Red Bull Motorsports
F1
This is how Max Verstappen finished 3rd at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton won the final Grand Prix of 2018 in Abu Dhabi from Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, but never looked unduly troubled, as Max Verstappen came home third for Red Bull Racing.
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Max Verstappen first won an epic duel with Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas, and then kept Red Bull Racing team-mate Daniel Ricciardo at bay in the closing laps to finish third behind winner Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, eventually finishing 2.6 seconds ahead of his team-mate.
The first lap at the Yas Marina Circuit was dramatic. Nico Hülkenberg tangled with Romain Grosjean in the chicane at the end of the long back straight, flipped and barrel rolled into the wall. Elsewhere, there were multiple overtaking moves, until everyone found their natural place in the order and the race settled down.
With most drivers running a one-stop race, it was a question of going short or long. Hamilton opted for short, Ricciardo went very long, with a view to attacking at the end of the race. It didn't work out for the Australian, who lost position to his Dutch team-mate.
Behind Ricciardo, who was driving his final race for Red Bull Racing, Bottas came home fifth, Carlos Sainz was sixth in his final race for Renault, Charles Leclerc was seventh for Sauber, Sergio Pérez bagged eighth for Force India, Grosjean was ninth for Haas, and the final point went to his team-mate, Kevin Magnussen.
Ricciardo and Verstappen fought for third place
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
A brief – and highly unusual – rain shower threatened to introduce an element of drama to the race, but it never got heavy enough to require wet tyres. A bigger problem was the wind, which picked up through the race and created strong currents between the high grandstands. Nothing could blow Hamilton off course however. The five times world champion once again made victory look like a gentle stroll in the park.
What did we learn at Yas Marina?
To Russia, without much love
Kimi Räikkönen retired from his final race for Ferrari, stopping early in proceedings, but that was where his good luck ended. Going into the race, Räikkönen (251), Valtteri Bottas (237) and Verstappen (234) were battling for third place in the Drivers' Championship. It's something of a poisoned chalice: the top three drivers are required at the FIA Gala in two weeks' time, while the guy who finishes fourth gets to go on holiday earlier.
"I don’t think it's changing my world anyway," deadpanned Räikkönen before the race. "If I end up third, I think we need to go wherever the prize giving is so it's a negative thing in the end, you know, more travelling."
With Räikkönen out, and Bottas running second, the elder Finn was on course for the beach. But with Bottas losing ground and having to make a second stop, eventually finishing fifth, it's Räikkönen who'll go to the ball. Third place in the race saw Verstappen jump up into fourth place in the championship. "At least I don't have to go to the Gala," said Verstappen. "We calculated that!" Räikkönen will be appearing in black tie at the St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic Hall in Russia.
When is a constructor not a constructor?
A bout of end of season grumpiness broke out at the Yas Marina Circuit, with Haas protesting the very existence of the Force India team. The survival of Force India, and their transition from Sahara Force India to Racing Point Force India was a complicated affair, the upshot of which was that Racing Point are a new team in effect.
The definition of a constructor requires teams to design a set of 'listed parts' in-house, and own the intellectual property to those parts, as opposed to buying them in from another team. Haas made the argument that Racing Point Force India are clearly using parts designed by Sahara Force India, and that they had, in effect, not designed their own car.
The Stewards threw the Haas protest out, reaching a series of conclusions that broadly stated Sahara Force India were not an F1 constructor at the point Racing Point Force India received their entry into F1, and thus, the listed parts rules are not applicable.
With Force India unable to catch Haas in the Constructors' Championship, subtext would point out this was really about money, and, specifically, who gets what and when. As F1's most recent arrival, Haas were required to do two years probation before qualifying for its cut of 'Column 1' revenue. The case for Racing Point Force India is not quite so clear. There's also the question of Force India questioning the legitimacy of the Haas car at the start of the season, and quite how much of it comes from Ferrari. What goes around…
#Gracias Fernando
Fernando Alonso was undoubtedly the centre of attention over the weekend, stealing the limelight from Lewis Hamilton in the press conference, having the F1 community turn up to his farewell party in the paddock on Saturday evening, and gatecrashing the post-race track interviews.
It's worth pointing out that the 2005 and 2006 world champion hasn't conclusively finished with F1 for good. Officially, he's decided to not race in 2019, preferring instead to spend a year as an itinerant racer. He's the WEC season to conclude with Toyota, culminating at Le Mans, with the World Endurance Championship at stake, plus McLaren have announced they'll be running an entry for him at the Indy 500, as he seeks to complete the final leg of the triple crown.
Also, Alonso's hinted that there may be further one-off races in his schedule at other iconic races. Will we see him back at Daytona, popping up in NASCAR or going Down Under to race at Bathurst? He says he isn't ruling anything out.
As for this weekend, Alonso confirmed it would be an emotional experience. He also revealed a cunning plan to win what might be his final F1 appearance. "If we're not quick enough, we'll cut all of the chicanes," Alonso explained. "There's quite a lot of runoff. Maybe the FIA will be a little bit lenient with me, with it being the last race."
They weren't. Alonso picked up a five-second penalty in the final laps for cutting the chicanes, and the stewards, having a sense of humour failure, tagged on three penalty points for good measure after the race. Not that the driver cared – he was too busy doing donuts to notice.
The battle on track
The major placings in 2018 were all long since settled going to Abu Dhabi, but the minor placings aren't minor to the teams competing for them. There's pride at stake, but also considerable sums of prize money up for grabs, and the midfield was tight, with sixth to ninth in the Constructors’ Championship all in the mix. McLaren held sixth going into the race, with 62 points, 14 ahead of Force India (48), with Sauber eighth on 42, and Toro Rosso lurking on 33.
In the middle of the race, Force India looked like overhauling McLaren, and were then in danger themselves of being caught by Sauber. An attritional Grand Prix saw Sauber's Marcus Ericsson and Force India's Esteban Ocon retire, though, and in the final analysis everyone stayed where they were.
Kubica's return
The big news in the early part of the weekend was the announcement at Williams that Robert Kubica would be racing for the team in 2019. Kubica was widely tipped to take the seat in 2018, only for it to eventually go to Sergey Sirotkin. Kubica received the consolation prize of a test and development role with the team, and eased himself in with pre-season testing work and three FP1 sessions.
Kubica hasn't raced in F1 since 2010, when his career curtailed by a horrific rallying accident shortly before the start of the 2011 season. His return is very much a feel-good story in the F1 paddock, where Kubica has always been a popular driver. On a more practical level, he's also seen as a good foil at Williams for rookie team-mate George Russell, who sealed the Formula 2 title this weekend with victory in Saturday’s F2 feature race.
It's the end, but the moment has been prepared for
The fireworks in Abu Dhabi signalled the end of the 2018 season, but not the end of the F1 year. The teams will be out on track again at Yas Marina for two day's of testing next week. After that the simulators will be in heavy use, as team prepare for a whole new set of aero regulations in 2019, and cars that handle very differently in traffic. The drivers may be heading off on holiday, but for the factories it's the busiest time of the year.
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