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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Liam Prenderville

Lewis Hamilton retires from Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to cap miserable campaign

Lewis Hamilton's 2022 F1 season ended in miserable fashion as he was forced to retire from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Brit was forced to retire with two laps remaining of the season finale due to a mechanical failure as he ended the year without a single race win for the first time ever.

Hamilton appeared to lose power on lap 56 in fourth place as world champion Max Verstappen raced clear to claim another victory in Abu Dhabi.

Charles Leclerc beat Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez to secure second in the championship, while Sebastian Vettel's final race ended with 10th spot.

Hamilton's retirement guaranteed second place in the constructors' championship for Ferrari but it brings to an end a truly woeful season for the former champion.

Hamilton was heard saying he couldn't change gear over the radio and was forced to come into the pits on the penultimate lap.

He had to take evasive action from Carlos Sainz in the opening lap as he went off the track, in scenes reminiscent of what happened with Verstappen in last year's title decider.

Mercedes have had a number of issues with their car this season and it proved a problem again in Abu Dhabi - although this was the first mechanical failure of the season.

Speaking ahead of the race, Hamilton said: "I don't ever plan to drive this one again." He chuckled. "It won't be one of the ones I request to have in my contract.

"We have some downforce. We just need a much more efficient car and everybody in the team knows exactly what are the problems and where we have gone wrong so I'm pretty confident they are not going to build the next car with any of those characteristics."

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