As the curtain came down on the 2019 Formula 1
season, Lewis Hamilton enjoyed a silky smooth evening beneath the floodlights
at Abu Dhabi to record his 11th win of the season, ahead of the Red Bull of Max
Verstappen and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton’s 50th pole-to-win of his career was
arguably his most straightforward victory this season, as he comfortably eased
away in the early part of the race before enjoying an untroubled run to the
flag, to maintain Mercedes’ 100% win record at Yas Marina since 2014. It also
meant that Hamilton tied his hero Ayrton Senna’s record for the 19th
lights-to-flag victory of his career.
Behind the podium trio, Valtteri Bottas
recovered from a back-of-the-grid start to end up fourth, less than a second
behind Leclerc. A penultimate lap pass by Sebastian Vettel on Alex Albon gave
the Ferrari driver fifth, while a fascinating last-lap scrap between Lando
Norris and Sergio Perez saw Perez ultimately come out on top to claim ‘best of
the rest’ in P7, ahead of Norris.
Daniil Kvyat was ninth for Toro Rosso, while
Carlos Sainz also made a last lap pass, on Renault's Daniel Ricciardo, to take
a point for P10 - enough to see him claim sixth in the drivers’ standings for
2019.
