F1 | Race | Abu Dhabi GP | Norris seals championship despite Verstappen win - Motorsport

Spread the love

With the pressure of the World Championship title on the line, Max Verstappen grabbed a commanding pole for the F1 Abu Dhabi GP. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri followed suit, meaning the championship top three were to lead the field out at the start.

Verstappen retains lead in opening sequence

At lights out it is Verstappen who takes an agressive approach to defend from Norris. Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso squabble behind the championship trio, as George Russell had a poor start and dropped to sixth.

Piastri gets a great run on Norris on the back straight and goes around Norris in turn 9. In second place he quickly creates a gap to his team mate to prevent a re-overtake.

Verstappen starts with setting a few fastest laps, as Russell overtakes Alonso into turn six. Ahead of them Leclerc is in Norris’ DRS range, but cannot yet overtake the championship leader in this Abu Dhabi GP.

Speaking of DRS, which sees its swan song today, a train is forming behind Piastri. Everyone behind him has more-or-less a second gap to the car ahead.

A few laps later the actual DRS train is forming behing Alonso. Nico Hülkenberg is the first to stop in his 250^th GP. The other soft tyre starters follow a lap later. Piastri is told to hurry up a bit, as Leclerc is keep putting Norris under pressure.

In the mean time Pierre Gasly and Hülkenberg are under investigation for a first lap collision, as the latter sets the fastest lap. It shows Verstappen isn’t pushing as hard as he could.

Russell opens pit stop dance

Despite the hurry-up Norris can’t really get rid of Leclerc, meaning the Briton has to keep looking in his mirror.

There is no further action for the Gasly/Hülkenberg incident, as Liam Lawson and Ollie Bearman are now under investigation. The young Kiwi get’s a 5-second penalty for driving erratically.

Russell is the first one to stop of the front-runners, with a slow getaway for the Mercedes driver. It does put McLaren under pressure as it is an undercut attempt on Norris.

Neither McLaren nor Ferrari react immediately, as Russell has dropped back to 14^th. A lap later Norris and Leclerc do stop, dropping both behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Leclerc stays just ahead of Russell, but is noted for ‘moving under braking’.

Norris overtakes Antonelli next time around in turn 5 and disposes of Carlos Sainz in turn 8. The Williams driver pits immediately as he was struggling for grip.

Next lap Norris overtakes Stroll and Lawson into turn 6. Lawson tries to take the position back into turn 9. Leclerc does the same as Norris a lap later.

Race direction and stewards get busy

Coming up behind Yuki Tsunoda Norris immediately disposes of the Japanese driver, but does seem to go off track doing so. Verstappen immediately pits and comes out ahead of Norris, meaning Piastri has the lead.

Both Tsunoda and Norris are under investigation for the overtake, as Verstappen slowly is closing the gap to Piastri.

Alonso overtakes Antonelli on the main straight, almost going off the track as well. He does seem to have a wheel on the white line at all times.

Tsunoda does get a 5-second time penalty for weaving, while Norris gets away unscathed for overtaking off-track. Antonelli, Hamilton, Gasly and Hülkenberg all get a black-and-white flag for track limits.

Second round of stops for many drivers

Hamilton is the first one to make a second stop, showing that degradation could still come into play for the lead drivers. Antonelli and Tsunoda stop a little later to switch to the medium tyres.

Albon is noted for speeding in the pitlane, which will be a slam dunk penalty for the Thai. Hamilton in the meantime has overtaken Franco Colapinto for 15^th.

In the midfield Esteban Ocon and Gabriel Bortoleto fight over eighth, with the Frenchman eventually coming out on top.

Up front Verstappen is setting fastest lap after fastest lap while hunting down Piastri, as Leclerc pits for the second time. Norris covers him up a lap later, while his team mate still hasn’t stopped.

The Briton comes out ahead of Russell, while Verstappen overtakes Piastri for the lead. Piastri immediately stops for fresh medium tyres and comes out ahead of Norris in P2.

Leclerc overtakes Russell for fourth, in an attempt to close the gap to the podium. The Ferrari-driver makes the most of his tyre advantage by setting the fastest lap.

His team mate does something similar, as Hamilton is picking off multiple drivers en route to the points.

Piastri and Leclerc giving it all

With a significant lead in the Abu Dhabi GP, Verstappen is on the losing side in regards to the championship, as Norris is third wil 10 laps to go.

It doesn’t mean however that Piastri isn’t trying to win the race still, as he manages to bring down the gap to the front.

Towards the back Antonelli overtakes Isack Hadjar for 13^th, with Hamilton being very close to Ocon and Alonso for P6.

Hülkenberg tries to add some shine to his jubilee race by overtaking Albon and Hadjar, as Hamilton finally overtakes Ocon into turn 7. However, Ocon doesn’t let it go easily and re-overtakes into turn 9.

With 5 laps to go Norris starts to close the gap to Piastri, making sure he is out of reach for Leclerc behind him.

Further back, Stroll overtakes Sainz in a battle for the final point with Bortoleto. The traction battle is easily won by the Canadian driver, who has the fresher rubber. A lap later he has overtaken Bortoleto for 10^th, claiming the final point for now.

As the last lap runs the cards seem to be dealt, and indeed nothing strange happens. Verstappen wins the Abu Dhabi GP, but the championship goes to Lando Norris! Piastri takes second from his team mate and Leclerc. Russell is fifth, Alonso sixth and Ocon seventh. Hamilton finishes eighth after a superb comeback. Bearman completes a double points finish for Haas, as somehow Hülkenberg claims tenth and the final point.