F1 LIVE: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix result and reaction as Max Verstappen wins after Lewis Hamilton retires

Max Verstappen celebrated his second title with a victory at the final race of the season as Charles Leclerc beat Sergio Perez to second place

Sebastian Vettel On His Fellow Drivers

Max Verstappen completed his championship year by taking victory at Formula 1’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – as Lewis Hamilton’s record of winning in every season of his career went up in smoke when he retired with three laps remaining.

Verstappen finished 8.7 seconds clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who made a one-stop strategy work to secure runner-up spot in the standings, ahead of Sergio Perez. The Red Bull driver stopped one more time than Leclerc, but failed to catch the Monegasque in the closing stages and finished third. Carlos Sainz was fourth for Ferrari with Hamilton’s teammate George Russell fifth, leaving Mercedes behind the Italian team and third in the constructors’ championship.

Verstappen snatched victory from Hamilton a year ago to claim his maiden title in the most contentious of circumstances, but the Dutch driver has been the standout performer of 2022 and his win here under the thousands of bulbs that light up the Yas Marina Circuit was his 15th from 22 appearances. Hamilton left Abu Dhabi at the end of last season pondering if he would ever return, so aggrieved was he by Michael Masi’s officiating of the decider that cost him a record eighth crown. The seven-time world champion decided against retirement, but he will head into this season’s winter break having failed to register a single win – the first time that has happened in his career, which began in 2007 – and reflecting on a DNF that summed up a sour campaign. Elsewhere, Lando Norris finished sixth for McLaren, with teammate Daniel Ricciardo ninth in his last race for the British team. Sebastian Vettel started ninth and finished 10th in his final F1 appearance.

Follow all the reaction with our live blog below.

F1 LIVE: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix updates

• World champion Max Verstappen celebrates record 15th win of the season
• Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc beats Red Bull’s Sergio Perez to second place
• Lewis Hamilton retires late on after reporting damage to car
• Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel in the points in final race of career
• George Russell handed five-second penalty for unsafe release from pit lane
• Mick Schumacher penalised after tangling with Nicholas Latifi

[20 November 2022 12:59 · Alex Pattle]

F1 LIVE: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix updates

The formation lap is under way.

[20 November 2022 12:57 · Alex Pattle]

F1 LIVE: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix updates

We’re moments away from the race beginning...

[20 November 2022 12:55 · Alex Pattle]

F1 LIVE: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix updates

A remind of the starting grid

1. Max Verstappen

2. Sergio Perez

3. Charles Leclerc

4. Carlos Sainz

5. Lewis Hamilton

6. George Russell

7. Lando Norris

8. Esteban Ocon

9. Sebastian Vettel

10. Fernando Alonso

11. Yuki Tsunoda

12. Mick Schumacher

13. Daniel Ricciardo

14. Lance Stroll

15. Zhou Guanyu

16. Kevin Magnussen

17. Pierre Gasly

18. Valtteri Bottas

19. Alex Albon

20. Nicholas Latifi

[20 November 2022 12:50 · Alex Pattle]

F1 LIVE: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix updates

A reminder of the Championship standings

1. Max Verstappen (C) - 429 points

2. Charles Leclerc - 290 points

3. Sergio Perez - 290 points

4. George Russell - 265 points

5. Lewis Hamilton - 240 points

6. Carlos Sainz - 234 points

7. Lando Norris - 113 points

8. Esteban Ocon - 86 points

9. Fernando Alonso - 81 points

10. Valtteri Bottas - 49 points

11. Sebastian Vettel - 36 points

12. Daniel Ricciardo - 35 points

13. Kevin Magnussen - 25 points

14. Pierre Gasly - 23 points

15. Lance Stroll - 14 points

16. Mick Schumacher - 12 points

17. Yuki Tsunoda - 12 points

18. Guanyu Zhou - 6 points

19. Alex Albon - 4 points

20. Nicholas Latifi - 2 points

[20 November 2022 12:47 · Alex Pattle]

F1 LIVE: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix updates

The national anthem is done, the fly-by overhead has taken place, and so has another tribute to Vettel.

We’re just over 10 minutes from the start of the Abu Dhabi GP!

[20 November 2022 12:47 · Alex Pattle]

F1 LIVE: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix updates

The stage was set.

Billed as the “Decider in the Desert”, the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was the final chapter in a Formula 1 season for the ages. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were battered and bruised – but still in the fight. Level quite astoundingly on 369.5 points after 21 races, it all came down to this.

Now, as F1 returns to Abu Dhabi for the first time since that thrilling and controversial finale last year, The Independent revisits the story of Sunday 12 December 2021 from the eyes of those at the Yas Marina Circuit and around the world as history played out in a conclusion nobody could have foreseen.

Special report by The Independent’s F1 correspondent Kieran Jackson:

[20 November 2022 12:36 · Alex Pattle]

F1 LIVE: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix updates

Another key storyline today is this grand prix being Sebastian Vettel’s final race in F1.

The German, a four-time champion with Red Bull between 2010 and 2013, will take to the track one last time with Aston Martin this afternoon.

At 35, Vettel has decided that his race is run after spells with Sauber, Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Ferrari and his current team.

Congratulations to him on a terrific career.

Sebastian Vettel being applauded by his fellow F1 drivers on Saturday (EPA)

Vettel speaking with compatriot Mick Schumacher ahead of the Abu Dhabi GP (Getty Images)

[20 November 2022 12:20 · Alex Pattle]

F1 LIVE: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix updates

Here is one of the biggest F1 stories of the week...

Daniel Ricciardo is set to rejoin Red Bull as the team’s reserve driver with team principal Christian Horner hailing the Australian as one of the biggest names in Formula 1.

Ricciardo, who has won eight times in F1 – seven with Red Bull between 2014 and 2018 – has been dropped by McLaren after an underwhelming two-season spell.

But the 33-year-old has been handed a temporary lifeline by Red Bull and will serve as back-up to double world champion Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s motorsport adviser, revealed to German television in Abu Dhabi that Ricciardo, who discussed a reserve role with Mercedes, has signed a contract with the Milton Keynes team.

More on that here:

[20 November 2022 12:14 · Jamie Braidwood]

F1 LIVE: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix updates

Toto Wolff says that Lewis Hamilton’s 15-year win record in Formula 1 won’t be prioritised.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton has won at least one race in every season he’s competed in F1, dating all the way back to his rookie season of 2007, but he is yet to finish top of the podium in 2022.

This weekend’s season-finale in Abu Dhabi - where Hamilton was denied a record-breaking eighth title in dramatic and controversial fashion last year - represents the 37-year-old’s final opportunity to maintain his year-on-year record.

Should he claim victory at Yas Marina, he would be out on his own for consecutive seasons with a victory - he currently ties with Michael Schumacher’s streak from 1992 to 2006.

[20 November 2022 11:59 · Jamie Braidwood]

F1 LIVE: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix updates

Lewis Hamilton cannot wait to consign his under-performing Mercedes to history as he faces the daunting task of keeping his unique winning record alive in Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton is the only driver in Formula One’s record books to end every season with a victory.

But he will start the 22nd and final round of the campaign from only fifth as Max Verstappen took pole position, nearly seven tenths of a second ahead.

“I am looking forward to the end of Tuesday which is the last time I will have to drive this thing,” Hamilton said.

“I don’t ever plan to drive it again. It will not be one of the cars I request to have in my contract. Everyone in the team knows the problems and where we have gone wrong. I am pretty confident that they are not going to build the next car with any of those characteristics.”