Verstappen wins Abu Dhabi GP; Leclerc second in F1 standings

The 2022 F1 season belonged to Max Verstappen. Not only did the Red Bull driver clinch his second title, but he did so in dominant fashion. Rather fittingly, he capped off the season with a comfortable victory in Abu Dhabi.

Charles Leclerc fended off Sergio Perez to finish second on the podium, which also placed him second in the overall championship order.

• Verstappen wins 8.772 secs ahead of Leclerc
• Perez loses out on P2 standings by three points
• Hamilton completes first F1 season without a win

Verstappen cruises to Abu Dhabi GP victory

Launching from pole position, Verstappen covered Perez into Turn 1. He remained relatively unchallenged throughout the race as he pitted for hard tyres on lap 20 and took them to the end.

The Dutchman scored a total of 15 wins in 2022 (that’s more than 70 percent of the races this year), extending his record for the most wins in a single F1 season. “It’s been really enjoyable to work with the whole team and to be able to achieve something like this, this year,” he said. “I know it’s going to be hard to replicate something like this, but it is also motivation to try and do well again next year.”

Leclerc pips Perez to second overall

While the major championship was already wrapped up, there was still a battle underway for second place in the championship. All the drama in the Brazil GP left Leclerc and Perez tied on points heading into the finale.

Both drivers went for different strategies, with Perez opting to pit twice, while Leclerc went for a one-stop strategy. As a result, Perez was able to close in on Leclerc in the last few laps of the race, but he never got close enough to mount a challenge.

With Leclerc finishing second in Abu Dhabi, he successfully pipped Perez to second in the standings by three points. Carlos Sainz and George Russell finished behind them in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Vettel scores point in final F1 race

Lewis Hamilton was running in sixth place when he was forced to retire due to a mechanical failure with just two laps to go. This is the Briton’s first season without a win in his F1 career.

This handed Land Norris sixth place, ahead of Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll. Daniel Ricciardo was ninth in his last race with McLaren. The Australian driver won’t be part of the F1 grid next year, but he is strongly linked to a reserve role with Red Bull Racing.

Hamilton’s retirement also resulted in Sebastian Vettel finishing his last-ever F1 race in the points. He admitted that Aston Martin didn’t go for the best strategy as the decision to go for a one-stop essentially left him as a sitting duck in the closing stages.

The singular point he scored helped Aston Martin level points with Alfa Romeo, although the latter defeated them to sixth in the standings on the back of their overall results.

2022 Abu Dhabi GP results

Also see:

Verstappen clinches second F1 title with Suzuka win