Abu Dhabi GP: Race - Re-Cap & Results

ABU DHABI GP - RACE - RE-CAP & RESULTS

    Valtteri Bottas claimed his third Formula 1 victory in the final Grand Prix of the 2017 season, finishing just ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

    Starting from pole position, Bottas held the position at the start of the race and slowly began to build up a gap before the midrace pit stops. Hamilton, with a fresher engine after a replacement during the Brazilian GP weekend, closed in in the second half of the race. The four-time world champion repeatedly cut the gap to his team-mate in the first two sectors of the Yas Marina circuit, only to fall away again in the twisty final sector.

    In the closing stages of the race, Bottas started to pump in fastest laps again and extended the gap to his more experienced team-mate to finish 3.899s clear of Hamilton.

    Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel rounded out the podium positions, but it was a quiet race for the once championship contender. Vettel made a strong start but claimed he had nowhere to go and couldn’t find a way past Hamilton.

    As the race went on, Vettel fell further and further away from the Mercedes duo, crossing the line 15 seconds after Hamilton. There was no pressure from behind, either, as team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was a further 26 seconds back.

    Having managed put his car on the second row of the grid in qualifying, Daniel Ricciardo was set to round off the season with one of his strongest results in the year. He spent the first stint with Raikkonen on his tail, but kept the Ferrari behind him before heading into the pits.

    Not long after the pit stop, though, it became clear there was a problem. Ricciardo ran off into the grass and was told to stop his Red Bull as the engineers had noticed a hydraulics problem. The retirement, his sixth of the season, allowed Raikkonen to take fourth position and secure fourth in the drivers’ championship.

    Carlos Sainz was the only other driver to suffer a retirement. The Renault driver had been battling with Fernando Alonso’s Honda before the pit stops, where his front left tyre wasn’t secured properly. He nearly crashed as he exited the pit lane, and then again at turn three, before coming to a stop.

    Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg also suffered a rocky race. After starting ahead of the two Force Indias, Hulkenberg had a poor start and fell back behind Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon on the opening lap.

    Though he managed to get ahead of Ocon without a problem, Hulkenberg cut a corner to get past Perez and was handed a five second penalty for the incident. The Renault driver managed to build up a gap to Perez though and didn’t lose the position in the pits. He finished sixth, behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

    Perez and Ocon took seventh and eighth, ahead of Alonso, who made a strong pass past Felipe Massa on the run up to the first chicane midway through the race. A strong exit for the Spaniard meant Massa couldn’t stay within DRS range and the retiring Williams driver had to settle for 10th.

    After battling with Lance Stroll early in the race, Romain Grosjean claimed 11th, ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne and Kevin Magnussen.

    Pascal Wehrlein finished 14th, followed by Brendon Hartley, Pierre Gasly, and Marcus Ericsson. Stroll, in 18th, was the final finisher.

RESULTS:

1. Valtteri Bottas / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland / + 25 Points
2. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 18 Points
3. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 15 Points
4. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / + 12 Points
5. Max Verstappen / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands / + 10 Points
6. Nico Hulkenberg / Renault-Renault / Germany / + 8 Points
7. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / + 6 Points
8. Esteban Ocon / Force India-Mercedes / France / + 4 Points
9. Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Honda / Spain / + 2 Points
10. Felipe Massa / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil / + 1 Point
11. Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France
12. Stoffel Vandoorne / McLaren-Honda / Belgium
13. Kevin Magnussen / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark
14. Pascal Wehrlein / Sauber-Ferrari / Germany
15. Brendon Hartley / Toro Rosso-Renault / New Zealand
16. Pierre Gasly / Toro Rosso-Renault / France
17. Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
18. Lance Stroll / Williams-Mercedes / Canada

RETIRED - Carlos Sainz / Renault-Renault / Spain / Loose Wheel
RETIRED - Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Australia / Hydraulics

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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