Abu Dhabi: The Highlights and Lowlights from the Editorial Team

The top 3

Lewis Hamilton, again and always

Still not satisfied after his fifth title won in Mexico, Lewis Hamilton continues to string together victories.

After the lucky one in Brazil thanks to a helping hand, or rather a helping wheel, from Esteban Ocon, the Briton wins the last Grand Prix of the season after a race in which he completed over 40 laps on the same set of tires!

A Sebastian Vettel on his best days did not even trouble the Mercedes driver, who thus secures his 11th victory of the year, more than double that of his German rival. A statistic that proves, if proof were still needed, his dominance this year.

The value of a victory is to be found in the greatness of the opponent! @F1 2019! The battle continues… 💪 pic.twitter.com/D5o3MgGKEr

— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 25 novembre 2018

Max Verstappen outpaces Valtteri Bottas in the championship

With an impressive series of 5 podiums in the last 5 Grand Prix races, Max Verstappen has brilliantly made up for his early season troubles.

With this new 3rd place, the Red Bull driver claims the 4th place in the drivers’ world championship, just two points behind Kimi Räikkönen and the final podium.

An excellent result for Red Bull and its driver, who will be rewarded for another aggressive race with overtakes and wheel-to-wheel battles.

🗣 “I managed to finish my season with another podium.” @Max33Verstappen on the #AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪👉 https://t.co/tDv9sPUcfZ #F1 pic.twitter.com/tM6DtpNGYd

— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) 25 novembre 2018

Fernando Alonso’s Farewell

The entire weekend was marked by Fernando Alonso’s farewell to Formula 1. While the Spanish driver still leaves the door open for a possible return to the premier category of motorsport, the world of Formula 1 nonetheless paid him a heartfelt tribute.

In the race, starting 15th, the McLaren driver will fall short of the points despite taking some liberties with his interpretation of the track. Indeed, the FIA will impose three 5-second penalties on him for cutting the chicane 3 times in the last 3 laps. Alonso thus departs with one final jest, offering us beautiful final images with two other great champions, Hamilton and Vettel.

Signing off for 2018 in style! 🔥🔥🔥

Let’s cause a scene! 😏

Thanks for the assist @alo_oficial and @ScuderiaFerrari!! 👊#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/1tKtCGscfh

— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 25 novembre 2018

The flop 3

But where has Valtteri Bottas gone?

Clearly, the Finn no longer has his mind on the championship at the end of this 2018 season. In Abu Dhabi, Bottas was only a shadow of the driver who had won three races last year.

Moral victor of the Russian Grand Prix earlier in the year, the Mercedes driver seemed to carry the weight of his team’s decision in Sochi on his shoulders for the rest of the season.

He will have to lift his head and show much more quality to maintain the confidence of his leaders beyond the 2019 season. Esteban Ocon, now Mercedes’ reserve driver, is already eyeing his seat.

A tough evening under the lights for @ValtteriBottas, he has to settle for P5 at @ymcofficial #AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/r16IThCwNG

— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 25 novembre 2018

Honda doesn’t make smoke without fire.

Nine! That is the number of Honda engines Pierre Gasly needed to finish the season… with a breakdown! While the Japanese manufacturer has made noticeable progress in pure performance, reliability is still not a priority.

His association with Red Bull from next year will increase the pressure on the shoulders of his engineers, and given the repeated complaints from Christian Horner and Max Verstappen about a Renault engine well above average, it’s hard to see how the two men and their team could be satisfied with this situation.

That’s smoke coming out of the back of Gasly’s Toro Rosso 🔎

He urges the marshals to check for fire as he retires six laps from the finish#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/ysHe53vQ8g

— Formula 1 (@F1) 25 novembre 2018

Brendon Hartley close to the exit

However, despite qualifying ahead of his teammate who had experienced an engine problem at the end of qualifying, Hartley was unable to maintain this advantage, as Pierre Gasly overtook him in the race.

The New Zealander may know that his future in Formula 1 is already decided and that his place at Toro Rosso is no longer his, but with a 12th place in the race and criticism from his boss Franz Tost regarding his tire management, Hartley may have already quietly bid farewell to the discipline.

The squad 👊
Last F1 weekend of 2018. Full attack. @ToroRosso @GiltrapGroup pic.twitter.com/bHEG7IXJ0f

— Brendon Hartley (@BrendonHartley) 24 novembre 2018