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Verstappen wins Abu Dhabi GP; Mercedes P2 in constructors’ championship

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Verstappen now has the third most wins in F1 history.

Max Verstappen has wrapped up a record-breaking 2023 F1 season with 19 wins from 22 races. While the drivers’ and constructors’ titles had already been decided some time ago, Mercedes and Ferrari headed into the Abu Dhabi GP still battling it out for P2. A penalty for Sergio Perez ended up giving Mercedes enough points to defeat Ferrari in that battle.

  1. Verstappen wins, 17.993 secs from Leclerc
  2. Mercedes defeats Ferrari by three points
  3. Final F1 race for Alfa Romeo

Verstappen takes comfortable Abu Dhabi GP win

In typical fashion, Verstappen converted pole position into a comfortable victory, 17.993 secs ahead of Leclerc. With this, the Red Bull driver now has the third most wins (54) in F1 history, behind only Lewis Hamilton (103) and Michael Schumacher (91).

“It was a bit emotional on the in-lap, the last time I was sitting in the car that has, of course, given me a lot. I’m very proud to win here and also at the last race. I have to say a big thank you to Red Bull, it’s just been an incredible year. It will be hard to do something similar again, but we definitely enjoyed this year,” said Verstappen.

Mercedes defeats Ferrari

Perez was handed a five-second time penalty for banging wheels with Lando Norris. Playing the strategic game, Leclerc let Perez pass him for P2 in the closing stages of the race, in the hopes that he’d build enough of a gap to George Russell. This, of course, would have helped Ferrari clinch P2 in the constructors’ championship.

While Perez did finish second on track, he fell 1.1 sec short and was demoted to fourth place, behind Leclerc and Russell. This gave Mercedes enough points to defeat Ferrari in the championship. Norris finished fifth, ahead of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. Fernando Alonso, Yuki Tsunoda, Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10.

With the sun now setting on the 2023 season, F1 action will now resume in February next year, with the pre-season test scheduled for February 29-March 2, 2024.

2023 Abu Dhabi GP results

2023 Abu Dhabi GP results
Pos Driver Team
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari
3 George Russell Mercedes
4 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing
5 Lando Norris McLaren
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin
8 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri
9 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin
11 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri
12 Esteban Ocon Alpine
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine
14 Alex Albon Williams
15 Nico Hulkenberg Haas
16 Logan Sargeant Williams
17 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo
18 Carlos Sainz Ferrari
19 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo
20 Kevin Magnussen Haas

Also see:

Verstappen wins Las Vegas GP; Leclerc takes P2 on last lap



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