Grand Prix-view: Storylines to watch during F1's season finale in Abu Dhabi

The 2024 Formula One season comes to a close this weekend with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Although Red Bull's Max Verstappen clinched his fourth consecutive drivers' championship two weeks ago in Las Vegas, there is still a lot on the line leading into the final stop before the winter break and the Abu Dhabi GP has given us no shortage of spicy drama over the years.

Here are the intriguing storylines to keep track of during Sunday's race.

MCLAREN VS. FERRARI

It's like (insert your favourite F1 era) all over again!

Whether it's James Hunt vs. Niki Lauda (thrilling enough that Hollywood even made a movie about it), Ayrton Senna vs. Alain Prost (after the Frenchman switched allegiances in 1990), Mika Hakkinen vs. Michael Schumacher, or Kimi Raikkonen vs. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso (really Raikkonen vs. Hamilton vs. Alonso), McLaren and Ferrari is the longest-running rivalry in F1 and long overdue for a new chapter.

F1 is a constructors' series, after all, and although the drivers' title garners the most fame, the constructors' championship is where the prize money is distributed.

Ferrari has won a record 16 constructors' titles while McLaren is tied with Mercedes in third place with eight apiece. One more and McLaren would move up into a tie for second place with Williams.

McLaren hasn't been this competitive since 2012, and the British team finds itself on the cusp of clinching its first constructors' championship since 1998. (McLaren would have won it in 2007 if not for Spygate.) Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri scored their maiden GP victories this season and combined have five wins with a total of 20 podiums as McLaren tops the leaderboard with 640 points.

McLaren could have clinched the title this past Sunday in Qatar, however, Norris received a 10-second stop-and-go penalty that dropped him from a podium position to the middle of the pack. Norris recovered to finish in 10th place and score the fastest lap bonus point, but it wasn't enough to secure the trophy just yet.

It's been a while since Ferrari has captured the constructors' title as well with its most recent coming in 2008 despite Hamilton winning the drivers' championship for McLaren. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have also combined for five wins and 20 podiums — identical numbers to McLaren — but the team is 21 points back with 619 points total.

A Ferrari driver has never won the Abu Dhabi GP while McLaren's lone victory came in 2011 courtesy of Hamilton. Leclerc has finished runner-up in the past two races at the track while Sainz has also scored a third-place result once in 2021, but it's McLaren's title to lose heading into the race.

McLaren set the pace in qualifying locking out the front row with Norris on pole position and Piastri lining up beside him. Sainz is right behind them in P3, however, Leclerc will start near the back of the pack due to a 10-place grid penalty and failing to advance out of Q2.

Norris and Leclerc are also in a battle for second place in the drivers' standings with just eight points separating the two.

Sainz will look to end his Ferrari tenure on a high note as he departs to make way for the next man on our list.

HAMILTON'S LAST DANCE WITH MERCEDES

There hasn't been a more successful driver-team pairing in F1 history than Hamilton and Mercedes. Eighty-four of his record 105 race wins and six of his record-tying seven world championships have come with the Silver Arrows.

That amazing run ends Sunday with Hamilton set to join Ferrari next season to continue his quest for an eighth world championship.

It's been a roller-coaster ride for the 39-year-old British driver since the heartbreaking and controversial 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi when Verstappen snatched the win and the championship during the late stages of the race.

Hamilton went winless for two-and-a-half years, the longest drought of his career, until taking the checkered flag on home soil pavement in July at Silverstone. He picked up a second win just a few weeks later in Belgium after teammate George Russell was disqualified. But Hamilton has complained about having an uncompetitive car and said he "didn't really want to come back" following a disappointing 10th-place finish in Sao Paulo. Hamilton didn't quit and bounced right back to finish runner-up in Las Vegas.

Hamilton is seventh in the standings, 24 points back of sixth-place Russell, and if he stands pat it'll be the lowest finish of his career. Hamilton has won the Abu Dhabi GP five times, more than any other driver, including one of the most memorable of his career in 2014 to clinch the world championship over then-Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.

Wouldn't it be something if he scored one more victory to end this era? Hamilton will need a miracle though as he's slated to start 16th after he was eliminated in the first round of qualifying. (Hamilton qualified 18th, however, grid penalties for Leclerc and Alex Albon bumped him up a couple of spots.)

VERSTAPPEN VS. RUSSELL

What started as a little spice has turned into a five-alarm chili cookoff between Verstappen and Russell.

