Yahoo Autos That's a Wrap! Verstappen Closes Out Historic F1 Season with Abu Dhabi Win
Formula 1’s longest season finally came to a conclusion at the flashy Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, with a dominant sign-off by Max Verstappen, and an auf wiedersehen to Sebastian Vettel.
Autoweek recaps the talking points.
Verstappen Signs off with 15th Win
The 2022 season started with the promise of a close fight between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, but from one-third of the way through the season the reigning world champion just cruised clear.
Abu Dhabi was a reflection of most of 2022 as Verstappen simply eased away from his opponents to pick up a record-extending 15th victory of the season. Verstappen's margin of victory over LeClerc was a comfortable 8.7 seconds.
At the insipid Yas Marina Circuit Verstappen executed a straightforward one-stop strategy to triumph at the venue for a third successive year, albeit with his 2022 win not quite as emotional as the title-sealing 2021 showdown victory. It was a dreary encounter beneath the lights in the desert.
“It has been a great team effort, especially after the tough start to the year, I think nobody would have imagined it,” said Verstappen, who faced a 46-point deficit after two failures in the first three races. “It has been really enjoyable to be part of the team, we focus on performance but you need to appreciate the moment. We will do, but we are of course focusing on next year—it’s hard to do a lot better than this but you should always try to aim to do that.”
Leclerc Takes Second Place in Championship
For a second successive season, two drivers from front-running teams entered the finale race of the season tied points.
This year, it was Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Red Bull's Sergio Perez in the points battle for second spot in the standings. Fittingly, the two waged their battle during the race for second place behind the dominant Verstappen.
Perez held second place early in the race, but Red Bull executed a two-stop strategy, while Leclerc opted for a one-stopper, staying out to gain track position. On fresher tires, Perez reeled in Leclerc but ultimately fell 1.3 second short after the full 58 laps of racing, sealing second place in the standings for Leclerc, and third place for Perez.
“Our goal was to do something different,” said Leclerc. “And with the tyre management we made the one-stop work and we got the second place. It was really difficult, especially on the medium stint as the first part trying not to fight too much.”
Leclerc’s runner-up position marked Ferrari’s best overall result since 2018 but it was still a mixed campaign for the Scuderia.
“Obviously if I take a step back, considering from how far we have come from last year it is an amazing step forward,” he said. “But obviously I cannot ignore that we went from leading to quite a bit of points to being behind by quite a bit of points.”
Vettel Says Quiet Goodbye to F1
With no championship on the line, and very few talking points elsewhere, much of the focus through the weekend was on retiring Sebastian Vettel.
On Sunday, Vettel received a guard of honor from his fellow drivers and was able to sign off from Formula 1 with a point after classifying in 10th position.
“I think it’s a huge privilege to be in the position we are in and with that comes a huge responsibility,” said Vettel. “I hope to pass on some of the good work. It’s great to see that we have the power to inspire you [fans] with what we say. There are far bigger and far more important things than racing in circles, but obviously it’s what we love. Through that, if we can transfer some of those important values, I think that’s really big and for that, I think the last two years have been great for me.
"Thank you for the support, thank you for all the messages, and all the love in general. I will miss that. It’s been an absolute joy throughout my career, so thank you.”
Of the other drivers bidding farewell (for now at least) Daniel Ricciardo was ninth for McLaren, while unfortunately Mick Schumacher clumsily ran into Nicholas Latifi. Schumacher finished 16th though Latifi retired three laps from home.
Results
F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 58 laps
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, +8.7 seconds
Sergio Perez, Red Bull, +10.0
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, +24.8
George Russell, Mercedes, +35.8
Lando Norris, McLaren, +56.2
Esteban Ocon, Alpine, +57.2
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, +1:16.9
Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren, +1:23.2
Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin, +1:23.8
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri, +1:29.3
Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo, +1 lap
Alex Albon, Williams, +1 lap
Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, +1 lap
Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo, +1 lap
Mick Schumacher, Haas, +1 lap
Kevin Magnussen, Haas, +1 lap
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +3 laps
Nicholas Latifi, Williams, +3 laps
Fernando Alonso, Alpine, +31 laps
Final Standings
Drivers
Max Verstappen 454
Charles Leclerc 308
Sergio Perez 305
George Russell 275
Carlos Sainz 246
Lewis Hamilton 240
Lando Norris 122
Esteban Ocon 92
Fernando Alonso 81
Valtteri Bottas 49
Sebastian Vettel 37
Daniel Ricciardo 37
Kevin Magnussen 25
Pierre Gasly 23
Lance Stroll 18
Mick Schumacher 12
Yuki Tsunoda 12
Zhou Guanyu 6
Alex Albon 4
Nicholas Latifi 2
Nyck de Vries 2
Nico Hulkenberg 2
Constructors
Red Bull 759
Ferrari 554
Mercedes 515
Alpine 173
McLaren 159
Alfa Romeo 55
Aston Martin 55
Haas 37
AlphaTauri 35
Williams 8
