Abu Dhabi Race Reaction
Image: Red Bull Racing Media
The final outing of the 2023 Formula One season was as thrilling as ever delivering a record 19th win of the season for Max Verstappen and a tense championship battle between Ferrari and Mercedes. So, for the final time for this year, let’s have a look at the highlights of the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Qualifying
The last qualifying session of the season saw Max Verstappen take his twelfth pole in the last 22 races, which cemented an excellent season for the Dutch driver and the Red Bull team.
Q1 was fairly standard as track limits came into effect yet again with Logan Sargeant getting his lap times deleted twice. Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, and Lando Norris were on the fringes of elimination but all made it safely into Q2. It was Carlos Sainz who was the biggest loser of the session as he failed to get into Q2, blaming Pierre Gasly for blocking him on his hot lap.
Sainz on his Q1 exit
“Clearly, the pace all weekend hasn’t been the strongest and we needed a perfect Q1 and Q2, given how tight the field is”
The drivers out in Q1 were:
Logan Sargeant, Zhou Guanyu, Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen, and Carlos Sainz
Q2 saw Albon put in a fantastic effort for Q3 but inevitably lacked the overall pace to make it through. It was a disappointing session for Lewis Hamiton, who failed to make Q3 for the final time in 2023, with Russell eliminating his teammate.
Joining Hamilton in the knockout zone:
Daniel Ricciardo, Alexander Albon, Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon, and Lewis Hamilton
The last qualifying session for months saw a few brilliant performances including Yuki Tsunoda’s highest-ever starting position in P6, Piastri beating Norris to the second row, and Alonso’s highest starting position at Abu Dhabi in over a decade. Verstappen took a commanding pole, 0.139 seconds ahead of Leclerc, equalling Lewis Hamilton’s record for twelve poles in a season. Surprisingly, Sebastian Vettel holds the all-time record for most poles in a season, earning 15 in the 2011 F1 season.
The final top ten for Qualifying was:
Pierre Gasly, Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso, Yuki Tsunoda, Lando Norris, George Russell, Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc, and Max Verstappen
The perfect season
Image: @F1 on Twitter/X
Verstappen took his 54th career win in a stunning fashion, crossing the finish line almost 15 seconds ahead of second-place Charles Leclerc. The Dutchman is now third on the all-time wins list, and has the legendary Michael Schumacher ahead, with just 37 wins separating them.
“For sure the other teams want to beat us next year and we are ready for the battle”
The win sealed an almost-perfect season for Verstappen, winning all but three races in 2023, beating his teammate Sergio Perez by a record-breaking margin of 290 points. Perez meanwhile had a mediocre end to his race as he fought brilliantly through the pack to claim a P3 finish but had that taken away from him due to earlier contact made with Lando Norris.
With this season behind him, is there anything more Verstappen needs to prove? Mercedes and Ferrari have clearly caught up with vehicle R&D but Verstappen still seems miles ahead of the competition. As the most dominated F1 season comes to an end, let’s hear it for one of the most successful drivers in Formula 1 history — Max Verstappen.
The comeback of a lifetime
Image: Mercedes-AMG F1 on Twitter/X
It was a nail-biting finish for second place in the constructors’ championship! With Red Bull sealing its fifth constructors’ championship in Japan, it was between Mercedes and Ferrari for the runners-up spot. It may not seem like much, but finishing P2 in the championship earns the team a whopping $10 million in prize money, let’s hope they don’t spend that on catering…
A disastrous qualifying saw Sainz and Hamilton out of position, leaving Charles Leclerc and George Russell to lead the charge for glory. The Ferrari of Leclerc had a brilliant run on Verstappen and continued to be significantly quicker than the Mercedes but ultimately lacked the raw pace of the RB19.
Russell put in a barnstorming drive, however, as he powered his way past the McLaren of Oscar Piastri and set his sights on Sergio Perez, who had fought his way to third place from ninth.
Perez had been given a five-second time penalty for a collision with Lando Noris at Turn 1, giving the Mexican a nasty shock as he thought he left enough racing room. Russell was overtaken by Perez in the closing stages and set his sights on Leclerc in P2. However, the Mercedes driver did not give up easily as he stuck with Perez until the very end.
Such was Ferrari’s separation that Leclerc allowed Perez to take P2 from him, so that he could back Russell up, giving Perez enough of a time gap to maintain his podium place.
Leclerc in the closing stages of the race:
“Tell me the gap between Checo and Russell! If there is less than five seconds, I will give him the slipstream and let him past”
