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F1: Charles Leclerc & Ferrari Secure P2 In Driver’s & Constructor’s Championship At Abu Dhabi

Leclerc showed incredible pace in a fast Ferrari and ensured that Sergio Perez was unable to use his fresher tyres to overtake him to get P2.
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By Sahil Gupta

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7 mins read

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Published on November 21, 2022

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Highlights

  • Verstappen won a record 15th win of the season
  • Vettel finished P10 in his last race as a F1 driver
  • Leclerc used a 1 stop strategy to beat Perez to P2 in the race and driver’s championship

The season finale was expected to be a Red Bull washout, but it turns out it was an even better race for Ferrari despite Max Verstappen winning again quite comfortably for a record 15th race win of the season. Charles Leclerc and Ferrari needed not just a P2 for the driver, but they had to ensure that both cars were finished ahead of the Mercedes duo and the Monegasque had the prickly task of overhauling the fast Red Bull of Sergio Perez which had qualified ahead of him in P2. Leclerc and Ferrari managed both via canny strategy something many believed was the weak point of the team and some solid race pace and reliability issues for Mercedes.

Leclerc managed to overtake Perez by doing a one-stop race much like Verstappen, but this also meant he ran the risk of being on old tyres at the end of the race and being exposed to a rapid Red Bull, but Perez only managed to come within 1.3 seconds of the scarlet car. For Mercedes, this was a race to forget as Hamilton and Russell couldn’t capitalise on their early pace. 

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Hamilton first had to give back a position to Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz after a track limits violation and then found himself struggling for performance which eventually culminated in retirement at the fag end of the race. Russell spent most of the race behind the Ferrari and never really had the chance to challenge the red cars and finished P5.

Lando Norris again impressed in the McLaren for P6 as he finished ahead of Esteban Ocon in the Alpine, but this wasn’t enough to secure P4 in the championship something which the Alpine team snagged from McLaren despite the retirement of Fernando Alonso who moves to Aston Martin next year. Lance Stroll managed P9 ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the other McLaren. Stroll’s teammate, Sebastian Vettel who retires after this race managed to finish in the points in P10, but this wasn’t enough for Aston Martin to snatch P6 in the constructor’s championship from Alfa Romeo.

Yuki Tsunoda was the lead AlphaTauri in P11 ahead of Guanyu Zhou in the Alfa Romeo. Alex Albon managed P13 in the Williams while his outgoing teammate Nicholas Latifi retired in his last race for the team. Pierre Gasly who was also in his last race for AlphaTauri managed to finish just in P14. Valtteri Bottas managed P15 ahead of Mick Schumacher who was also in his last race for the Haas team. His teammate Kevin Magnussen finished 17th and was the last car to finish the race.

2022 F1 Abu Dhabi GP Race Results

Pos.

No

Driver

Team

Lap

Gap

Points

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull

58

1:27:45.914

25

2

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

58

8.771s

18

3

11

Sergio Perez

Red Bull

58

10.093s

15

4

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

58

24.892s

12

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

58

35.888s

10

6

4

Lando Norris

McLaren

58

56.234s

9

7

31

Esteban Ocon

Alpine

58

57.240s

6

8

18

Lance Stroll

Aston Martin

58

76.931s

4

9

3

Daniel Ricciardo

McLaren

58

83.268s

2

10

5

Sebastian Vettel

Aston Martin

58

83.898s

1

11

22

Yuki Tsunoda

AphaTauri

58

89.371s

0

12

24

Zhou Guanyu

Alfa Romeo

57

1 lap

0

13

23

Alexander Albon

Williams

57

1 lap

0

14

10

Pierre Gasly

AlphaTauri

57

1 lap

0

15

77

Valtteri Bottas

Alfa Romeo

57

1 lap

0

16

47

Mick Schumacher

Haas

57

1 lap

0

17

20

Kevin Magnussen

Haas

57

1 lap

0

18

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

55

DNF

0

19

6

Nicholas Latifi

Williams

55

DNF

0

20

14

Fernando Alonso

Alpine

27

DNF

0

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Last Updated on November 21, 2022


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