After 22 races across 20 countries, the 2022 Formula One season came to an end under the floor lights in Abu Dhabi. Max Verstappen wrapped up his most dominant season in Formula One with a race victory from pole position at the FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX 2022.
Sergio Perez got away well from second on the grid and had a little look on the inside of his teammate into the first corner, but Max Verstappen was able to cover him off. Lewis Hamilton accelerated well off the starting grid, overtaking Carlos Sainz before the first corner. Further behind, Lando Norris did the same to George Russell.
Sainz tried to dive up the inside of Hamilton into the turn 6 chicane. Hamilton took evasive action, hobbling over the sausage kerbs on the outside of the corner. He cut turn 7 and maintained his position, reminiscent of last year’s event. Although Hamilton insisted that he was forced off the circuit, the stewards disagreed, refusing to take any further action. Hamilton was eventually told to return the position to Sainz.
But Hamilton was able to fight back with a good run out of the turn 5 hairpin. He cruised by the Ferrari, retaking his position. However, it was short-lived. After just a few laps, Sainz was back on the tail of the Mercedes, overtaking Hamilton with a good run out of turn 7. Russell overtook his teammate in the same place the following lap.
Although the team was unable to see any damage on the car from the pit wall, Hamilton was sure he had some floor damage from his earlier excursion over the kerbs on the opening lap.
Perez was the first of the lead cars to pit for new tyres, being followed in by Lando Norris and George Russell on the same lap. Russell’s stop was slow due to an issue on the rear tyre. He was released into the path of Norris, forcing the McLaren driver to stand on the brakes. The incident earned Russell a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release.
Perez rejoined the race behind Sebastian Vettel, who was performing well in his 299th and final race. The Red Bull driver tried to overtake the Aston Martin in turn 6, but out-braked himself and allowed Vettel to retake the position. Unsurprisingly, Perez was able to get by on the following lap.
Over the next few laps, the rest of the lead drivers pitted for the hard compound tyre.
Both Red Bull’s had checked out at the front early in the race. Perez was complaining that Verstappen was holding him up, despite 2 seconds separating the two drivers. Perez was the first of the leading drivers to make a second pit stop.
There was a brief moment where it looked as though there may be a safety car, as Mick Schumacher and Nicholas Latifi spun in the turn 5 hairpin. Both drivers were able to get going again quickly, preventing the safety car deployment. Schumacher went for a gap on the inside of Latifi, but the gap disappeared and he spun the Canadian. Schumacher was awarded a five-second time penalty for causing a collision.
As the race continued, Hamilton began rapidly catching his teammate. On lap 40, Russell made his second pit stop, also serving his five-second penalty. Carlos Sainz also pitted on the same lap.
With a little more than 10 laps remaining in the race, Perez had caught Hamilton and dove up the inside of turn 6. He locked up briefly, compromising his exit. This allowed Hamilton to retake the position down the following straight. The next lap, Perez learned and didn’t make the overtake in turn 6. Instead, he waited to overtake until down the straight, climbing his way up onto the podium.
But with the laps ticking by, it was looking less likely that Perez would return back to P2 and that mistake against Hamilton looked very critical. In the closing laps, Perez was able to close the gap to Charles Leclerc to less than two seconds, but he was unable to mount a challenge against the Ferrari. Perez had to settle for P3 on the racetrack and also P3 in the World Drivers’ Championship, having entered the race tied for P2 in the championship.
Lewis Hamilton failed to complete the race distance, suffering a hydraulic failure on lap 55, just 4 laps from the end of the race. This was Mercedes’ first and only mechanical retirement of the season. This allowed Vettel to score a single point in his final race before retirement from Formula One.
But it was Verstappen who was once again on the top step of the podium, scoring his 15th victory on the year.
As has been the case since 2009, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix marks the end of the season and thus concludes the 2022 season. The drivers and teams will have a much-deserved rest before racing resumes next Spring in Bahrain.
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| Race Results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M. Verstappen | 25 | |
| 2 | C. Leclerc | 18 | |
| 3 | S. Perez | 15 | |
| 4 | C. Sainz | 12 | |
| 5 | G. Russell | 10 | |
| 6 | L. Norris | 9 | |
| 7 | E. Ocon | 6 | |
| 8 | L. Stroll | 4 | |
| 9 | D. Ricciardo | 2 | |
| 10 | S. Vettel | 1 | |
| 11 | Y. Tsunoda | ||
| 12 | G. Zhou | ||
| 13 | A. Albon | ||
| 14 | P. Gasly | ||
| 15 | V. Bottas | ||
| 16 | M. Schumacher | ||
| 17 | K. Magnussen | ||
| DNF | L. Hamilton | ||
| DNF | N. Latifi | ||
| DNF | F. Alonso | ||
