Lewis Hamilton ends season with Abu Dhabi win
Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to end the season in which he clinched his fifth World Championship on a high.
It was the 11th victory of the year for Hamilton, who dominated the race with a controlled drive.
Hamilton performed 'doughnut' spins after crossing the line, before he and former title rival Sebastian Vettel flanked the retiring two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, and all three performed more doughnuts on the start-finish straight.
Hamilton and Vettel then each shared an embrace with Alonso, demonstrating their respect for each other's abilities.
The three drivers hold 11 of some of the most recent World Championships won in a golden era for driving talent in the sport.
Vettel took second after Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas faded to fifth, which means the Finn ends the season without a victory.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo took third and fourth.
- Abu Dhabi Grand Prix results
- Hamilton wins in Abu Dhabi - reaction
- Hamilton ends season in style - Abu Dhabi post-race podcast
It started with a bang
Renault's Nico Hulkenberg emerged unhurt from a frightening-looking accident in which he was pitched into a roll and landed upside down in a first-lap clash with Romain Grosjean's Haas.
Hulkenberg sounded scared as he said to the team: "I'm hanging here like a cow. Get me out. There's fire."
But once the fire was extinguished and the car righted, he was able to climb out unaided.
Not as easy as it looked for Hamilton
Hamilton's evening under the lights of the attractive but characterless Yas Marina circuit was complicated when Mercedes pitted him earlier than expected during a caution period caused when Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari stopped on the pit straight.
That was on lap seven of 55 - nine laps earlier than Bottas' first stop - but Mercedes were covering one of their rivals potentially doing the same thing.
It meant a race of careful driving and tyre management, but Hamilton handled it well, to re-claim the positions he had lost one by one as his rivals pitted.
Red Bull showing racing potential for 2019
Behind him, the race came to a tense climax as the differing strategies of Vettel and the two Red Bull drivers converged.
Max Verstappen was closing on Vettel as the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo closed on the Dutchman.
But both Red Bull drivers lost time when they came upon the lapped car of Pierre Gasly as it was suffering an imminent engine failure with smoke pouring out of it.
That gave Vettel breathing space and locked the Red Bulls in their positions.
It was a disappointing end to a bold attempt by Ricciardo and Red Bull to benefit from a different strategy by running very long to their first pit stops, but in the end it made little difference.
A low-key end for Alonso
Fernando Alonso's illustrious career ended with an 11th place, just out of the points. The McLaren, which started 15th, was just not quick enough for him to do any more.
There was time for one more bit of radio magic, though, when his engineer in the closing laps said: "Go and get a point."
Alonso, 37, replied: "I've already got 1,800."
Actually, he has 1,899 so it would have made a round 1,900, but he could not catch Kevin Magnussen's Haas - not helped by a five-second time penalty for cutting a chicane when he missed his braking point pushing while chasing the Dane.
Driver of the day
What happens next?
Lots of hard work designing and building new cars, pre-season testing and then a new season starts in Melbourne, Australia in March next year. It'll be there before you know it.
Comments
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UP arrow if you think he will win Championship number Six next year.
I think your comment was made purely to get a rise, so I’ll give you one. You can only every beat what is put in front of you, Hamilton has consistently done that. To say he’s not in the same calibre as Senna, Prost and Schumacher is ill-informed.
“lowering the tone of F1 by removing his top on the podium....and so our society regresses even further”.
Guess you didn’t see his interview just now where he cited the reason was to show his “still I rise” tattoo and described Billy Monger as having that never give up mindset that he respected.
Personally, I think it was a positive message to everyone.
Class of his generation and deserves all the plaudits coming his way.
11 wins, 11 poles, the first driver ever to touch 400 points.
Untouchable and his rivals are fighting fur scraps ....... simple as that.
Fitting tribute to Alonso at end of the race. ..!!
Rock on Lewis.
I thought Lewis was masterful, as he's been almost all season - a real lesson in always going out and doing your best and always being sportsmanlike.
Can't wait for next year - bring on No. 6!
And so, just name me, the last F1 championship winner that did not have a great car.......muppet!!
Charles Leclere again put in a stunning drive - if he can weather the pressure at Maranello in 2019 he is going to be a WDC contender.
Just waiting to see who on this HYS asks why LH didn’t hand the win to VB. I bet there will be at least one numpty.