“It will be difficult to do something like this again, but we took full advantage of this season,” said Max Verstappen after winning his 19e victory of the season on Sunday in Abu Dhabi. Nineteen, yes. In 22 races.
Verstappen was disturbed by Charles Leclerc at the start of the race, but was able to protect his position. Like many other Grands Prix this season, the Dutchman then widened his gap little by little until leaving no chance for the Ferrari to catch up. Leclerc therefore concluded at 2e rank, followed by George Russell at Mercedes.
The Red Bull driver, who secured the championship several weeks ago already, has led a grand total of 1000 laps in total this season. He was only beaten three times, twice by his teammate, Sergio Pérez.
Never in the history of sport have we seen such domination. It deserved a few donuts once we crossed the finish line.
“I was a little emotional in the last lap. It was the last time I sat in the car, which obviously gave me a lot,” he said in a post-race interview with F1.
“We are working hard to have a competitive car again next season. The other teams will want to beat us and we are ready for the battle, but for now we will enjoy this season a little. »
PHOTO JEWEL SAMAD, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Max Verstappen
Still, the suspense of this final race was not to know who would win, but rather which manufacturer, between Ferrari and Mercedes, would take second place in the standings. The two rivals were only four points apart before this race; everything was possible, especially since each of the two teams had a driver at the front of the grid, and a driver past 10e place.
The suspense stretched until the last seconds. While Ferrari was on the way to being beaten in the points count, Charles Leclerc, in 2e rank, let Sergio Pérez pass on the last lap so that the latter widens his gap with George Russell, who was in 4e rank. This is because Pérez had received a 5 second penalty earlier in the race; if Russell finished ahead of Pérez, Mercedes finished with more points than Ferrari. The strategy, however, did not work. Behind, Hamilton took 9e rank and 2 points in the standings, while Carlos Sainz Jr. did not finish the race.
The final result, therefore: 409 points for Mercedes, 406 for Ferrari. The British team will thus obtain a higher premium.
“That means a lot,” George Russell suggested. There are so many people at the factory who have worked so hard to make this happen. […] It was tight with Checo [Pérez] In the end I thought Charles was going to support me, but he has my respect for keeping it clean. We can relax now! […] Everyone will have a few drinks tonight! »
PHOTO RULA ROUHANA, REUTERS
George Russell
“It’s a shame that we finished third among the manufacturers,” lamented Leclerc. [Terminer deuxième] is all that mattered to me at the end of the season. We didn’t get there. »
These other struggles
We watched other struggles in this final race. Still in the Constructors’ Championship, McLaren wanted to ensure it maintained its 11-point lead over Aston Martin to finish in fourth place. She got there without too much difficulty, while Lando Norris and the surprising Oscar Piastri respectively concluded the 5e and 6e ranks.
McLaren’s season has been one of two parts; the papaya stable has experienced an impressive comeback since August. Quite the opposite of Aston Martin, in fact, which had started the season on a rocket. We remember Fernando Alonso’s six podiums in the first eight races…
Alonso had a more difficult second half of the season, but at 42 years old, he finished in 4e place among the drivers, tied with Leclerc. A remarkable feat.
His teammate, Quebecer Lance Stroll, finished this last race in 10e step. The Aston Martin driver thus ends a checkered season; his best result is a 4e place in Australia, and his worst (besides his four withdrawals), a 16e place in Italy.
Yuki Tsunoda, who started 6e on the grid, took advantage of this last derby to equal his best result of the season, an 8e place. This is a nice gift for his team leader at AlphaTauri, Franz Tost, who is retiring.