Abu Dhabi – The Hits and Misses from the Editorial Team

The TOP 3

Mercedes drivers

Once again, the star-suited drivers dominate the top positions. We logically find them in this final TOP 3 of the year. Lewis Hamilton delivered a perfect race. He led every lap of the race, achieved pole position, the fastest lap, and won it for the 4th time. This marks the sixth Grand Slam of his prestigious F1 career.

As for his Finnish teammate, he was a great animator of the race by making numerous overtakes. His weekend didn’t start brilliantly with the announcement of his future penalty, and his collision with Romain Grosjean in free practice. Valtteri Bottas managed to lead a combative race without mistakes in the traffic. He finished his race just off the podium, behind the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Thus, he deserves the honors alongside his six-time World Champion teammate.

Max Verstappen, in great form

The Dutch driver once again proved that Red Bull was right to rely on him. He finishes 3rd in the championship and second in this race behind the wheel of a car that, on paper, is inferior to the Ferraris. This young driver, full of talent, shows that by gaining consistency and control, he can compete with the best on an inferior machine.

Carlos Sainz, until the end for the first place

The objective of the Spanish driver was to aim for the sixth place that Pierre Gasly had been clinging to for many weeks. He managed to achieve this at the end of a superb race highlighted by a bold yet controlled overtake on Nico Hülkenberg in the final lap of the Grand Prix. He proved to be combative, and earns the joy of being the best of the rest. The best among those who do not have the equipment to compete for victory on a regular basis. A well-deserved reward that earns him the 3rd TOP of the editorial staff.

The FLOP 3

Ferrari

Since Red Bull’s request to the FIA to clarify the regulation regarding the use of the flow meter, Ferrari has been a shadow of its former self. Far from what it promised us at Spa and Monza in particular. Worse than that, the performance has dwindled so much that at Ferrari, strategists and drivers are sabotaging their weekend. With collisions, misunderstanding of the car, and strategic errors in qualifying and the race.

The latest blunder… A miscalculation on the amount of fuel put into Charles Leclerc’s car for the race will cost Ferrari a €50,000 fine. It’s unclear how the driver avoids a penalty. Nevertheless, even if he keeps his podium, the Monegasque will only finish the championship in 4th place. Just ahead of his teammate Sebastian Vettel. Completely absent from the race, the German who hoped to fight for the title at the start of the year is overshadowed by his young teammate in his first season in red. Everything is going wrong in Italy.

Williams

Once again, the Williams was only a shadow of an F1 car this weekend. It was time for the season to end. How can a team that partially wrote the history of this sport between the 80s and 2000s reach this point of poor form? Especially since at the start of the hybrid era, the team had managed to reconnect with performance and podiums.

Nico Hülkenberg, a sad end for a driver who never really convinced

Everyone knows it, the German driver holds the unfortunate record for the most starts without a podium. He has come very close on a few occasions but has never managed to capitalize on his opportunities. His last race ended with a disappointing 12th place finish. All the more disappointing since he was holding onto 10th place in the final lap. His teammate once again finished ahead of him in the end. The German hopes to return after a forced one-year break. If that’s the case, let’s hope he has gained in competitiveness.