Verstappen’s historic season will be difficult to top.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates—Max Verstappen capped off a brilliant season on Sunday night, winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It was his fifteenth win of the season and the third time that he has won at this circuit. Verstappen won by seven seconds over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who took the flag just ahead of Sergio Perez in third.
Verstappen made only one stop during the race and won comfortably. “It was a good race,” he said afterward. “It was all about tire management. We looked after the mediums quite well and then on the hard tires managing until the end. Incredible to win again here. A 15th win of the season is unbelievable. It’s been really enjoyable to work with the whole team and to be able to achieve something like this.”
The real battle was for second in the Driver’s Championship, as Leclerc and Perez fought it out for the final two positions on the podium.
Carlos Sainz headed the best of the rest, with a fourth-place finish in his Ferrari, while George Russell was fifth in the Mercedes. Lando Norris took the fastest lap of the race in his McLaren, and his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, placed ninth. Esteban Ocon finished in seventh, clinching his Alpine team fourth place in the Constructor’s Championship ahead of McLaren. Aston Martin scored double points, with Lance Stroll taking eighth and Sebastian Vettel in tenth. It was Vettel’s final race of his career.
Two competitors retired during the race. In his final race with the team, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso experienced a water coolant failure on lap 29, while Lewis Hamilton retired three laps from the finish with hydraulic issues.
Verstappen not only set the pace in 2022, but he also did it in historic fashion, breaking the record for most race wins in a season and most points in a season (454).
Max Verstappen: I know it is going to be hard to replicate something like this, but it is also very good motivation to try and do well again next year.
With Formula One 2022 in the books, teams and fans look forward to the 2023 season (105 days away), which begins in Bahrain on March 3-5.
