Max Verstappen won the final race of the 2022 season a the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi – marking his 15th win of the year.
As another season comes to a close, with the Driver and Constructor titles sealed in advance of today’s race, the battle between Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for second place in the Championship kept viewers on the edge of their seats.
In the final laps, both drivers put the pedal to the metal in a bid to land the higher rank, but ultimately the Ferrari came out on top.
Although on the podium in third, the result will come as a disappointment to the Mexican driver.
There were battles ensuing all over the place in the closing laps of the race, including one for the final two points positions between two drivers on their final run in Formula 1 – for now.
Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel was chasing the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo for ninth place -which would have boosted Aston Martin to sixth in the constructors’ championship – but the Aussie driver held on the chequered flag.
Speaking after the race, the 2022 world champions and today’s winner, Max Verstappen said: “It was all about tyre management.
“I think we looked after the mediums quite well. And then on the hard tyres, I was looking after them from lap one until the end, but incredible to win here again.
“15th win of the season is unbelievable.
“It’s been really enjoyable this year, working with the whole team to be able to achieve something like this this year. I know it’s going to be hard to replicate something this but it’s also very good motivation to try and do well next year.”
His teammate, in third today, told reporters: “It is how it is. Sometimes everything can be really close. At the end of the day, I’ve got to be happy.
“I gave it all, as a team we gave it all through the season, and I’m sure we will come back stronger next year,” he said.
“We had great moments, great battling. I think I struggled a bit this year in terms of managing the tyres in the race, so hopefully, that can be something that we will improve for next year, and generally just be a bit stronger.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, then said: “I was 110 percent from the first lap to the last. We had the perfect race.
“I knew the only way for us to beat Checo was with a different strategy and playing with time management, which we did really well. We made the one-stop work so I am really happy.
“I really hope next year we can make a step forward and fight for the championship but considering where we were it is a step forward. We still need to work on race pace as we tend to struggle on Sunday but we will push during the winter break.”
