Max ends the year in style
In the final race of 2022, Max Verstappen made it 15 race wins in a single season in a dominant display. Verstappen won by 8.7 seconds over Charles Leclerc who claimed second in the drivers championship ahead of Sergio Perez who rounded out the podium.
The Biggest Talking Points
Not much happened in this race. Max dominated this race and to be honest, there wasn’t too much exciting action. The Merc’s struggled for pace all race and Lewis ended up retiring with an issue. Lewis never wants to see that car ever again. Charles Leclerc drove a very strong 1 stop to beat Sergio Perez who was coming through on a two stop. Charles will be happy with second in the championship, but he will want more next year. Fernando Alonso also retired with another mechanical problem. Fernando definitely doesn’t want to see that car again. In his final ever Formula 1 race, Sebastian Vettel managed to bring home 1 point, but he will be disappointed at not picking up more points. Danny Ric also came home in 9th so he can be pretty happy with his efforts today.
The Standout Drives in the Race
I gave out two 10’s for the final race of the season. The first one was of course Max Verstappen. Verstappen’s race today summed up his whole season. Comfortable, dominant and miles in front of the rest. Let’s see if he performs like this next season. The final 10 of the season goes to McLaren’s Lando Norris. Lando was super clean today, had really good pace and came home in P6. For me, he couldn’t have done any better today and that pretty much sums up his season. Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll were the other drivers who I thought had a great last race of the year.
Drivers who had a Horror Race
I have given out two 1’s for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Both of them have gone to Haas. Mick Schumacher made a stupid attempt at an overtake into Turn 5 and he ended up taking out Nicholas Latifi. This ruined Nicholas’ last Formula 1 race and kind of proved why Mick isn’t going to be on the grid next season. As for Kevin Magnussen, he finished last on the road. His strategy wasn’t great, but he also didn’t have a lot of pace. A pretty terrible way to end the season for Haas but at least they secured 8th in the constructors. Nicholas Latifi also struggled today but it would have been harsh to have given him a 1 given the fact he was taking out by Schumacher.
Overall Race Result and my Ratings
Max Verstappen: 10
Charles Leclerc: 9
Sergio Perez: 8
Carlos Sainz: 7
George Russell: 6
Lando Norris: 10 (FL)
Esteban Ocon: 9
Lance Stroll: 9
Daniel Ricciardo: 8
Sebastian Vettel: 7
Yuki Tsunoda: 6
Zhou Guanyu: 6
Alex Albon: 6
Pierre Gasly: 3
Valtteri Bottas: 3
Mick Schumacher: 1
Kevin Magnussen: 1
Lewis Hamilton: 5 (DNF)
Nicholas Latifi: 2 (DNF)
Fernando Alonso: 5 (DNF)
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