The top three in the drivers’ standings may have already been finalised, but there were still scores to settle up and down the field.

The battle for fourth in the drivers’ championship was between Alonso, Norris, Leclerc and Sainz. And that wasn’t the only unresolved result. In the constructor’s championship, Mercedes and Ferrari were separated by just four points. Lower down the field, Alpha Tauri and Williams were battling for P7. 

Despite being the last event of the season, there was still a lot to play for. So then, what are the main stories of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix?

5. Dominant Performance by Red Bull

They may have struggled to find a setup that suited their car on the Friday practice sessions, but the Austrian team always manages to figure something out when push comes to shove. Verstappen, starting from pole, had excellent overall race pace. He drove most of the race unbothered by anyone bar Leclerc on a few occasions at the race start and around the pitstop phases.

Perez, starting P9 after his lap deletion in Q3, also had decent momentum in the race. He tried a clumsy move on McLaren’s Lando Norris, which netted him a five second penalty. A shame really, because that ultimately cost him a podium, and Ferrari 2nd place in the championship.

4. Alonso Finishes Ahead of Both Ferrari Drivers

Alonso tied Leclerc on points, but finished ahead due to his higher number of podiums. It was a hard fought fourth though, as the Aston Martin, clearly losing some pace against the cars around them, could really only fight for the final points paying positions.

Towards the closing stages of the race, Hamilton attempted a move on Alonso. The Mercedes driver actually got past and stayed ahead for a couple of laps. But the Aston Martin driver continued to fight, eventually chasing down the Mercedes and repassing Hamilton to secure his fourth place in the championship.

3. Alpha Tauri Narrowly Misses out on Seventh

Tsunoda qualified well to start in a career-best sixth. Ricciardo struggled relative to his Japanese teammate, setting a lap time that was only good enough for 15th. The Alpha Tauris were racy in the middle stages of the race, with both Tsunoda and Ricciardo making their way up the pack.

Ultimately, Tsunoda dropped to eighth, scoring just four points. Ricciardo had an unscheduled stop early on to clear debris from his brake ducts. He then drove a solid race, and looked set to pass Stroll for tenth. However, he ran out of laps to do so – a sixth and tenth place finish would have netted the team seventh overall!

2. Surprising Reliability

Despite the race being the second of a double header, after a hectic 22 race season, all of the cars that started the race were classified when the chequered flag dropped. This just goes to show how robust the current crop of Formula One cars are.

Keep in mind also that componentry is heavily policed, and drivers that need to take parts outside of the allocation will be slapped with hefty penalties. Even though most of the bits on the cars are probably close to their sell-by dates, the lack of a DNF is impressive!

1. Ferrari’s Desperate Attempt for P2

With Sainz’s compromised qualifying efforts, the Spaniard could only start P15. Hamilton was then knocked out in Q2, his time good enough for the 11th grid slot. Russell and Leclerc both made it through to the final part of qualifying, with the Monegasque starting on the front row. 

In the early stages of the race, both Mercedes cars made their way into the points. Sainz struggled slightly, choosing to run a two-stop race whilst gambling on a safety car. In the closing stages, Leclerc opted to let Perez pass for P2, in hopes that the Mexican driver would build a gap greater than his five second penalty to Russell in P3. That didn’t happen. Ferrari’s gamble with Sainz didn’t pay off too, and he had to stop for softs in the latter stages of the race, finishing outside of the points.

End of the Season!

The 2023 season comes to a close. Max Verstappen and Red Bull are champions once again, and Perez closes off the season with a career-best second place. This is also the team’s first 1-2 in the drivers’ standings. Mercedes finished P2, with Ferrari just a couple of points behind in P3. 

Pre-season testing for the 2024 season starts on 21 February in Bahrain, with the first race of the season set to take place a weekend later at the same venue!

Photo Credit: Red Bull Content Pool, Aston Martin, Mercedes

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