It all began during Saturday's qualifying session for the Qatar Grand Prix as Russell believed Verstappen was driving "super dangerous" ahead of him during a cooldown lap in Q3. Verstappen qualified for pole position but was handed a one-place grid penalty for driving "unnecessarily slow," promoting Russell to the coveted P1 spot. Nevertheless, Verstappen launched into the lead right at the start en route to scoring his ninth win of the season.

Verstappen told reporters after the race he "lost all respect" for Russell with Red Bull boss Christian Horner adding that the Mercedes driver was "quite hysterical" during the weekend.

Russell fired back Thursday telling Sky Sports: “I've known Max for 12 years, I've respected him all of this time, but now I've lost respect for him because we're all fighting on track and it's never personal.

"Now he’s made it personal and someone needs to stand up to a bully like this. And so far people have let him get away with murder.”

Russell also alleged Verstappen had threatened to crash into him.

As if that wasn't enough, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff joined Russell's open media session and threw barbs at Horner, saying: "Yapping little terrier. Always something to say."

Both drivers attended the annual "family dinner" although I wonder if beef was on the menu.

As for the race itself, Verstappen has won the past four in Abu Dhabi — all from pole position. Verstappen will start P5 this time.

A drive for five and reaching double-digit wins on the year would be the icing on his championship cake.

FINAL LAPS FOR BOTTAS, ZHOU, MAGNUSSEN ... AND PEREZ?

The Abu Dhabi GP will mark the final race (for now) for several drivers who are out of contract next season.

Kick Sauber is set to clean house, replacing Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu with veteran Nico Hulkenberg and rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, as the team inches closer to becoming an Audi factory team in 2026.

Abu Dhabi might not be a farewell but a "so long for now" as Bottas and Zhou have been linked to potential reserve driver roles. Bottas told reporters he has had talks to return to Mercedes now that a reserve position has opened up with Mick Schumacher's departure while Zhou might be heading to Ferrari.

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen will be joining BMW in the World Endurance Championship, but will this also be the last we see of Sergio Perez with Red Bull? ESPN's Nate Saunders reported the team will part ways with Perez after the Abu Dhabi GP despite signing a contract extension earlier this year.

To say Perez has struggled is an understatement and it's not just in the races, but even in qualifying as he has been eliminated in Q1 six times this season.

Despite driving equal machinery, the comparisons between Verstappen and Perez are lopsided.

Compared to the other top teams, it's a 55-45 split between Norris and Piastri at McLaren and Leclerc and Sainz at Ferrari, with a somewhat similar 53-47 split between Russell and Hamilton at Mercedes. None as extreme as the discrepancy between Verstappen and Perez. Those three teams have also seen both of their drivers win multiple races.

Perez's four podiums all came within the first five races of the season.

Red Bull has won the past two constructors' championships, but thanks to Perez there will not be a three-peat. This could be the first time since 1983 where a driver wins the championship but their team finishes as low as third in the constructors' standings.

If this is the end for Perez at Red Bull, it's a sad way to go as he proved himself worthy of a top seat following his 2020 season with Racing Point, scoring the team's only victory at the Sahkir GP. Perez established himself as a "king of the streets" with five wins after joining Red Bull. Let's not forget Verstappen called Perez a "legend" for holding up Hamilton during the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP and was nicknamed the "Mexican Minister of Defence."

Perez has had his moments, but Red Bull needs to explore other options if it wishes to return to the top of the standings.

OUT WITH OCON, IN WITH DOOHAN

Alpine has gotten a head-start on its 2025 plans announcing Esteban Ocon has been released from his contract early and Jack Doohan, who is signed with the team for next season, will make his F1 debut in Abu Dhabi.

The team, which is part-owned by Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds, is in sixth place (59 points) and only five points ahead of Haas (54) in the closest battle in the constructors' standings. One would think Alpine would prefer to have a veteran driver behind the wheel as millions of dollars are at stake depending on the team's final place in the standings. Ocon is set to join Haas next season though, so cue up your conspiracy theories.

Ocon earned his first victory with the team in 2021, the first for the Enstone, U.K.-based constructor since the team was known as Lotus F1 in 2013. He also helped Alpine earn a surprising double podium last month in Sao Paulo finishing third with teammate Pierre Gasly coming in second. That alone was enough to vault Alpine out of ninth place and into sixth.

But Ocon has tested the team's patience and was criticized following the Monaco GP when he drove into Gasly, wrecking his car and nearly taking out his teammate with him. Ocon and Alpine agreed to part ways at the end of the season only days after the incident.

Doohan was part of Red Bull's junior program before shifting to the Alpine Academy in 2022. The 21-year-old Australian has climbed the ladder finishing runner-up for the 2021 F3 championship and came in third during the 2023 F2 season. Expectations should be low, but the pressure will be high.