Formula One will roar for one last time in 2023 as the curtains are close to closing following 58-laps of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Backing up after a stellar inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Formula One circus returns to the Middle East and the recently updated 5.5km circuit – which improved raceability and flow compared to the previous layout.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who’s targeting a record 21st win of the season to move to third all-time on the F1 winner’s list – has won the last three races in Abu Dhabi, including the controversial 2021 finale.
Red Bull itself comes into this weekend having sewn up their first ever one-two in the championship – with Sergio Perez safe on points ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Though pride is on the line for the Mexican if he can’t secure a good result.
Elsewhere, there are constructor’s championship battles that are wide open. Mercedes are only four-points clear of Ferrari for second, while McLaren’s mare in Vegas has put Aston Martin back with 11-points of fourth.
Williams are locked in a multimillion dollar fight for seventh, with 7-points separating them from AlphaTauri – who thanks to a rejuvenated Daniel Ricciardo have been climbing up from the bottom of the table.
While Alfa Romeo in their final race as title partner of Sauber, have a four-point buffer over Haas in the scrap for the wooden spoon.
As with Vegas, the softest tyres in Pirelli’s range are available for this race and strategy wise there ought to be a mix of one or two-stops across the field.
Cometh the hour, it was Verstappen with the quickest lap in qualifying for pole position, despite Red Bull looking on the back foot at the conclusion of practice. Charles Leclerc completed the front-row, which is crucial in the battle with Mercedes.
Both Ferrari and Mercedes had a driver that failed to make it into the top ten, which might prove more difficult for the former – as Carlos Sainz will need to climb through the field from sixteenth.
Two McLarens in the top five as well, being spearheaded by Oscar Piastri in third sees a return to form for the Papaya team. A chance to finish the season on a high and consolidate fourth in the championship.
Meanwhile from pole position, it seems impossible to deny Verstappen the race win in what has been an imperious season. though can anyone steal the glory from the reigning world champion?
Be sure to tune for the final Formula One race of 2023. As always, The Roar will have live blog coverage and lap-by-lap updates of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from 11:50pm AEDT.
Race Information
Lights out: 12:00am (AEDT)
Venue: Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi
TV: Fox Sports
Online: Kayo Sports, Foxtel
Grid
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren), 4. George Russell (Mercedes), 5. Lando Norris (McLaren), 6. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), 7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), 8. Nico Hülkenberg (Haas), 9. Sergio Perez (Red Bull), 10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine), 11. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 12. Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 13. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), 14. Alexander Albon (Williams), 15. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri), 16. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 17. Kevin Magnussen (Haas), 18. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), 19. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), 20. Logan Sargeant (Williams)
Stuart Thomas
Expert
The man is simply a legend and destined to be one of the greats if not already classified as such. You are also a legend, for bringing us the races at tricky hours on occasions and providing excellent commentary and analysis. Smokey for 2024? Piastri.
Blink
Roar Rookie
Thanks Jawad. i've really enjoyed this season. I think we are privileged to see a top driver like Verstappen at the peak of his powers in a car he helped develop. Hamilton got third but how long will he put up with being irrelevant. His star is dwindling as must be the motivation as Russell appears to have his measure currently. For me he needs to stand out a year and retire or get another team.
andrew
Roar Rookie
Your reports on the F1 season have been excellent Jawad. See you for kick off on March 2nd in 2024. Merry Xmas and Happy New Year.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Well that then wraps up this live blog of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and indeed The Roar's coverage of the 2023 F1 season. A big thank you as always to The Roar for giving me the privilege to blog F1 and it is a special feeling to have completed a tenth season doing this. A record breaking year for Red Bull and Max Verstappen, the emergence of McLaren and Aston Martin as potential challengers in the future - with Oscar Piastri someone for us Aussies to look forward to next year. It is time for a well earned rest then before the 2024 season gets underway in Bahrain on March 2. Thank you all for tuning in and chipping in to the conversation, let's do it all again next year. Until then - bye for now!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 575 - Max Verstappen 285 - Sergio Perez 234 - Lewis Hamilton 206 - Fernando Alonso 206 - Charles Leclerc 205 - Lando Norris 200 - Carlos Sainz 175 - George Russell 97 -- Oscar Piastri 74 -- Lance Stroll 62 -- Pierre Gasly 58 -- Esteban Ocon 27 -- Alexander Albon 17 -- Yuki Tsunoda 10 -- Valterri Bottas 9 --- Nico Hülkenberg 6 --- Daniel Ricciardo 6 --- Zhou Guanyu 3 --- Kevin Magnussen 2 --- Liam Lawson 1 --- Logan Sargeant 0 --- Nyck De Vries
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 860 - Red Bull Racing 409 - Mercedes AMG 406 - Ferrari 302 - McLaren Mercedes 280 - Aston Martin Racing 120 - Alpine 28 -- Williams Mercedes 25 -- Scuderia AlphaTauri 16 -- Alfa Romeo Racing 12 -- Haas Ferrari
