The 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 2018 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 25 November 2018 at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The race was the twenty first and final round of the 2018 Formula One World Championship and marked the tenth running of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the tenth time that the race has been run as a World Championship event since the inaugural event in 2009. The race was the last to be officiated by Charlie Whiting as race director as he would die shortly before the next race was held.

Background It was also notable for being the final Grand Prix for Fernando Alonso until his return in 2021. It was also Kimi Räikkönen's last race in his second stint with Ferrari, ahead of his move to Alfa Romeo–Sauber for 2019. McLaren used a special one-off livery to celebrate the last race of Fernando Alonso, who had announced he would not be racing in Formula One in 2019 (he eventually returned in ).

Title standings before the race Prior to the race, Lewis Hamilton had already secured the 2018 World Drivers' Championship title, while his team, Mercedes, had secured the 2018 World Constructors' Championship title. Lewis Hamilton claimed his fifth World Drivers' title at the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix; following the Brazilian Grand Prix he led Sebastian Vettel by 81 points with Kimi Räikkönen being third, a further 51 points behind. In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes led Ferrari by 67 points with only one race remaining in the season, with Red Bull Racing being third in the standings.

Practice

Max Verstappen was fastest in first practice, Valtteri Bottas was fastest in second practice and Lewis Hamilton was fastest in third practice.

Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in qualifying followed by Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas and the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.

Qualifying classification DriverConstructor Q1Q2Q3144 Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:36.8281:35.6931:34.7941277 Valtteri BottasMercedes1:36.7891:36.3921:34.956235 Sebastian VettelFerrari1:36.7751:36.3451:35.125347 Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:37.0101:36.7351:35.365453 Daniel RicciardoRed Bull Racing-TAG Heuer1:37.1171:36.9641:35.4015633 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-TAG Heuer1:37.1951:36.1441:35.589678 Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1:37.5751:36.7321:36.1927816 Charles LeclercSauber-Ferrari1:37.1241:36.5801:36.2378931 Esteban OconRacing Point Force India-Mercedes1:36.9361:36.8141:36.54091027 Nico HülkenbergRenault1:37.5691:36.6301:36.542101155 Carlos Sainz Jr.Renault1:37.7571:36.982N/A11129 Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari1:37.6191:37.132N/A121320 Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari1:37.9341:37.309N/A131411 Sergio PérezRacing Point Force India-Mercedes1:37.2551:37.541N/A141514 Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Renault1:37.8901:37.743N/A151628 Brendon HartleyScuderia Toro Rosso-Honda1:37.994N/AN/A161710 Pierre Gasly1:38.166N/AN/A17182McLaren-Renault1:38.577N/AN/A181935 Sergey SirotkinWilliams-Mercedes1:38.635N/AN/A192018 Lance StrollWilliams-Mercedes1:38.682N/AN/A20 107% time: 1:43.549 Source:

Race

Hamilton won the race from pole position with Vettel and Max Verstappen completing the podium. On the first lap, Nico Hülkenberg overtook Romain Grosjean at turn 8 at the end of the back straight. Grosjean was pushed off the track by the move but tried to still make turn 9 alongside Hülkenberg. Not realizing that Grosjean was still on his inside, Hülkenberg attempted to take the normal line through turn 9 and his rear right tire ran over Grosjean's front left. This caused the Renault R.S.18 to flip upside on the outside of turn nine. This resulted in the safety car being deployed; the first safety car deployment at the circuit since 2012.

Post race After the race had been completed Alonso celebrated the end of his career by performing doughnuts on the pit straight alongside Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, the other two World Champions who completed the race (Kimi Räikkönen had retired from the race). Alonso returned to F1 with Alpine to compete in season.

Race classification DriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints144 Lewis HamiltonMercedes551:39:40.38212525 Sebastian VettelFerrari55 +2.581318333 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-TAG Heuer55 +12.70661543 Daniel RicciardoRed Bull Racing-TAG Heuer55 +15.379512577 Valtteri BottasMercedes55 +47.957210655 Carlos Sainz Jr.Renault55 +1:12.548118716 Charles LeclercSauber-Ferrari55 +1:30.78986811 Sergio PérezRacing Point Force India-Mercedes55 +1:31.27514498 Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari54 +1 lap721020 Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari54 +1 lap1311114 Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Renault54 +1 lap151228 Brendon HartleyScuderia Toro Rosso-Honda54 +1 lap161318 Lance StrollWilliams-Mercedes54 +1 lap20142McLaren-Renault54 +1 lap181535 Sergey SirotkinWilliams-Mercedes54 +1 lap19 10 Pierre Gasly46 Engine17 31 Esteban OconRacing Point Force India-Mercedes44 Engine9 9 Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari24 Power loss12 7 Kimi RäikkönenFerrari6 Power loss4 27 Nico HülkenbergRenault0Collision10 Source: Notes  – Fernando Alonso received three five-second penalties for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Esteban Ocon received one five-second penalty for the same offence.

Final Championship standings

Drivers' Championship standings DriverPoints1 Lewis Hamilton* 4082 Sebastian Vettel 3203 Kimi Räikkönen 251 14 Max Verstappen 249 15 Valtteri Bottas 247 Source:

Constructors' Championship standings ConstructorPoints1 Mercedes* 6552 Ferrari 5713 Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 4194 Renault 1225 Haas-Ferrari 93 Source:

Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Bold text and an asterisk indicates the 2018 World Champions.

See also 2018 Yas Island Formula 2 round 2018 Yas Marina GP3 Series round

References

External links

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2018 – News Articles