Max Verstappen completed a majestic and record-breaking season in familiar style on Sunday as he cruised to a record-breaking 19th win of the year for Red Bull at an action-packed Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The three-time world champion came home 17.993 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, whose daring drive was not enough for the Italian team to claim second place in the Constructors’ Championship. In the end, Mercedes was only three points behind, because although Sergio Perez came home second behind Verstappen on the road, he was relegated to fourth place with a five-second time penalty due to a mid-race collision with McLaren’s Lando Norris, who drove George Russell received his PhD. to the third. Norris finished fifth ahead of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes.
Verstappen finished the season as the only driver to complete every lap of the season, leading more than 1000 laps, and also broke Jim Clark’s 1963 record for highest percentage of laps completed in a season.
“An incredible season,” said Verstappen, who also paid tribute to retired Alpha Tauri boss Franz Tost, who cherished his early F1 career. “I felt quite emotional during the in-lap because it was the last time in this car that I got so much.
Russell said: “It was very exciting at the end when the tires came off, but it’s a huge relief to bring the car home in P3. It means a lot to so many people in the factory.”
Leclerc, who slowed down to let Perez pass him in the closing laps, said: “He got a penalty and we had to help him finish ahead of George by the five seconds… but unfortunately that wasn’t enough… It’s a shame that we came third.”
The race started in warm conditions, with an air temperature of 27 degrees Celsius and the track cooled quickly as the sun set and the floodlights blazed on the Yas Marina Circuit. The top 12 cars started on medium compound tires.
The Dutchman led from pole and fended off three early challenges from Leclerc to build a one-second lead before the Drag Reduction System (DRS) kicked in on lap three as Perez slotted in for ninth place with Perez and Norris Piastri passed for third place, having already passed Russell. .
With the leaders all doing their best, Yuki Tsunoda took over on lap 18, giving Alpha Tauri and Tost a memorable moment, only the second time a Japanese driver had led a Formula 1 race.
He stayed there as Verstappen worked his way back to the front, eventually regaining control on lap 23 when Tsunoda pitted and returned twelfth behind Hamilton, who survived an early collision with the rear of Pierre Gasly’s Alpine with front wing damage .
By lap 30 it was a familiar story. Verstappen led Leclerc by 6.5 seconds with Russell 2.1 behind in third and Norris in fourth. Hamilton finished eighth and Sainz fourteenth.
As the second stops began, Norris pitted again on lap 34 and grabbed fresh hard drives. He returned to 10th place. Mercedes responded and brought in Russell – and he finished in P9, while Hamilton battled Alonso for ninth place and Sainz, using an aggressive strategy, moved up to eighth.
As it stood, it was back to Ferrari’s advantage as Verstappen rejoined the front on lap 44 and maintained his lead to move to the front with a 15-lap cruise to the flag before Hamilton passed Sainz for ninth with 10 more rounds to go.
It was another advantage for Mercedes, but when Russell was passed by Perez for third place, the ‘Silver Arrows’ hopes hung on the Mexican’s five-second penalty for an earlier collision with Norris as the flag came out for Verstappen.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article