F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix LIVE REACTION: Hamilton RETIRES from final race as Verstappen wins & Leclerc finishes second

Curtain comes down on 2022

And that’s that. The 2022 F1 season has come to an end, with the drivers managing to bring plenty of excitement every week, even though the eventual winners have been a formality for a long time.

How will Ferrari and Mercedes look to take down Red Bull? Can anyone stop Max Verstappen?

So many questions, but it’s quite the wait until we have any answers.

Danke, Seb

The year of Verstappen

The Dutch national anthem has become awfully familiar to us this year, thanks to the dominance of the now two-time champion.

Can anyone put up a fight next season?

Mercedes prove last week a flash in the pan

Last week, George Russell was on top of the world after a thriling and dominant race win, with his teammate following behind.

Today, Russell was a spectator for the second half of the race, while Hamilton was forced to retire late on.

Plenty of work needed over the summer for Mercedes to challenge again next season.

Vettel: “I’ll miss more than I understand”

“I wish it would’ve been a couple more points.

“It was a shame.

“A big day, and a big thank you to the support.

“I hope to pass on a little bit to the other drivers. There’s far bigger and more important things than racing.”

Verstappen: “Hard to replicate this”

Met with boos, Verstappen said:

“It was all about tyre management.

“Incredible to win again.”

Leclerc: “I was 110%”

“I knew we needed a different strategy.

“I hope next year we can take a step forward.”

Perez: “I gave it my all”

“We have to come stronger next season.”

Vettel donuts on the grid

A legend says his final goodbyes.

Heartbreak for Perez

Ferrari finally get something right this season, as Leclerc held off a charging Perez to finish second behind Verstappen in the championship.

Vettel waves goodbye in the points

Hamilton’s issues see Vettel end in the points, as he pushes Ricciardo right to the end, finishing in P10.

Lap 58/58 – Leclerc holds on to second

Leclerc holds off Perez to finish second in the championship!

Lap 58/58 – Here we go then

1.6 seconds. Can Perez catch Leclerc?

It’ll need to be a mammoth lap from the Red Bull.

Lap 57/58 – Hamilton retires

Hamilton is out of the race.

Meanwhile. its a two lap shootout for second between Leclerc and Perez.

2.2seconds is the gap.

Lap 55/58 – Hamilton going slowly

Hamilton can’t get out of 7th gear, and a miserable season is set to end in heartache for the seven-time champion.

Lap 54/58 – Five laps to go

We’re stil no closer to knowing who will come out on top in this battle for second.

Hamilton is also furious with his team, and under pressure for from Sainz behind him.

Lap 51/58 – Battle for second set to be a blast

These last few laps are going to be extremely exciting in the battle for second in the Championship.

Perez is 6.3 seconds behind Leclerc, who is doing everything he can on his degraded tyres.

Lap 50/58 – Vettel let down by his team

An unhappy radio message from the departing star, asking how his team have got things so wrong.

The one stop stratergy has not worked out for Vettel at all.

Lap 48/58 – Advice from Verstappen to Perez

The leader has told his team on the radio to tell Perez to push hard to the end here.

About eight seconds is the gap between Perez and Leclerc, but he is catching.

Lap 47/58 – Perez finally completes overtake

After a big wait, Perez fnally gets the overtake done on Hamilton.

Has the Mercedes repaid the favour on the Red Bull from last year by holding him up enough?

Lap 45/58 – Perez urged on

The Red Bul team told Perez that he had to get an overtake on Hamilton done quickly.

It was temporarily done, before the Mercedes fought back to retake the place.

Lap 44/58 – Safety car could be key

With the differing strategies of Ferrari and Red Bull, a safety car would be a gamechanger in these final few races.

Leclerc has said on the radio that he “won’t come back” if he is brought into the pits.

Lap 42/58 – Verstappen domination again

The champion holds a seven second lead, and he’s not even pushing hard anymore as he looks to stay on his one-stop strategy.

Lap 40/58 – Sainz and Russell pit

Both enjoy good pit stops, and come out cleanly.

As for the incident, it seems Latifi was tagged by an oncoming Haas, with Schumacher surely taking the blame.

Lap 39/58 – Incident between Schumacher and Latifi

The pair collide, with Latifi going very slowly as a result.

Both are currently still going.