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The 2024 Formula 1 play ended with Lando Norris' triumph successful Abu Dhabi securing McLaren's constructors' title successful 26 years.
Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished successful 2nd and third, with Lewis Hamilton conscionable pipping team-mate George Russell to 4th successful his last contention for Mercedes.
BBC F1 analogous Andrew Benson answers your questions aft the play finale successful Abu Dhabi.
Has this weekend's contention made it little apt Max Verstappen volition spell to Mercedes successful 2026? - Tom
This is simply a notation to the spat that blew up betwixt Verstappen and George Russell implicit their experiences successful the stewards country successful Qatar. And the reply is no.
Verstappen's aboriginal beyond the extremity of 2025 remains precise overmuch open.
He has a declaration with Red Bull until the extremity of 2028, but determination are ways helium tin get retired of it if helium wants.
He has a fig of options.
Mercedes is the evident 1 - fixed the opportunity, Toto Wolff would motion Verstappen successful a heartbeat, careless of whether it was to beryllium arsenic team-mate to Russell oregon Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton's replacement adjacent year.
But Verstappen being Verstappen, helium would beryllium successful request everywhere.
At Ferrari, for illustration - what if Hamilton does not spell good there? An opening mightiness emerge.
At Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso is nether declaration to the extremity of 2026, but Verstappen mightiness fancy waiting until 2027 and past joining up again with Honda and Adrian Newey aft that if the car goes good that year.
He's successful nary rush. He volition instrumentality his time, spot however 2025 develops and past decide.
Who has had the amended of each different implicit the 3 seasons - Lewis Hamilton oregon George Russell? - Lohit
In immoderate ways, this reply comes down to basal statistic of qualifying and race, though determination is immoderate nuance.
In qualifying, they were evenly matched done their archetypal 2 seasons unneurotic successful 2022 and 2023 - successful 2022, Hamilton had the borderline by 0.05secs connected average, successful 2023, Russell was faster by an mean of 0.004secs implicit the season.
That has changed this year, erstwhile Hamilton has truly struggled successful qualifying, and successful 2024 Russell has been 0.17secs faster, and Hamilton has out-qualified him lone 5 times connected merit.
The large question is: Why? Not adjacent Hamilton seems to know. But the reply appears to beryllium that helium is not comfy with the car, has recovered it much hard than Russell to accommodate to its peculiar requirements and sometimes over-drives.
In the championship, Russell has finished up 2 times retired of 3 - successful 2022 and 2024. The wide points full was 697-695 successful favour of Hamilton.
This is wherever the nuance comes in.
In 2022, the stand-out Mercedes drives were predominantly by Hamilton, with the objection of Russell's triumph successful Brazil - deliberation of Spain, Silverstone, Hungary, the Netherlands and the US Grand Prix. And successful 2023, Hamilton was comfortably the amended operator overall.
Even this year, though Russell finished up by 22 points, determination person been races erstwhile Hamilton has been overmuch much awesome - for example, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi, erstwhile helium started galore places down Russell but closed successful and either finished close down oregon adjacent overtook him.
Of course, determination were different races wherever Russell was much awesome than Hamilton, too.
The constituent is that, portion Hamilton has travel successful for immoderate disapproval this year, it can't beryllium ignored that Russell is exceptionally good, truthful being beaten by him is nary shame astatine all, adjacent for a seven-time champion.
In Las Vegas, I interviewed Mercedes trackside engineering manager Andrew Shovlin for a diagnostic connected the extremity of Hamilton's clip astatine Mercedes. I asked wherefore Russell had the borderline this year, and helium started the reply by saying: "George is simply a peculiarly beardown operator and helium is peculiarly beardown connected a Saturday."
The information that Hamilton went into this play already knowing that helium was leaving for Ferrari astatine the extremity of it besides has to beryllium considered arsenic a contributory factor.
As Hamilton enactment it connected Sunday successful Abu Dhabi: "It has been astir apt the longest twelvemonth of my life, knowing from the opening I was leaving."
As the elder statesmen of the athletics now, bash Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton get on aft the trauma of their McLaren partnership? - Ed
At McLaren successful 2007, as Alonso has made wide galore times, their occupation was not truthful overmuch with each other, arsenic with the absorption and the mode they handled the season.
But arsenic acold arsenic I americium aware, the narration betwixt Alonso and Hamilton has not changed overmuch successful caller years.
It's beauteous straightforward. They are ne'er going to beryllium champion friends. There appears to beryllium immoderate benignant of quality clash there, and they each person rather antithetic views of the world, adjacent if successful immoderate ways they are astir apt much akin than either would similar to admit.
As Hamilton enactment it successful an interrogation with BBC Sport and a mates of different outlets successful 2022: "We're much, overmuch antithetic radical and with overmuch antithetic values."
But they person a precocious respect for each other's quality and they hitch on good capable connected a superficial level erstwhile they extremity up successful the aforesaid vicinity, it seems.
However, arsenic has been seen successful caller years, the inherent clash of personalities determination does interruption retired into the unfastened sometimes, particularly erstwhile they person an on-track contretemps.
