Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for Verstappen! 3 different teams on the podium, reigning champion closes the season with another record

Formula 1 had the last race of the season on the schedule this weekend. It brought a very interesting spectacle, not only in terms of beautiful battles on the track, but also in terms of the final battles in the Drivers’ Championship and the Constructors’ Cup. How was the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix?

Considering the course of the entire race weekend, Saturday’s qualifying session already hinted at how the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix could theoretically go. Max Verstappen took pole position, joined on the front row by Charles Leclerc at the start of the race.

You can see the full grid order in the attached post below. Needless to say, Lando Norris messed up his quick qualifying attempt. He made a driving mistake at the crucial moment, lost precious time and finished only fifth.

Sergio Pérez lost his fast time due to exceeding the track limits, Lewis Hamilton complained about the condition of his car. Carlos Sainz crashed out in the first part of qualifying when he suffered from too much traffic on the track.

For the final time this season…

The starting grid for Sunday's race 👀#F1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/IqnUuoSAmI

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 25, 2023

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Opening

Monaco’s Leclerc came out of his starting slot in perfect fashion, almost getting ahead of Verstappen several times in the first lap. However, the reigning triple champion survived the close battles on the opening lap of the race and then began to pull away from his pursuers.

Norris got past George Russell after all five lights went out, the McLaren driver then also overtook his teammate Oscar Piastri for third.

The Yas Marina circuit produced the proverbial DRS train in the early laps. Russell and Piastri had a very interesting battle. The Australian McLaren driver first resisted the British driver’s raids, but by lap 11 Russell had already overtaken Piastri.

Then, on lap 12, Pérez finally got past Pierre Gasly. So how did the order look before the first pit stops?

Verstappen led the way ahead of Leclerc and Norris, with Russell fourth, Piastri fifth, Júki Cunoda sixth, Fernando Alonso seventh, Gasly eighth, Pérez ninth and Hamilton rounding out the top ten.

Pit stops, some great battles on track

Alonso started the first series of pit stops on lap thirteen of this race, with the vast majority of the field opting for a hard set due to tyre wear. Naturally, due to the pit stops, the order on the track was mixed up considerably.

On lap 15, one of the key moments of the entire race occurred when the McLaren botched a stop for Norris. This meant that Russell got ahead of him in the pits and gained a significant advantage in the battle for the podium. But the Mercedes driver also got ahead of Australian Piastri, leaving both McLaren cars off the podium.

Lap 15 saw a close battle between Hamilton and Gasly, which saw the seven-time champion suffer a damaged front wing.

Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell, Norris, Piastri, Alonso, Perez, Ricciardo, Hamilton, Cunoda – this is how the top ten standings looked after lap 24.

In the following laps there were several changes in the order. Pérez, for example, got ahead of Alonso and Piastri after some good manoeuvres, while Hamilton overtook Daniel Ricciardo on the track.

After lap 33, the pit stop window opened again, which of course shuffled the order. Russell had the slower stop this time, but thanks to the lead he had built up, he stayed ahead of Norris. Leclerc also confirmed his second place with a quick stop.

Except for Lance Stroll and the Alfa Romeo driver, the entire starting field was wearing the hardest set of tyres. Another very interesting battle took place on lap 40, when three drivers – Piastri, Sainz and Ocon – fought it out for the standings. Pérez picked up a great pace as the race progressed and gradually worked his way up the order.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – final 15 laps

Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell, Norris, Pérez, Cunoda, Piastri, Sainz, Alonso, Hamilton – that’s how the order looked after the 45th lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, after all the pit stops had been completed.

And even in the final laps, the fans were treated to some interesting overtakes. Alonso moved ahead of Sainz into eighth place, with the struggling Ferrari driver then overtaken by Hamilton. On lap 47 there was a fierce duel between Norris and Pérez, for which the Mexican subsequently took a five-second penalty.

Pérez even made it through to second place behind Verstappen at the end, but dropped to number four due to the five-second penalty. With two laps to go, Alonso still passed Cunoda to move up to seventh. You can see the final Abu Dhabi Grand Prix standings in the attached post below.

Confirmation of the Top 10 👀

Russell's P3 and Hamilton's P9 means Mercedes clinch P2 in the constructors' championship by three points #F1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/qgvZbeXAJD

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 26, 2023

It should be added, due to the rule about fitting two different tyre compounds, the Spaniard Sainz should have gone to the mechanics before the end of the race. But Ferrari decided to pull him out of the race on the last lap.

As a result, Mercedes held on to second place in the Constructors’ Cup just ahead of Ferrari. Williams, on the other hand, held on to seventh ahead of AlphaTauri, with the battle for fourth in the Drivers’ Championship won by Alonso.

Verstappen symbolically broke more records at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He became the first driver in F1 history to lead as many as 1,000 laps in a single season. Still only 26 years old, he then surpassed Sebastian Vettel in terms of number of victories (54). Verstappen also closed the 2023 season with his 19th win overall.

Source: F1 TV, Twitter / X