For a race that's traditionally the last race of the season, the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi makes for a painfully boring race. And yet again it didn't disappoint with Red Bull's Max Verstappen winning from start to finish in a dominant display over the Mercedes duo of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton, who finished P2 and P3 respectively. Hamilton who was returning from a bout of COVID-19 was not 100 per cent and uncharacteristically didn't have an answer for both his teammate and Verstappen. Verstappen's teammate Alex Albon was in striking range of Hamilton by the end of the race within 1.5 seconds in P4.
McLaren managed to secure its P3 position in the constructors' championship with Lando Norris finishing P5 and his outgoing teammate Carlos Sainz Jr managing P6. Daniel Ricciardo in his last race with Renault finished at P7 and also stole the fastest lap from Max Verstappen in the last lap of the race. Pierre Gasly topped up a very impressive season for the AlphaTauri in P8 while fellow Frenchman and former friend Esteban Ocon finished at P9 in the second Renault.
Alex Albon finished in P4 which should increase his chances of retaining his seat
After the high of Bahrain and Sergio Perez's maiden win, Racing Point was in for a tough race as it lost out on an opportunity to get P3 in the constructors; championship. Sergio Perez who was crippled because of an engine change made good moves from P20, but due to a transmission problem, he had to retire in his last race for the team. Lance Stroll also couldn't do much better as he just managed P10 struggling through most of the race.
Daniil Kvyat in what many consider to be his last race for AlphaTauri just managed P1 despite qualifying ahead of his teammate Gasly. Raikkonen kept the Ferraris at bay in P12 for the Alfa Romeo. Charles Leclerc yet again out finished ahead of Vettel in P13, though Vettel for a large part of the race was in the points as the Scuderia decided to not pit the two cars during the safety car triggered by the Perez retirement. It marks the end of a miserable year for the four-time world champion and the end of his term at Ferrari.
George Russell found himself in familiar territory finishing P15 for the Williams ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi in the other Alfa Romeo. Nicholas Latifi managed P17 in the other Williams, while Kevin Magnussen finished at P18 in his last race for Haas. Pietro Fittipaldi filling in for Romain Grosjean in the other Haas topped off the grid with P19.
Leclerc finished ahead of Vettel yet again
Provisional Results
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:41.626
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes +15.976s
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +18.415s
4 Alex Albon Red Bull +19.987s
5 Lando Norris McLaren +60.729s
6 Carlos Sainz McLaren +65.662s
7 Daniel Ricciardo Renault +73.748s
8 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri +89.718s
9 Esteban Ocon Renault +101.069s
10 Lance Stroll Racing Point +102.738s
11 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri 1 LAP 1
12 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 1 LAP 1
13 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1 LAP 1
14 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1 LAP 1
15 George Russell Williams 1 LAP 1
16 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 1 LAP 1
17 Nicholas Latifi Williams 1 LAP 2
18 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1 LAP 2
19 Pietro Fittipaldi Haas 2 LAPS 3
Did not finish
Sergio Perez, Racing Point (transmission failure)
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