2022 Formula 1 at Abu Dhabi results: Red Bull's Verstappen closes season with 15th win, Ferrari secures second

Max Verstappen captured a record 15th win in the season's final race, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took second in the drivers' table

It was a masterclass in racing strategy by Red Bull Racing and Ferrari at Sunday's Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but while it worked out for Max Verstappen, who won a record 15th race on the season in final race of the 2022 calendar, it left Sergio Perez to try and chase down Charles Leclerc's Ferrari for second in the race and the drivers' table.

On fresher tires, the question was whether there was enough race left for Perez to get it done with the gap at 6.5-plus seconds between them at seven laps remaining. Perez got to work, shaving a second here and a half-second there, getting encouragement from his pit team the entire time. At five laps to go, the gap was down to five seconds. Four laps left and it was at 4.5 seconds. 

"You're going to be right on him on the last lap," Perez's crew radioed. "You've got him."

No, he didn't. Leclerc was able to bring the Ferrari home in second, 1.3 seconds ahead of Perez, who took the final spot on the podium. Leclerc's teammate, Carlos Sainz Jr., was next to secure Ferrari as second in the Constructors' Cup over Mercedes. 

"Wow, that was close," Verstappen said when he asked if Perez caught Leclerc for second.

Perez was disappointed but philosophical at the finish.

"It's how it is," Perez said. "At the end of the day, I gave it my all. … We had a great battle. I did have trouble managing my tires, and it's something I need to improve for next year."

Leclerc also talked about things to improve for 2023, as he celebrated finishing second in the drivers' standings.

"It was 110 percent from the first lap to the last," Leclerc said. "I knew the only possibility to beat [Perez] today was to have a different strategy, and we managed to make it work. Hopefully next year we can take a big step forward. We still need to work on our strategy on race days. All stuff to work out during the winter break."

Mercedes needed to finish with 20 points more than Ferrari to grab the second spot in the Constructor's Cup but never got their race going after the first lap with Lewis Hamilton running into trouble with Sainz straight away, going off the track and returning ahead, only to be ordered by race control to give the position back. The off-course excursion seemed to unsettle Hamilton's car and he never looked right after that, eventually retiring a few laps before the finish with a gearbox issue, ironically the first mechanical failure Mercedes has suffered for the season.

George Russell, on the other hand, looked very racy early but a mistake in the pits on an unsafe release during his first pit stop ladled a five-second penalty for his second stop that essentially ended his chances.

Joining the winner in making donuts at the finish was Sebastian Vettel, who lamented his race strategy on his final F1 race but managed to snatch 10th, the final points-paying spot.

"Thank you for all the flags and support," Vettel said to the crowd at the end. "Not so enjoyable when the car is going backwards. ... The last two years have been disappointing perhaps from a sporting point of view, but important to me in my life. ... There are far bigger things than racing. ... It's been an absolute joy [to race in F1], throughout my career. So, thank you."

Saying hello in 2023 will be U.S. driver Logan Sargeant, who claimed Rookie of the Year honors in Formula 2 and earned the final Super License point he needed during the race weekend at Abu Dhabi. Sargeant will take over for Nicholas Latifi at Williams.

Unofficial finishing order

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3. Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing
4. Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari
5. George Russell, Mercedes
6. Lando Norris, McLaren
7. Esteban Ocon, Alpine
8. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
9. Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
10. Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
11. Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
12. Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo
13. Alexander Albon, Williams
14. Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
15. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
16. Mick Schumacher, Haas
17. Kevin Magnussen, Haas
18. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
19. Nicholas Latifi, Williams
20. Fernando Alonso, Alpine

What we learned

This final race on the 2022 Formula 1 season was a reflection of what we saw throughout the year, particularly if we take what we saw at Interlagos with it. Red Bull Racing struggled at Interlagos, but a weekend later at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, Max Verstappen was dominantly fast once again. Sergio Perez was also fast but not quite as quick as the lead Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who along with Carlos Sainz Jr. gave the tifosi something to cheer about, and sometimes scratch their heads over, the entire season. 

Mercedes started the season with a car that was a work in progress. For brief periods of 2022 it looked like they had found their way out of the wilderness, particularly the Mexico City and Interlagos races. But Abu Dhabi looked like it was back to the drawing board, particularly with the car bouncing again. For that matter, from the on-board camera views, it appeared Ferrari was also struggling with the porpoising a bit at Abu Dhabi, so whatever it is that is similar about the tracks early on in the season and Abu Dhabi is something the teams need to figure out.

While the best strategy in a race is to simply have the fastest car, throughout the season it was shown that if you don't have a Plan A, and sometimes Plan B-C-D-E and F, it doesn't matter how fast you are. Red Bull's ability to figure out what is needed and still be flexible enough to change on the fly was the key to winning this race and many others on their way to a second consecutive title for Max Verstappen. Ferrari finally looked like it had an idea at Yas Marina Circuit and did not spend the race just reacting to what the other teams were doing, but it very likely will not be enough to save team principal Mattia Binotto his job. Even Mercedes, who have been the epitome of perfect strategy during their championship run, were caught out on tires and stops a few times this season.

Finally, Abu Dhabi was a race that, like many other Verstappen/Red Bull romps, was devoid of suspense for large swaths of the event but did have moments here and there of high drama. Who knows what would the order be if Perez had another 10 laps to go at the finish. He probably would not have even needed that much, since a gap between the Mexican and Leclerc went from 6.5 seconds at seven laps remaining to 1.3 seconds at the finish. Perhaps this was the one strategy call Red Bull whiffed on at Abu Dhabi. Or was it that -- all things pretty equal -- Perez is just not quite as fast as Leclerc?