Max Verstappen wins season finale at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Max Verstappen Earned his fifteenth win in the 2022 season finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prixfor the current two-time world champion and Oracle Red Bull Racing team.

After taking pole position in Saturday’s race, Verstappen led from the start. The Dutchman started on yellow medium tyres, like the other top six drivers. Verstappen grabs his teammate Sergio Perez Going into Turn One to take the Grand Prix lead, from there he controlled the race and crossed the finish line to win the Grand Prix Yas Marina Circuit For the third year in a row.

Verstappen built a strong lead heading into the first pit stop window as the world champion made his only pit stop on lap 21 on the white hard tyre, which he continued for the next 58 laps. Bead race.

Verstappen finished the season with a record 15 wins and a record 454 points total.Red Bull takes the constructors’ title with 759 points, putting them 259 ahead of rivals this season Ferrari Because they have won 17 of 22 games this season.

The only disappointment for the team was Perez’s failure to finish second in the drivers’ championship as Charles Leclerc He finished the Grand Prix in second, thanks to Checo on the final podium. The Mexican driver opted for a two-race strategy, while Leclerc opted for a one-race strategy, which paid off for the Monaco driver, who finished second in the race and championship with a 1.3-second lead over Perez.

Perez never relinquished his 24-lap lead over Leclerc, but the Ferrari driver finished the season firmly in second place with 308 points, just three ahead of Perez. Ranked third in the driver’s standings this season.

Ferrari finishes second in constructors’ championship

It’s been an up-and-down season for Ferrari, a season in which they shined at times but also made big mistakes in terms of strategy and decision-making.However, after a belated push Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team In order to finish second in the constructors’ championship, Ferrari got it right when they needed to, and in doing so, they finished second in the standings.

Leclerc and his teammates Carlos Sainz Jr. On the second row of the grid, the Mercedes team is on the third row.Sainz lost position lewis hamilton Leclerc holds on to third and is chasing Red Bull’s two.

The battle between Hamilton and Sainz continued over the next few laps, with the Spaniard finishing fourth going into the first pit stop window and eventually winning. Sainz pitted on lap 18 for the white hard tyres, and his teammate pitted for the same tires two laps later.

Sainz re-entered the track in seventh and was back in fourth before making his second pit stop again on lap 40 on the hard compound tyres. Leclerc made just one stop in the race, but thanks to Perez’s two races, the No. 16 driver was able to secure second place in the race as Checo couldn’t quite catch Leclerc on the new tyres.

Sainz finished fourth after the seven-time world champion retired as Ferrari ended the season 39 points clear of Mercedes in the constructors’ championship. Ferrari’s strategy was clearly correct today and Leclerc paid off, finishing second in the race and in the Drivers’ Championship. Sainz finished fifth in the championship as Ferrari will try harder to improve and challenge for both titles next season.

Lewis Hamilton’s Heartbreak

Mercedes have struggled for much of the season, lacking the pace they have for 2021 and finding it a challenge to keep up with Red Bull and Ferrari. They’ve had a really good race pace throughout the year and they’ve been consistent in their results, but are finding it difficult to get to the top of the podium, which we’re used to seeing them do.

However, that changed in Brazil last weekend as george russell Secured Mercedes’ first win of the season and their first one-two finish. Confidence was high heading into the final race weekend of the season in Abu Dhabi, but their pace was just enough to place them in the third row behind the Red Bull and Ferrari drivers.

Hamilton got off to a good start, finishing fourth ahead of Sainz going into the first corner, with Russell a position behind at the first corner Lando Norris. When the Spaniard dived from the inside, Sainz attempted to overtake Hamilton into turn six, which caused the Briton to take evasive action as he left the track and went over the chicane before re-entering the track ahead of Sainz at fifty-five The driver was very upset.

A few laps later, his race engineer would tell Hamilton to hand the position back to Sainz, which he did in due course. Hamilton then passed Sainz a lap later and Russell also passed Norris. Then Hamilton started complaining that his floor was damaged and the W13 lost power. Because of this, Russell was able to overtake his teammates.

Russell pitted on lap 16 and after a slow stop he was deemed unsafe to be released back to the pit straight and was given a 5 second penalty. Hamilton pitted three laps later on lap 19, still complaining about damage to his car.

As we headed into the final laps of the race, Hamilton was heartbroken as he slowed down before turn nine as he appeared to be stuck in seventh gear. He was passed by Sainz and Russell before slowly making his way back to the pits where he had to retire with the Mercedes’ first mechanical failure of the season. It was the first season in Hamilton’s career that he failed to win a race.

Russell finished fifth, finishing fourth in the Drivers’ Championship with 275 points. His team-mate finished the season sixth in the standings, while Mercedes finished third in the constructors’ championship. The Silver Arrows will hope they come back stronger next season, back to where we’re all used to seeing them.

What about the rest?

Lando Norris crossed the finish line in sixth, earning extra points after setting the fastest lap of the race.his teammates Daniel Ricardo Also finished with points as he wrapped up his last race McLaren F1 Team And temporarily ranked ninth in F1. Ricciardo will be Red Bull’s reserve driver for 2023 and hopes to move closer to the front of the grid in the future.

McLaren finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship with 159 points, while Norris finished “best of the rest” in seventh in the Drivers’ Championship.

BWT Alpine F1 Team able to finish 4th in constructors Esteban Ocon A seventh-place finish helped the French team surpass their rivals this season.It is disappointing Fernando Alonso He retired on lap 28, his last race for the team, after his A522 leaked water. This is the fourth time this season that Alonso has had to retire due to the same or similar problems. Alpine finished with 173 points, 14 points ahead of McLaren.

Aston Martin Aramco Cognitive Formula 1 Team both have good results Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel It’s over. Stroll finished eighth, with Vettel taking a point in 10th in the final race of his illustrious career. Vettel bid farewell to F1 after winning four world titles, winning 53 races and racking up 122 podiums during the sport’s 15 glory years.

Both drivers helped Aston Martin level in points Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN in the Championship; however, due to Valtri BottasHaving finished fifth earlier in the season, Aston Martin sits seventh in the constructors’ standings behind Alfa Romeo.

Scuderia AlphaTauri Team Ninth among constructors this season Kakuda Yuki and Pierre Gasly Finishing outside the points again, Tsunoda finished 11th and Gasly finished 14th in the final race with the team. It has been a disappointing season for Red Bull’s sister team, who will be hoping to improve next season.

Alfa Romeo finishes season sixth in Constructors Championship Zhou Guanyu The race finished twelfth, with Bottas fifteenth. It’s been an up-and-down season for the team, but they did improve from last season, finishing sixth in the championship, and the Chinese driver won the Rookie of the Year award for being the only rookie! .

williams racing They are bottom of the standings this season as they have only scored 8 points all season. alex albon Finished the race in thirteenth and teammate Nicholas Latifi Who, leaving the sport, did not finish in his final grand prix for the team after going into the pits late in the race.Canadian driver earlier with Mick Schumacher At Turn 5 on lap 39, this did some damage to his car.

Haas F1 Team Finished eighth in the team, two points ahead of AlphaTauri with 37 points.Schumacher came home 16th in his provisional F1 final race alongside his team-mate and last weekend’s pole-sitter Kevin Magnussen Followed by 17th place.

Schumacher will be Nico Hulkenberg The German may still have a place in the sport next season as he is rumored to be Mercedes’ replacement for 2023.

Full Abu Dhabi Grand Prix results: