Hamilton ends season-closing Abu Dhabi GP with dominant victory

Hamilton 2019 Abu Dhabi GP victory Lewis Hamilton #44 Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport F1 W10 EQ Power+ Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019 (2019 Abu Dhabi GP) Yas Marina Circuit Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates Image credit to LAT Sutton Images — Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W10 EQ Power+, Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019 (2019 Abu Dhabi GP), Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Image credit to LAT Sutton Images. Hamilton Abu Dhabi GP victory.

Lewis Hamilton ended his championship-winning 2019 campaign by cruising to a dominant Abu Dhabi GP victory as Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen overcame a power issue to pass Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to second.

Hamilton’s Abu Dhabi GP victory, was his 11th of the season and equal-best haul in a single campaign, which was never in doubt as the Briton drove a flawless race from start-to-finish, aided by Leclerc jumping past Verstappen on the opening lap.

Verstappen took on a long initial stint, then caught and fought his way by Leclerc to clinch second and score a career-best finish of third in the World Driver’s Championship standings.

Leclerc’s however, kept his third place despite an alleged breach of an international sporting code, which was the fuel declaration was at a significant difference between the declaration of the team and the amount of fuel inside the car, which Ferrari were fined $50,000 for breaking.

When the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix got underway, pole-sitter Hamilton got a great start and kept Verstappen behind with Vettel tucked behind Leclerc.

Leclerc breezed past Verstappen for second using the slip-stream along the back straight as Ferrari team-mate Vettel also attempted to attack the Dutchman but could not find a way through.

A technical infringement saw DRS disabled for use on the fourth lap.

After lap five, Hamilton lead by 3.067 seconds over Leclerc with Verstappen third, Vettel fourth and Albon rounding out the top five.

Leclerc continued to lose ground on race leader Hamilton whilst Bottas immediately caught the Alfa of Antonio Giovinazzi and passed the C38 into turn eight on the back straight.

On lap eight, Bottas’ climb through the field saw the Finn move passed Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen on the second straight for eleventh place.

After the tenth lap of the Grand Prix, Hamilton was over five seconds clear of Leclerc with Verstappen 2.271 seconds behind in third with Vettel fourth and Albon completing the top five.

Leclerc was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 13 for a fresh set of white side-walled harder tyres as Ferrari performed a double-stack pit-stop with both drivers.

Leclerc emerged in fourth behind Albon while Vettel ended up in eighth behind Perez, but Vettel immediately passed the Racing Point into turn eight to take sixth place.

Albon followed suit and stopped a lap later as the Red Bull came out in seventh.

On the 15^th lap, the yet-to-pit Hamilton lead by 10.204 seconds from Verstappen with Leclerc third, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg fourth and Bottas rounding out the top five.

Without DRS enabled, Bottas struggled to get passed Hulkenberg’s Renault as Vettel and Albon joined in the battle for fourth.

DRS was enabled on lap 18 as Bottas flew by Hulkenberg for fourth on the back straight into turn eight.

Hulkenberg peeled off into the pits on lap 19, emerging in 12^th whilst Vettel and Albon claimed fifth and sixth respectively.

On lap 20, Hamilton was 13.094 clear of Verstappen with Leclerc third, Bottas fourth, Vettel fifth and Albon sixth.

“The problem I have” said Hamilton on lap 21, “if the safety car comes out and I have to pit for the hard tyre, I can’t get the temperature into it and then we’re in trouble”. Bono reassured him that everyone else would be in a similar position to the Briton.

With 30 laps remaining, Hamilton lead Verstappen by 12.589 seconds with Leclerc in third, Bottas fourth, Vettel fifth and Albon completing the top six runners.

On lap 26, Verstappen pitted from second for a fresh set of C3 hard compounds and came out in third place.

Race leader Hamilton stopped a lap later for harder tyres and came out comfortably six seconds ahead of second-placed Leclerc.

Verstappen reported on the radio “Something is not correct” after his Honda-powered RB15 racer took a slide under braking.

On lap 30, Hamilton lead from Leclerc by 11 seconds with Verstappen third, Vettel fourth, Albon fifth and Bottas sixth after the Finn pitted for a fresh set of hards.

“Engine 11, position 8,” Verstappen was told by his engineer Giampiero Lambasse on lap 31. “I’ve got a massive handbrake effect as well…” the Dutchman replied. “How come this is suddenly a problem?”

On lap 32, with DRS assistance, Verstappen put on an impressive move on Leclerc in the battle for second as the Dutchman dived down the inside of the Ferrari into turn eight as Leclerc also passed George Russell’s Williams.

Leclerc came back at Verstappen on the next straight, but the Ferrari driver could not reclaim the place back as Verstappen sealed second place.

With 20 laps remaining, Hamilton comfortably lead from Verstappen by 15 seconds, with the two Ferrari’s of Leclerc and Vettel third and fourth respectively as Albon rounded out the top five.

Both Ferrari’s double-stacked for a second stop on lap 39 with Leclerc taking on a fresh set of softs and Vettel on another set of mediums.

Leclerc remained in third as Vettel emerged in sixth behind Bottas and Albon.

Meanwhile, Bottas dispatched Albon into turn eight to grab fourth place and Albon did not have the straight-line speed with his Honda-powered RB15 racer to come back at the Mercedes into turn 11.

On lap 40, Hamilton was 15 seconds clear from Verstappen with Leclerc third, Bottas fourth, Albon fifth and Vettel sixth.

With seven laps remaining, Racing Point’s Lance Stroll was the first and sole retiree of the race.

On the penultimate lap, Vettel attempted to fly past Albon with DRS – with the German unable do it into turn eight but made the move stick into turn 11 to claim fifth place.

Hamilton crossed the line by 16.772 seconds over Verstappen to claim the dominant Abu Dhabi GP victory, with the former planting the fastest lap on the penultimate tour to clinch the bonus point to end the season in style.

The aforementioned Leclerc rounded out the top three with Bottas claiming fourth after he moved by Albon during the final third of the Grand Prix.

Vettel came home in fifth after passing Albon on the penultimate lap ahead of the second Red Bull of Albon finished in sixth place and ahead of Racing Point’s seventh-placed Sergio Perez.

The two McLaren’s of Lando Norris settled for eighth and tenth respectively with Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat splitting the pairing in ninth as the trio completed the final points positions.

Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo finished outside the top ten in 11^th and in-front of team-mate Hulkenberg who raced in his final Grand Prix for the Anglo-French outfit with Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen taking 13^th.

The two VF-19 Haas entries of Magnussen and Romain Grosjean finished 14^th and 15^th respectively and ahead of Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi who was 16^th and the aforementioned Russell who took 17^th.

After the first lap tangle with the two Racing Point RP19’s Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly came home 18^th and ROKiT Williams Racing’s Robert Kubica (in his final Grand Prix) brought up the rear as both drivers finished two laps down.

The Top Three

Winner – Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W10 EQ Power+: “I’m so grateful to the team. Even though we had the championship won I just wanted to get my head down and see what we could learn from this beautiful car. Thank you for watching, thank you for supporting. I feel so happy today man!”

2^nd – Max Verstappen, #33, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda, RB15: “Our pace was quite decent, but Mercedes and Lewis were too quick. Overall it’s been a positive season and to be P3 in the championship is encouraging.”

3^rd – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF90: “I’m extremely happy about this year, a realisation of a dream since my childhood. Now it’s up to me to work, to get better and to give (Ferrari) the best they deserve.”

Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019 Race Results Classification (55 Laps)

POS	DRIVER	TEAM	CAR	GAP
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport	F1 W10 EQ Power+	1h34m05.715s
2	Max Verstappen	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	RB15	16.772s
3	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Ferrari	SF90	43.435s
4	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport	F1 W10 EQ Power+	44.379s
5	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Ferrari	SF90	1m04.357s
6	Alexander Albon	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	RB15	1m09.205s
7	Sergio Perez	SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team	RP19	1 Lap
8	Lando Norris	McLaren F1 Team	MCL34	1 Lap
9	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda	STR14	1 Lap
10	Carlos Sainz Jr.	McLaren F1 Team	MCL34	1 Lap
11	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault F1 Team	R.S.19	1 Lap
12	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault F1 Team	R.S.19	1 Lap
13	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo Racing	C38	1 Lap
14	Kevin Magnussen	Haas F1 Team	VF-19	1 Lap
15	Romain Grosjean	Haas F1 Team	VF-19	1 Lap
16	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing	C38	1 Lap
17	George Russell	ROKiT Williams Racing	FW42	1 Lap
18	Pierre Gasly	Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda	STR14	2 Laps
19	Robert Kubica	ROKiT Williams Racing	FW42	2 Laps
–	Lance Stroll	SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team	RP19	Retirement

Formula 1 2019 World Driver’s Championship Standings – Top 10

Lewis Hamilton – 413 Points.
Valtteri Bottas – 326 Points.
Max Verstappen – 278 Points
Charles Leclerc – 264 Points.
Sebastian Vettel – 240 Points.
Carlos Sainz – 96 Points.
Pierre Gasly – 95 Points.
Alexander Albon – 92 Points.
Daniel Ricciardo – 54 Points.
Sergio Perez – 52 Points.

You can read the full Formula 1 2019 World Driver’s Championship standings at the following link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2019/drivers.html