1.

RACE: When Piastri was sent into a spin, it caused all McLaren and Ferrari fans to bite their nails the rest of the way.

START: Some drivers figured it was the last race so just throw caution to the wind. Verstappen immediately beats out Sainz but then drifts wide trying to pass Piastri sending both into a spin. Bottas knocks Perez into a loop and ultimately out of the race. Norris takes off. Magnussen gains seven spots. And Leclerc gains 11!

NORRIS: Once again Lando showed he can now handle the pressure. With the entire team on his shoulders, he didn't put a wheel wrong and sealed the deal for McLaren.

PIASTRI: Nice recovery drive to grab an insurance point. And it allowed him to become only the fourth driver in F1 history to complete all the laps in a season.

MCLAREN: Talk about a sports comeback. This team nearly closed their doors in 2020. And it wasn't too long ago they couldn't complete more than a few laps in preseason testing without breaking down. And now, they are the kings of the hill.

DE FERRAN: Let's not forget the contributions Gil made to help this team foster a winning attitude.

SAINZ: Fought till the end for the team that unceremoniously dumped him. Carlos is a professional.

LECLERC: A stirring drive. Charles never gave up for a second.

FERRARI: Like McLaren, if they get off on the right foot from the get go, 2025 will be even more spectacular.

HAMILTON: 245 races. 84 wins. 78 pole positions. 153 podium finishes. Eight World Constructors’ Championships. Six World Drivers’ Championships. The greatest driver-team combo in history. A brilliant drive for a brilliant send off from his Mercedes career.

RUSSELL: It is now George's team to lead.

MERCEDES: They were clearly the fourth team, way too inconsistent to truly fight all the time. Fix that please, because we want to see a four way slugfest next year.

VERSTAPPEN: Overshadowed because of all the other stuff going on this weekend, but looking forward to trying to make it five in a row.

PEREZ: If Sergio is racing next year, that will be the shock of the century. Well, after the shock of Hamilton switching to Ferrari.

RED BULL: They got themselves in this driver mess.

GASLY: Essentially carried this team on his back down the stretch.

ALPINE: After all the chaos of the season and the odd move of dumping Ocon for the last race, they actually finished sixth.

DOOHAN: Jack becomes the 16th Australian to start an F1 race.

OCON: Already driving a Haas.

HULKENBERG: Nico shined at times at Haas. He's going to struggle at Sauber. At least initially.

MAGNUSSEN: Kevin is a racer's racer. We look forward to seeing him back in sports cars.

HAAS: Great strides under new leadership. Next year will see an interesting driver pairing.

ALONSO: Disappeared as the season went on because Aston Martin's speed fell off a cliff.

ASTON MARTIN: Despite finishing fifth, still the most disappointing team of 2024.

ALBON: Will be very interesting to see how Alex fares against Sainz.

COLAPINTO: Did well for his fill in role, but the inevitable rookie mistakes caused other teams to slow down their excitement over Franco.

TSUNODA: Red Bull or RB?

LAWSON: Red Bull or RB?

ZHOU: Guanyu was competent. Never did anything stupid. But also never did anything memorable. He was just there for three years.

BOTTAS: Valtteri, what the hell were you thinking? Twice

F2: Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto expanded his half point lead to 4.5 points with a second in the sprint race from a ninth starting spot which Spaniard Josep Maria Martí won. Then, the build up to the feature race ended suddenly when Isack Hadjar stalled on the grid giving Bortoleto the championship. He finished second for good measure behind Paraguayan Joshua Düerksen.

F1 ACADEMY: With the cancelled race from Qatar added to this weekend, the extra pole position two-point bonus meant Brit Abbi Pulling no longer had the championship clinched. So, she promptly got pole for the first race, for the second race, and for the third race. Then, won the first two races with one fastest lap, making a mockery out of the idea anyone could catch her. Frenchwoman Maya Weug won the third race, the most exciting of the season.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Papaya.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 9 -- The number of constructors' championships McLaren has now won, tying them with Williams for second all time, behind the 16 of Ferrari.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: For the 1998 season, Adrian Newey left Williams and joined McLaren. No surprise, Williams could not defend their title and McLaren won what turned out to be their last championship until now. Mika Häkkinen won his first drivers' title while his teammate David Coulthard finished third. The Ferrari drivers finished second (Michael Schumacher) and fourth (Eddie Irvine). One interesting note concerning fathers of this year's drivers -- Jan Magnussen was dropped by Stewart during the season and replaced by Jos Verstappen.

TWEET OF THE WEEKEND: @swiftsambi

"What started as a leap of faith, has ended as a journey into the history books."

DAMN LEWIS. That's some lines.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Oscar Piastri after being knocked into a spin at the start by Max Verstappen, "Yep. Move of a World Champion, that one."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Max Verstappen after being told he now has eight penalty points on his license, "Maybe I'll make sure I get to 12 points when the baby is born. Then I can go on paternity leave."

SCHEDULE: From the last race in 2023 to the first race in 2024, there was not a single driver change. Then, a bunch of changes during this year. And now, entering 2025, we have potentially five new drivers (even if technically they are not all 100% brand new), potentially five drivers changing teams, and probably four drivers leaving F1. And the promise of potentially an even more exciting season.

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