Verstappen beats Leclerc to victory in Abu Dhabi

Max Verstappen confidently transformed pole place into victory throughout Sunday night’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, making it 19 wins throughout 22 races in what has been a outstanding yr for the Dutchman and his Pink Bull group.

Verstappen defended from Charles Leclerc on the run to the primary nook and throughout the primary lap earlier than cementing his lead and step by step pulling clear, taking the chequered flag comfortably forward of the chasing pack because the solar set on the 2023 marketing campaign.

Sergio Perez crossed the road in second place for Pink Bull, however a five-second time penalty for a conflict with McLaren’s Lando Norris demoted him to fourth when the outcomes had been confirmed, leaving Leclerc second and the Mercedes of George Russell third.

Leclerc had been second on the street till the closing laps when he elected to let Perez cross him and attempt to generate sufficient of a spot between the Pink Bull and Russell to spice up Ferrari’s possibilities of beating Mercedes to second within the constructors’ standings, nevertheless it was to not be.

Norris needed to accept fifth after his run-in with Perez, the place he began due to his expensive qualifying mistake, with group mate Oscar Piastri taking sixth from the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.

Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll made it double factors finishes for his or her respective Mercedes and Aston Martin groups, with Daniel Ricciardo lacking out by half a second in group boss Franz Tost’s ultimate race overseeing the AlphaTauri squad.

Alpine pair Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly went unrewarded within the ultimate race of the season, the latter having been concerned in a brush of bodywork with Hamilton halfway by way of proceedings, adopted by the lead Williams of Alex Albon.

Nico Hulkenberg couldn’t convert his Q3 look into factors for Haas, dropping all the way in which right down to fifteenth place in one other difficult race, with Williams rookie Logan Sargeant and the Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu coming residence sixteenth and seventeenth respectively.

Carlos Sainz had been operating within the factors within the closing levels, however his various technique required a late pit cease and left him a lowly 18th, as Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen accomplished the order for Alfa Romeo and Haas.

AS IT HAPPENED

After struggling by way of observe, Verstappen and Pink Bull bounced again in qualifying to safe pole place for one ultimate time in 2023, with Leclerc becoming a member of the reigning world champion on the entrance row, adopted by Piastri, Russell, Norris and the high-flying Tsunoda.

A few drivers out of their common positions had been Hamilton, who might solely handle eleventh in qualifying as he lamented what was unsuitable together with his automotive, whereas Sainz can be beginning all the way in which down in sixteenth as he struggled for kind within the wake of a heavy crash in FP2.

When the vehicles assembled on the grid and the tyre blankets got here off, it was revealed that almost all of drivers can be beginning on the medium compound, with Stroll, Sainz and Bottas the three drivers to attempt one thing completely different by taking the onerous rubber.

Because the lights went out, Leclerc obtained away effectively to briefly lookup the within of Verstappen on the run to Flip 1, however the pole-sitter braked barely later to swoop throughout the monitor and maintain place, as Piastri maintained third and Norris muscled his well beyond Russell on the second nook.

Leclerc latched onto Verstappen’s automotive exiting Flip 5 and had one other sniff on the lead into the Flip 6/7 chicane, with the Ferrari and Pink Bull going side-by-side below braking, just for the Dutchman to retain the lead as soon as extra and set about placing far between the 2 vehicles.

Eager to make up for his qualifying mistake, Norris quickly cleared group mate Piastri for third on the run between Flip 5 and 6, with Russell nonetheless fifth from Tsunoda, Alonso, Gasly, Perez and Hamilton – the Mercedes having handed the Pink Bull in the beginning however dropped again behind amid questions that the transfer had taken place off monitor.

On Lap 6, Magnussen was the primary to pit for brand spanking new tyres, swapping his mediums for hards effectively earlier than the anticipated window, with replays revealing an enormous lock-up at Flip 16 had prompted the cease. A few laps later, Ricciardo was in as a result of dramas of his personal when a tear-off obtained caught in one among his brake ducts.

In early incidents not picked up on the tv protection, the stewards famous Sargeant and Magnussen and Zhou and Albon, each in relation to forcing one other driver off the monitor, however the panel in the end determined that no additional motion was required.

Again on the entrance, Verstappen continued to steer Leclerc by simply over a second, with Norris an identical margin additional again, whereas Piastri had his mirrors stuffed with Russell and was having to place his McLaren rigorously to maintain the Mercedes man at bay.

After a number of laps of jostling for place, Russell lastly made a transfer stick on the run to Flip 9 and crucially moved into clear air, with Piastri rapidly coming below strain from the ever-impressive Tsunoda and Perez later clearing Gasly for seventh.

2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Verstappen fends off Leclerc on the race begin at Yas Marina

“The best entrance is slowly getting a bit damage,” was the message from race chief Verstappen to the Pink Bull pit wall on Lap 12, with the highest three drivers ploughing on up entrance however a number of extra vehicles trickling into the pits for recent tyres – Piastri narrowly warding off Alonso’s undercut try.

Lap 15 noticed Norris and Russell pit collectively, with an agonisingly gradual cease from the McLaren crew permitting the Mercedes to slide by way of, because the pair rejoined simply forward of the squabbling Piastri and Alonso of their momentary midfield spots.

Elsewhere, Hamilton was caught out by a lock-up from Gasly on the Flip 6/7 chicane and nudged the rear of the Alpine together with his Mercedes, however regardless of obvious injury, the Silver Arrows opted towards a entrance wing change when the seven-time champion pitted a lap later.

Lap 17 was the second for Verstappen and Pink Bull as they determined to pit from P1, releasing Leclerc into the lead of the race, with the Monegasque coming in a single tour later to defend from the undercut and their positions remaining unchanged.