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT Max Verstappen put the finishing touches on his stellar 2023 campaign, with his 19th win of the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and also becoming the first driver in history to lead 1000-laps in a single season. The three-time world champion from pole edged Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc heading into the first corner and was untroubled for the 58-laps ahead. It was a fascinating battle behind Verstappen, as Mercedes and Ferrari scrapped away for second in the constructor’s championship. That battle eventually going the way of Mercedes, with George Russell scoring only his second podium of the season and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton ninth. While Leclerc’s second alone was not enough, given Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz ultimately finished outside the point having started sixteenth. Running two sets of hard tyres, meant that the Spaniard had to make a second stop late in the race to run an alternative compound – eventually switching to the softs on the penultimate lap and failing to see the checquered flag. There was DRS trains up and down the field, as Hamilton again battled with the Alpines and came to blows with Pierre Gasly – damaging his front-wing. Neither of the French drivers finished in the points however. McLaren, who started with both drivers in the top five didn’t have the race pace to match Russell, Perez and Leclerc. Lando Norris eventually making contact with Perez, which the Mexican was penalised 5-seconds for. Perez, who was the faster of the Leclerc and Russell trio, was helped by the Ferrari to move into second and try to build up a gap to nullify the penalty – in order to deny Russell and Mercedes the points needed to secure second. However, that wasn’t to be with Mercedes finishing two-points clear. Eighth for Yuki Tsunoda was not enough either for AlphaTauri to outscore Williams in the constructor’s championship for seventh, despite the Japanese driver leading the race as well. The one-stop strategy not optimal for the Red Bull affiliate team, despite neither Williams near the points. Both Aston Martins led by Fernando Alonso in seventh also scored top ten finishes, though they were comfortably outscored by McLaren to fourth in the championship. Verstappen’s 19th win of the season, also puts him third all-time on the F1 winner’s list behind only Hamilton and fellow seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
STANDBY FOR RACE REPORT & UPDATED STANDINGS
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by David Coulthard VERSTAPPEN - "An incredible season, it was an emotional in-lap." "It will be hard to do something similar again." "We are working hard again to have a competitive car for next year." LECLERC - "It was all in the last few moments and we had to help Checo with the 5-second penalty." "As a team it was not a given that we were in the second fastest car." "It is a shame that we finished third in the constructor's." "But the team have done an incredible job." RUSSELL - "It means a huge amount, it has been a challenging season." "Checo just came from nowhere and it was really tense there at the end." "A massive relief to bring the car home in P3."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 58-LAP ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX 1 M. Verstappen 2 C. Leclerc 3 G. Russell 4 S. Perez* 5 L. Norris 6 O. Piastri 7 F. Alonso 8 Y. Tsunoda 9 L. Hamilton 10 L. Stroll 11 D. Ricciardo 12 E. Ocon 13 P. Gasly 14 A. Albon 15 N. Hülkenberg 16 L. Sargeant 17 G. Zhou 18 C. Sainz 19 V. Bottas 20 K. Magnussen *Sergio Perez drops to fourth with a 5-second time penalty*
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX! It is Charles Leclerc who finishes as runner up, with that 5-second penalty to Sergio Perez. And third to George Russell helps Mercedes beat Ferrari in the constructor's championship.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 58/58: FINAL LAP Verstappen becomes the first driver to lead 1000 laps in a single season. Perez is through on Leclerc, though is the gap enough to nullify that penalty and help Ferrari stay ahead of Mercedes?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 57/58: Sainz is in for that second stop and switches to the soft tyre and he is down in fifteenth. Leclerc meanwhile is inquiring as to whether Checo has a 5-second gap or not over Russell.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 56/58: Sainz is still yet to pit having not used two different compounds. So he's likely to lose a point for Ferrari. Perez still only 2.5-seconds ahead of Russell.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 55/58: Perez has the gap out to 1.9-seconds then.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 54/58: Perez does indeed pass Russell down the inside into Turn 9! So he'll need to build a 5-second gap in order to secure a position on the podium. This also puts Ferrari just a point ahead of Mercedes.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 53/58: Perez is within DRS range of Russell then, but requires to make up an additional 5-seconds to nullify that 5-second penalty that he's not happy about.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 52/58: Sainz in tenth is slowly falling into the clutches of Stroll, as the Ferrari still needs to make a second pit-stop.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 51/58: 5-second time penalty to Perez for causing a collision and this could be a big get-out-of-jail card for Mercedes, as Russell would likely hang onto third in this instance and Mercedes have the points needed to edge out Ferrari for second.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 50/58: VER LEC RUS PER NOR PIA TSU ALO HAM SAI STR OCO RIC GAS ALB HÜL ZHO SAR BOT MAG is how the field looks then.