F1 Abu Dhabi GP: Max Verstappen takes 15th win of 2022 in season finale
Max Verstappen cruised to his 15th victory of F1 2022 to end the year on a winning note at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Much like how the the rest of the year has played out, Verstappen was in a league of his own out front and unchallenged on his way to picking up a comfortable 15th win from 2022 races of a dominant, record-breaking campaign.
The Dutchman, who wrapped up his second successive world title with four races to go at the Japanese Grand Prix, now has 35 career victories after claiming his third win on the bounce at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Nearly 10 seconds behind Verstappen, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc edged Red Bull's Sergio Perez to second and runner-up spot in the F1 drivers’ standings.
Lewis Hamilton looked on course to finish fourth but was forced to retire with a suspected hydraulic leak after losing his gears and plummeting down the order.
The seven-time world champion had said after qualifying that he was “looking forward” to never driving Mercedes’ troubled W13 again.
Hamilton’s retirement promoted Carlos Sainz to fourth in the second Ferrari, ahead of George Russell, who picked up a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release following his first pit stop.
Lando Norris was sixth in his McLaren, while Esteban Ocon claimed seventh for Alpine, and Lance Stroll rose from 14th on the grid to take eighth.
In his final race for McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo scored two points in ninth, ahead of the retiring four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who secured the final point in 10th for Aston Martin in his last race of his illustrious F1 career.
