November 20, (THEWILL) – Max Verstappen won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix convincingly to cap off his illustrious 2022 title-winning campaign.
The thrilling victory aside, Charles Leclerc, however, prevented Red Bull from having the perfect season by staying ahead of Sergio Perez for second place in the race and the championship. After holding off his teammate into the first corner from pole position, Verstappen’s record-extending 15th victory of a 22-race season never appeared in jeopardy.
However, the battle behind was intense and came down to the final laps. Leclerc and Perez entered the final race tied in the points, and the Ferrari was the big underdog behind the Red Bulls. However, even with two pit stops, Perez was unable to overtake Leclerc, who was one-stopping like Verstappen, in time.
Red Bull did not win the first one-two in the championship in their history due to the regrettable 1.3 second deficit at the finish line. In the other Ferrari, Carlos Sainz finished fourth as Mercedes struggled in the final race of a challenging season.
On the penultimate lap, Lewis Hamilton was slightly ahead of a charging Sainz when Mercedes’ first technical issue of the year—a hydraulic problem—occurred. With it, Hamilton set an unenviable record as, for the first time in his 22-year career, he finished without a single victory in a season. George Russell placed fifth.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
