Sebastian Vettel finished inside the points in his final Formula 1 race, as Charles Leclerc held off Sergio Perez to deny Red Bull their first ever one-two finish in the drivers' championship.
Max Verstappen won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix comfortably, but the real intrigue was behind him. Leclerc stuck to a one-stop strategy to get track position while Perez gambles with two trips to the pits, but despite his fresher tyres he was unable to get past the Ferrari driver.
So Leclerc took second in the race and the championship, with Perez having to settle for third. Further back, Vettel managed 10th place despite looking like he would miss out on points, in his F1 farewell race. His Aston Martin team gambled with a one-stop strategy that did not work, but Lewis Hamilton retired with two laps to go with a hydraulics problem which pushed him up into the points.
While everyone got away safely at the start, there was a hairy moment between Hamilton and Sainz. The Brit was forced onto the kerbs as they went wheel-to-wheel, causing the Mercedes to vault up into the air and hit the floor hard.
Hamilton was then forced to cut the corner and came back onto the track ahead of Sainz. But soon after his team got onto the radio to tell him to give the place back to avoid a penalty. The seven-time world champion obliged – and then proceeded to overtake him legally on the following lap.
But after a moment Sainz was back ahead and sped off into the distance. And soon after George Russell made the move on his team-mate to get ahead, as Hamilton went onto team radio to say: "I'm losing power, man. What's going on?"
To compound Mercedes' troubles, when Russell came into the pits he had a slower stop than expected. And when he was released, he pulled out straight into the path of Lando Norris in the pit lane who was forced to slam on his brakes to avoid a crash. Russell was duly given a five-second time penalty for his team's error.
Further back, Vettel was going well in his final F1 race and even entertaining fans with an intense battle with Esteban Ocon. He was getting the better of the Frenchman, but he was growing more and more frustrated by being passed by those on two-stop strategies while he was unable to fight on older and more worn-out tyres.
The German's plan was to stop just once in the race, and when it happened it was a little slower than he would have wanted – but not disastrous. He was on the hard tyres towards the back of the pack, but safe in the knowledge that most of those in front of him would still need to visit the pit lane again.
There was a disaster for Fernando Alonso, who was forced to retire from his final race with Alpine after a mechanical issue. It was a fitting summary of a season in which the Spaniard has suffered a litany of reliability issues on his car, and he heads into a new chapter of his career with Aston Martin next year hoping for more luck.
Back towards the front, Perez and Leclerc were engaged in a chess match with both drivers level on points in second place in the standings. Red Bull were first to blink, and brought the Mexican in for his pit stop as Ferrari told their driver to do the exact opposite of whatever his rival did.
As Leclerc waited a little longer to pit, it meant he was on fresher tyres at the end of the race that he hoped he would be able to use to get past Perez. But soo after it became clear Ferrari were hoping to adapt to a one-stop, hoping the Monegasque would be able to look after his ageing tyres enough to finish the race ahead of Perez without a trip to the pits.
At the back there was a collision between two men who will drop off the grid next year. Mick Schumacher tagged Nicholas Latifi and both span off. They were able to continue but it took them well out of contention, and the German was slapped with a five-second time penalty for causing that incident.
Perez was closing in on Leclerc in the final laps, but did not manage to get close enough to overtake. The Monegasque finished second in the race behind Verstappen with Perez in third – and that's exactly how things look in the championship as the Ferrari driver finishes as runner-up to the double champion.
In the constructors', Alpine had enough of an advantage to hold off McLaren in the fight for fourth place. And Alfa Romeo finished sixth in the standings ahead of Aston Martin despite the two teams ending the year level on points.
Full 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix results
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
- Sergio Perez – Red Bull
- Carlos Sainz – George Russell
- George Russell – Mercedes
- Lando Norris – McLaren
- Esteban Ocon – Alpine
- Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
- Daniel Ricciardo – McLaren
- Sebastian Vettel – Aston Martin
- Yuki Tsunoda – AlphaTauri
- Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo
- Alexander Albon – Williams
- Pierre Gasly – AlphaTauri
- Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo
- Mick Schumacher – Haas
- Kevin Magnussen – Haas
DNF: Lewis Hamilton, Nicholas Latifi, Fernando Alonso