Did McLaren err successful not allowing Lando Norris to go the fig 1 operator earlier, which would apt person enactment them arsenic operator and constructors' champions? - Tracey
It's debatable - to accidental the slightest - whether favouring Norris earlier would person made him satellite champion, arsenic determination were really precise fewer times erstwhile McLaren could have, arsenic usually helium was up of Oscar Piastri.
The evident ones are Hungary and Monza.
In Budapest, Norris was connected rod but Piastri took the pb astatine the archetypal corner, and past determination was the contented of whether Norris should fto Piastri backmost past aft the mode the squad ran the strategy ended up with Norris ahead.
It would person been precise harsh connected Piastri to support Norris up - helium had earned the win. But let's accidental they had done it - that's 7 much points for Norris.
In Monza, determination is simply a beardown statement to accidental McLaren should not person allowed them to contention connected the archetypal lap, due to the fact that Piastri's superb passing determination connected Norris astatine Turn Four ended up with Charles Leclerc's Ferrari nipping up of Norris into 2nd place, from wherever helium went connected to win.
It's intolerable to cognize whether McLaren would person won had this not happened, due to the fact that Ferrari whitethorn inactive person tricked them with the one-stop. But adjacent if Norris had won alternatively than finished third, that's an other 10 points.
Verstappen finished 63 points up of Norris. So it's hard to reason that squad orders successful these 2 events would person made Norris champion - they wouldn't.
But that's not to accidental that McLaren don't consciousness determination is thing to larn from the mode they handled this season.
McLaren Racing main enforcement serviceman Zak Brown was asked earlier the contention successful Abu Dhabi past play whether helium thought it would person been amended to favour Norris earlier.
He said: "No. I don't thin to regret things. I thin to larn and go, 'I would person done that differently.' Otherwise you unrecorded successful a bid of regrets.
"It was hard, due to the fact that Oscar was ne'er that acold down Lando [in the championship]. We started getting sound that we should favour Lando halfway done the season, which was truly early.
"I deliberation what we learned, like, successful Monza was we went into Turn Four archetypal and 2nd and came retired archetypal and third, but the acquisition we gave them was much vague. It was subjective, it was: 'Don't instrumentality risks.'
"So Lando was thinking, 'I don't request to artifact that hard due to the fact that I don't request to instrumentality a risk.' And Oscar was thinking: 'Hey, doorway looks beauteous unfastened to me.'
"In hindsight, we could person been much definitive in, 'how you participate Turn Four is however you request to travel retired of Turn Four. Clear everyone and past spell race.'
"I similar that we fto our guys spell race. But if I look astatine Monza, that's what we learned. That we request to beryllium much definitive, arsenic a driver's presumption of what's risky is subjective."
Have Red Bull engineered their car truthful acold towards Max Verstappen that nary different operator could marque it competitive? - David
To the archetypal clause of this question, the Red Bull engineers would accidental no. But the existent reply is, 'no but, yes, benignant of'.
Red Bull would accidental that they don't technologist the car to favour Verstappen; they plan the fastest car they can, and past make it successful a absorption that, from the acquisition of racing it, suggests wherever it tin beryllium improved.
However, it's inevitable that if 1 operator is demonstrably, consistently faster than the other, immoderate squad is apt to springiness much value to their feedback than to his team-mate's.
So, if Verstappen feels helium tin spell faster if the car has a much responsive beforehand - which helium usually does - they're much apt to make it truthful it has much beforehand downforce and grip than if his team-mate was saying that helium wanted much rear stability, for example.
Alex Albon would accidental this was the concern successful which helium ended up erstwhile helium was Verstappen's team-mate successful 2020 - Albon likened the steering effect of the Red Bull to a machine games controller turned up to maximum sensitivity.
But that's a wide answer. Specifically, this year, that is not what Red Bull's occupation has been.
The contented for them has been that the car's equilibrium has not been "connected", arsenic drivers enactment it these days - i.e. the beforehand and rear behave differently, sometimes from country to corner, sometimes wrong a azygous corner. Aston Martin person had a akin problem.
This makes the car precise hard to drive. And successful that concern - successful immoderate situation, frankly - a large operator specified arsenic Verstappen is ever going to accommodate amended than a simply bully one, specified arsenic Sergio Perez.
The 2nd portion of the question is whether immoderate different operator would beryllium capable to grip this concern better.
It's a beauteous harmless stake to accidental that the precise champion - Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso - decidedly would.
Would that widen to Liam Lawson oregon Yuki Tsunoda, the 2 drivers Red Bull are considering to regenerate Perez successful 2025?
Well, arsenic things stand, it looks similar we're going to find out, and that Lawson volition beryllium the latest experiment.
Why does atrocious driving (a collision) that severely disenables different car ne'er effect successful disqualification? - Graham
Because it's mostly not considered a superior capable offence for that punishment.
Drivers tin beryllium disqualified, but it tends to hap lone for the astir egregious flouting of the rules, oregon ignoring of officials' orders.
A elemental mistake successful a racing concern - adjacent if it's a peculiarly clumsy one, arsenic a mates were successful Abu Dhabi connected Sunday - does not conscionable the threshold.
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