Verstappen eases to F1 Abu Dhabi GP win

Red Bull's Max Verstappen rounded off the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship with a typically dominant victory in Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as Mercedes edged Ferrari to finish second in the Constructors' Championship.

As he has done so often this season, Verstappen led away from pole position, seeing off the threat from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on Lap 1 to control the race, losing the lead only briefly during the pitstops.

"An incredible season. It was a bit emotional on the last lap, the last time sitting in the car which has given me a lot," said Verstappen, whose win in Abu Dhabi was his 19th of 22 Grands Prix in a record-breaking year. The Dutchman's victory was also his seventh in a row in 2023, and his fourth consecutive win at the Yas Marina circuit.

"Of course, very proud to win the final race, I have to say thanks to everyone at Red Bull, it's been an incredible year.

"It will be very hard to have another season like this, we know that, you always want to do better, but doing better is not always race wins and winning the championship.

"We are working hard for next year for a very competitive car. For sure, all the other teams want to try and beat us next year, but we are ready for the battle and in the meantime we're going to enjoy this year as well."

With Verstappen and Red Bull having secured both Drivers' and Constructors' titles several races ago, attention turned to the battle for second place in the Constructors' standings. Mercedes ultimately prevailed, edging Ferrari by 409 points to 406 thanks to George Russell's third place and Lewis Hamilton finishing ninth.

Leclerc took second place, some 18 seconds adrift of Verstappen, but teammate Carlos Sainz failed to score after a disappointing qualifying session saw him line up only 16th on the grid, and the Spaniard failed to make significant progress through the field in Sunday's race.

Behind the top three, Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez had crossed the line in second place, but dropped to fourth after incurring a five-second penalty for a late-race collision with McLaren's Lando Norris, who finished fifth, ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri.

Fernando Alonso took seventh for Aston Martin, with Yuki Tsunoda a fine eighth in his AlphaTauri, and Alonso's teammate Lance Stroll followed Hamilton home to round out the top ten.

The final Drivers' Championship standings saw Verstappen finish with a record total of 575 points, with the Dutchman also becoming the first driver to lead 1,000 laps in a single season. Verstappen's tally was more than double that of second-placed Perez, who finished on 285 points, with Hamilton taking third with 234 points.

In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull also scored more than double their nearest rivals, ending the season with a record total of 860 points.

The 2024 Formula 1 season begins with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 2.