A nineteenth victory which concludes an extraordinary year. Triple world champion Max Verstappen won in Abu Dhabi the last Grand Prix of a Formula 1 season that he flew through at the wheel of his powerful Red Bull. There have been few recent races without “Mad Max” breaking a record. On the Yas Marina circuit, where many personalities were present for the last meeting of the year, the Dutchman became the first driver to exceed the mark of 1,000 laps driven in a season.
A statistic of course, anecdotal, but which says a lot about the season of the 26-year-old driver. “It was an incredible season,” reacted Verstappen under the thousands of spots and lights surrounding the track. “It’s going to be very difficult to have another season like this, we know that. We are already working hard for next year to have a very competitive car and we will be ready for the battle,” he also assured, having notably become this season the holder of the greatest number of consecutive victories. in GP (10).
Starting from pole position, the Red Bull driver finishes Sunday evening at night in front of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), second on the grid. In the first hectometers, the Monegasque tried to gain the upper hand over the strong man of the moment but in vain. Mercedes Briton George Russell completes the podium.
Mercedes vice-champion
With the world titles locked by Verstappen and Red Bull, the final round of the season still had a few final issues, including the fight between Mercedes and Ferrari for the place of vice-world champion among the constructors. Before the arrival of the paddock in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Mercedes (392 points) was only four points ahead of the Scuderia (388).
The battle definitely turned to the advantage of the German manufacturer, thanks to the 9th place of its second driver Lewis Hamilton, who brought two additional points to his team, in addition to the fifteen acquired by Russell. Ferrari – whose second driver Carlos Sainz finished far from the points – is ultimately third, just three points behind the eight-time world championship team.