Max Verstappen cruises to Abu Dhabi victory as Leclerc prevents Red Bull one-two

Max Verstappen took the 15th win of a record-breaking season in Abu Dhabi, but there was disappointment for Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez in the final race of the year. The Mexican was beaten to second place in both the race and the drivers’ championship by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who prevailed by just 1.3sec.

There was disappointment, too, for Mercedes, as Formula One prepares to go into its winter hibernation. One week after his maiden race win in Brazil, Briton George Russell could only finish fifth, while teammate Lewis Hamilton was forced to retire from fourth place just a few laps from the finish after developing a hydraulic issue. 

It means Hamilton ends the season without a victory for the first time in his entire career. With the title long since wrapped up, and Verstappen cruising at the front of the race, the main area of interest heading into the race centred on the battle for second spot in the drivers’ championship. 

Red Bull had never had a one-two in the drivers’ championship before and there was controversy at the penultimate race in Brazil when they tried to conjure a couple of extra points for Perez by ordering Verstappen to give up his sixth place, only for the Dutchman to refuse.

That meant Perez and Leclerc were locked on 290 points heading into the race. 

The choice for all drivers effectively boiled down to whether to go for a one-stopper and try to conserve your tyres, or a two-stopper which would allow them to be more aggressive. Leclerc opted for the former, with Perez narrowly failing to catch his rival before the flag.

A packed grid populated by sporting royalty from Usain Bolt to Ben Stokes gave the day a bit of stardust, but it could never hope to match the drama of the same race 12 months ago when Hamilton and Verstappen duked it out for one of the most controversial titles in history. 

There were shades of 2021, though, in the first lap battle between Hamilton and Carlos Sainz. Just as he did last year after tangling with Verstappen, Hamilton once again cut across the escape road on the opening lap after Sainz dived up the inside of him at Turn 6. 

Last year Hamilton got away with it, the stewards deeming it to be a racing incident. This time the stewards decided Sainz had won the corner fairly and ordered Hamilton to give the place back. 

Arguably more damaging was what the trip across the escape road did to the floor of Hamilton’s car as it was sent flying up into the air by a sausage kerb.

Hamilton was briefly able to reclaim fourth place from Sainz, but it did not take long for the Spaniard to get his nose back in front. And soon Russell was passing his teammate as well. “I’m losing power man, what’s going on?” Hamilton asked. A short while later, the seven-time champion added: “I think the floor’s broken”.

Mercedes’ day went from bad to worse as Russell’s first pit stop was bodged and he was then released into the path of McLaren’s Lando Norris, incurring a five-second penalty.

Hamilton, who had hoped to challenge for his eighth world title this year only for Mercedes to develop a dog of a car which has taken all season to rectify, had admitted beforehand that it would be a “relief” when the season ended. “I’m looking forward to getting to the finish line,” he confessed. 

The 37-year-old reached it a little earlier than planned, retiring with a hydraulic issue as he tried to defend fourth place from Sainz.

The battle for second went down to the wire. Perhaps feeling a little guilty for denying Perez two points in Brazil, a decision which triggered allegations in Holland that he was “paying Perez back” for an incident in Monaco qualifying, Verstappen got on the radio with around 10 laps remaining to tell his engineer to tell Perez to give it everything. “His tyres will be fine,” the two-time world champion stressed. Perez was duly told to go “all out” and he responded by reducing the deficit to six seconds with six laps remaining, then four seconds with four laps remaining. 

It was not enough. Perez finished 1.3sec behind the Ferrari. “It is how it is,” the Mexican said. “Sometimes everything can be really close. At the end of the day, I’ve got to be happy. I gave it my all. As a team we gave it all through the season, and I’m sure we will come back stronger next year.”

There were two other major storylines to resolve. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo finished ninth in what may have been his final race as he prepares to rejoin Red Bull as their reserve driver next season. And Sebastian Vettel, the four-time world champion, finished 10th in what was definitely his final race after his team opted for a one-stopper. But he recovered his cheer to perform a few doughnuts after the finish line. 

“I’m sure I’m going to miss it more than I understand right now,” he admitted to cheers from the crowd.