Another season that goes to the archives for Formula 1, with the last checkered flag flying on the Abu Dhabi GP. A hard-fought race, but in the end it always comes out on top Max Verstappen. After defending himself at the start of the match from the attacks of Charles Leclerc, led the race as only he has been able to do this year. Leclerc and follow behind him George Russell.
The initial stages of the Abu Dhabi GP and the fight between Charles and Max
When the traffic lights went out, the Ferrari Leclerc's starts slightly better than Max's Red Bull, trying to land the blow in Turn 1. A super braking by the Dutchman postpones the challenge in Turn 5, with the Monegasque trying a braking move, but SuperMax from the outside passes again, forcing the his rival to look in the mirrors. In fact, there is behind it Oscar piastri, who tries to stay with #16, but fails, letting it pass Lando Norris. History repeats itself: Max and Charles with middle school have a different rhythm and run away.
The first pit stops and Verstappen flying away
Everything changes on the turn 14, when Piastri begins the waltz dei pit stop. One after the other, all the drivers pass through the pits. He will be the last one to stop Yuki tsunoda, which will conclude its race in seventh position, showing an extraordinary step. Who had an out of the ordinary step is obviously Verstappen, which with the Hard defeats the competition. Leclerc himself, as happened in Las Vegas, will not be able to keep up with the Dutch phenomenon.
The unknown of the second stop and the victory of the Dutch Lion
A white rubber that doesn't seem to work properly. The stint will therefore not be very long, forcing everyone to stop after a maximum 20 laps. Norris will open the ball and, as before, will force the others to follow him. The last to change tires will be Verstappen, and one lap before he will do it Sergio Perez. The Mexican, in the central part of the race, comes back to life with the harder compound. After the second pit, Checo finds himself behind Tsunoda, passing him easily, finishing behind Lando. A contact with the McLaren #4 will force him to serve time at the end of race one 5 second penalty. The Guadalajara native doesn't stop and passes Russell with ease. Arriving close to Leclerc, the Ferrari driver tries to help Perez in building a 5 second gap on the Englishman by giving him wake and DRS. For 1.1 seconds, Ferrari will finish in third position in the constructors' championship for 1 point only.
Verstappen, winning this race, concludes more than 1000 laps leading in a season and increasing his winning percentage in a season. Two new records for SuperMax which secures victory number 19 of the year with quick tour attached.
Article by Francesco Orlando
