Max Verstappen ends record season in style with victory

It was his nineteenth victory of the season and the 54th of his career. This means Verstappen is now over Sebastian Vettel in the all-time rankings and is number three behind record holder Lewis Hamilton (103 wins) and Michael Schumacher (91 wins). With his nineteenth victory, he also further set his record for the most victories in one season.

Sergio Pérez, Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull, fought his way to second place in the final stages. However, the Mexican received a five-second time penalty after the finish, which dropped him to fourth place. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) moved up to second place and George Russell (Mercedes) finished third.

Verstappen, who started from pole position at Circuit Yas Marina, only had to fear Leclerc in the early stages of the race. The Monegasque, who had started from second place, pushed hard against the Dutchman in the first lap and tried to overtake him. Verstappen skillfully repelled all attacks on his leading position and was able to gradually pull away after a number of laps and disappear from Leclerc’s DRS – the zone in which a driver can overtake at high speed.

After his first pit stop, Verstappen was seventh and the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) was able to enjoy the lead position for a while, but after the competition’s tire changes, the Limburger took his familiar place at the top of the field again. He drove to victory unthreatened and set a Formula 1 record two laps before the end. He was the first driver to lead more than a thousand laps in a season.

Pérez was the man of the final phase. He advanced to the front, but when overtaking Lando Norris (McLaren) he hit the Brit. The stewards gave him a five-second penalty. The Mexican drove steadily and then overtook Russell and Leclerc, but at the finish his lead over those two was not big enough to hold on to second place.