Verstappen wins in Abu Dhabi but Perez fails to secure Championship one-two

Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc were both the main protagonists for the weekend in their duel to P2 in the championship. They arrived in Abu Dhabi equal on points. A split strategy meant that Leclerc had track position and Perez had to fight his way through the field. With eight laps to go, the two drivers were separated by seven seconds. In the end, Leclerc held on. Ferrari might've made plenty of strategic errors through the season, but their decision to convert Leclerc into a one-stop saved P2 in the standings. 

Max Verstappen's drive at the front of the grid personified his overall performance and story in the 2022 Formula 1 season. 

Lewis Hamilton's record of winning at least one race in every single season of his Formula 1 career comes to an end. The seven-time World Champion was unable to get a victory in the 2022 season. Hamilton is contracted to drive for Mercedes in 2023 and has spoken about his intent to extend his F1 career beyond 2023 with a suggested contract extension during the winter break. In Abu Dhabi, the Brit seemed to have floor damage from an incident on the opening lap before developing a hydraulic problem on lap 56. 

Fernando Alonso's stint with Alpine came to an end on lap 28 with the team telling him to retire. Mick Schumacher and Nicholas Latifi's final race didn't provide any positive highlights as they both languished in the bottom five places as they have done for much of his F1 career. Though Schumacher did cause a collision with Latifi but this didn't cause a safety car as it did almost 12 months ago. 

Sebastian Vettel said farewell to the sport with an impressive drive. The German was busy making overtakes throughout and scored pointS for his efforts. Daniel Ricciardo had a quieter race, but scored as well.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Despite practice indicating results might be mixed, the big three teams each locked out the first three rows on the grid. Red Bull Racing led the way with Verstappen on pole position alongside Perez. Ferrari started on the second row, with Mercedes taking the third row. The top 15 drivers started on medium tyres. Pierre Gasly started on the soft tyre. Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas opted for the hard tyres. 

The Red Bull drivers defended the first two positions on the opening lap. Hamilton moved ahead of Sainz, before using a similar escape route off the circuit as he did in 2021 on the opening lap because he came under attack from the Ferrari driver. The stewards decided no further action was needed but did ask Hamilton to give a place back to Sainz. One lap later, the seven-time World Champion got the place back legally. Russell got a bad start off the line and dropped behind his friend Lando Norris. 

On lap three, Perez broke the DRS zone from third-place Leclerc but he stayed within one second of his teammate who helped drag him away from the traffic. Sainz managed to overtake Hamilton who seemed to be losing speed drastically due to power issues. Mercedes told Russell he was clear to race Hamilton and the younger driver made a clean overtake on lap nine. 

Into the pits

Perez covered off a potential Ferrari undercut on lap 16. That opened up the pit window, including for Russell. Mercedes released him into the path of Norris resulting in an unsafe release and a five-second time penalty. Verstappen pulled the pit trigger on lap 21. Leclerc followed one lap later but saw the Red Bull drivers cruise by. With Leclerc catching up on Perez, Red Bull opted to bring their Mexican driver in for another set of hards on lap 34. Ferrari didn't react and suggested a switch to a one-stop.

Whilst Verstappen drove clear into the lead, it was all about Perez's pursuit through the field to catch Leclerc for second place in the World Championship. In a reversal of last year, Hamilton defended against Perez and delayed the Mexican for a few laps. Perez couldn't close the gap quick enough and missed out on P2.