Red Bull’s Max Verstappen outpaced and held off the challenge of the Mercedes pair to end his difficult season with a win.
Verstappen was comfortably third but well behind Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas and many will hope this final race is a taste of what could come in 2021.
Verstappen wins
The Red Bull driver came home 15 seconds ahead of Bottas who finished ahead of his teammate Hamilton, who returned from a coronavirus induced break.
Verstappen’s teammate Albon came home in fourth but had been well off the pace of the cars in front of him.
McLaren seem to have snatched third place in the Constructor’s Championship after Lando Norris abd Carlos Sainz finished P5 and P6 respectively although the Spaniard faces an investigation for driving too slowly in the pits.
Racing Point surrendered third place after Sergio Perez was forced to retire with a transmission issue on Lap 10 of the race, an unfortunate end to his time in the team for last week’s race winner.
Daniel Ricciardo came home seventh on his final outing for Renault, ahead of the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly, while behind Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll took the final points-paying position in P10 having been passed on the final lap, Ocon cementing Renault’s fifth in the constructors’.
Meanwhile, on his final race for Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel finished P14, behind teammate Charles Leclerc, while in what looks to be his last race in F1, Kevin Magnussen finished P18 for Haas.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA | 55 | 1:36:28.645 | 25 |
| 2 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | MERCEDES | 55 | +15.976s | 18 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 55 | +18.415s | 15 |
| 4 | 23 | Alexander Albon | RED BULL RACING HONDA | 55 | +19.987s | 12 |
| 5 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN RENAULT | 55 | +60.729s | 10 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | MCLAREN RENAULT | 55 | +65.662s | 8 |
| 7 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RENAULT | 55 | +73.748s | 7 |
| 8 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPHATAURI HONDA | 55 | +89.718s | 4 |
| 9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | RENAULT | 55 | +101.069s | 2 |
| 10 | 18 | Lance Stroll | RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES | 55 | +102.738s | 1 |
| 11 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | ALPHATAURI HONDA | 54 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 12 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI | 54 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 13 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 54 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 14 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | FERRARI | 54 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 15 | 63 | George Russell | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 54 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 16 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI | 54 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 17 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 54 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 18 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 54 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 19 | 51 | Pietro Fittipaldi | HAAS FERRARI | 53 | +2 laps | 0 |
| NC | 11 | Sergio Perez | RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES | 8 | DNF | 0 |