The flurry of stops gave Tsunoda a welcome run within the lead of an F1 race throughout Franz Tost’s ultimate look as AlphaTauri group boss, whereas Stroll, Sainz and Bottas additionally stretched out their opening stints and added some strategic intrigue to the 58-lap encounter.

Hamilton’s conflict with Gasly was investigated by the stewards however information quickly arrived that there can be no additional motion, and the Frenchman had one more reason to really feel aggrieved when group mate Ocon – who had began behind him – moved forward with the undercut.

Tsunoda pitted from the lead on Lap 23 to launch Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell and Norris, who had all labored their well beyond the yet-to-stop Sainz, with Piastri holding sixth from Alonso, Perez, Ricciardo and Hamilton, who was spurred on with a motivational message from boss Toto Wolff.

By Lap 25, with the Twelfth-placed Bottas the one driver but to pit for a change of tyres, Verstappen’s lead over Leclerc was as much as 5 seconds, with Russell simply over a second additional again, adopted by the McLarens of Norris and Piastri and the recovering Perez, who had overtaken Alonso.

Gasly expressed frustration as soon as extra as he questioned over the radio why his Alpine was so gradual in comparison with the opening laps, and his engineer duly confirmed that some injury had been picked up within the contact with Hamilton however urged him to push on nonetheless.

Because the race neared its midway mark, Perez made up one other place by slipping previous Piastri for fifth, whereas Hamilton had moved as much as eighth from AlphaTauri pair Tsunoda and Ricciardo, who swapped positions on their differing tyre methods to maximise the group’s factors potential.

On Lap 33, Gasly kicked off the second spherical of pit stops, this time altering tyres earlier than group mate Ocon, with Norris approaching the subsequent tour and a spotlight then turning to what Verstappen, Leclerc and the remainder of the front-running group would do.

Mercedes responded by calling Russell in a lap later, with the Briton taking to the radio to ask: “Are you positive we will’t make the one-stop work? The tyres really feel cheap.” He in the end pitted and got here again out simply forward of Norris, being instructed as he exited the pits that his out lap can be “vital”.

Russell’s cease in flip pressured Ferrari into motion, with Leclerc following the pattern of taking over extra onerous tyres and rejoining in entrance of Russell and Norris, whereas chief Verstappen instructed Pink Bull he was glad for them to pit group mate Perez earlier than him if wanted.

With the second stops rolling in, there was extra drama for Hamilton when he got here near hitting Alonso because the pair approached Flip 5, claiming he was brake-tested by the Aston Martin forward of DRS coming into play – the stewards noting the incident for erratic driving however opting towards any additional motion.

At this level, Russell requested the Mercedes pit wall how the championship state of affairs was trying, with Ferrari placing themselves in place to leapfrog the Silver Arrows for second within the constructors’ standings because the race entered its ultimate 20 laps.

2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Verstappen and Leclerc in thrilling battle for the lead on Lap 1

Lap 43 noticed Perez pit once more from second place, placing on extra onerous tyres and coming again out in sixth place, with group mate Verstappen doing the identical from the lead one tour later, which means Pink Bull’s ultimate deliberate pit stops of the yr had been carried out and dusted.

“The downshifts are pulling so much,” Verstappen reported over the radio shortly after making his second cease, asking if something could possibly be carried out to enhance the state of affairs, whereas Perez lit up the timesheets to cross Tsunoda and shut in on Norris’ McLaren.

Hamilton and Gasly’s races took one other flip within the closing levels when the stewards famous a possible pit lane infringement after which confirmed that they might be investigating it additional after the race.

Perez had arrived on the rear of Norris’ automotive on Lap 48 and tried a transfer into the Flip 6/7 chicane, just for the pair to bang wheels. “He crashed into me,” was Norris’ view after taking to the run-off and sustaining the place, whereas Perez argued that “he became me”.

A lap later, Perez repeated the try and this time made it stick, however Norris reiterated his frustration over the radio and the stewards started one other investigation – which in the end landed the Mexican a five-second penalty.

With that state of affairs unfolding, Leclerc radioed the Ferrari pit wall asking what he might do to assist in their shut struggle with Mercedes for second within the constructors’, deciding to drop behind Perez and see if he might construct a five-second hole again to Russell.

However it could not work out that means, with Perez following race-winning group mate Verstappen throughout the road solely to be jumped by Leclerc and Russell when his penalty was utilized, confirming Mercedes in P2 over Ferrari.

McLaren pair Norris and Piastri had been fifth and sixth, as Alonso, Tsunoda, Hamilton and Stroll accomplished the factors – the AlphaTauri driver’s tally not sufficient to see the group leap forward of Williams for P7 within the standings.

Ricciardo was eleventh, from Ocon, Gasly, Albon, Hulkenberg and Sargeant, with Zhou, Sainz, Bottas and Magnussen mentioning the rear within the ultimate outing earlier than a hard-earned winter break for the drivers and their groups.

Key quote

“An unbelievable season,” mentioned race-winner Verstappen. “It was a bit emotional on the in lap, the final time I used to be sitting within the automotive that has, in fact, given me so much. I’m very proud to win right here additionally on the final race. I’ve to say a giant thanks to Pink Bull, it’s simply been an unbelievable yr. Will probably be onerous to do one thing related once more, however we undoubtedly loved this yr.”

What’s subsequent

As an action-packed season involves an finish, groups and drivers will now head into the winter break earlier than gearing up for the 2024 campaign, which kicks off with the Bahrain Grand Prix from February 29 to March 2.