Max Verstappen dominated the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix whilst Mercedes beat Ferrari to second in the Constructors’ championship.
Verstappen led from lights to flag aside from five laps after he pitted at the end of Lap 16, whilst he also became the first driver to lead 1000 laps in a season as he took his 19th Grand Prix win of the season.
Charles Leclerc finished second ahead of George Russell after the pair benefitted from a time penalty for Sergio Perez, who finished fourth ahead of Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Fernando Alonso, Yuki Tsunoda, Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll.
Verstappen finished the season as champion as confirmed in Qatar with Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton rounding out the top three, whilst Alonso saw off Leclerc on countback to finish fourth with Norris a further point behind in sixth.
Red Bull are already Constructors’ champions but Mercedes saw off Ferrari for second by just three points, whilst McLaren finished fourth ahead of Aston Martin.
At lights out, Verstappen led Leclerc and Piastri but Norris jumped Russell for fourth whilst Tsunoda headed Alonso as Gasly and Hamilton leapfrogged Perez for eighth and ninth respectively.
Perez however passed Hamilton on Lap 3 for ninth into Turn 6, whilst McLaren swapped Piastri and Norris around a lap later to try and protect against Russell, whilst attack Leclerc for second.
Unfortunately the latter option failed to materialise but Russell cleared Piastri on Lap 11 after a stern defence from the Australian, before he benefitted from slow left tyre changes for Norris to jump his British compatriot on Lap 15 in the first round of pit stops.
Verstappen meanwhile built a two-second lead before he pitted at the end of Lap 16 with Leclerc following suit a lap later, which unleashed Tsunoda into the lead for five laps until he pitted at the end of Lap 22 for hard tyres.
Further behind the frontrunners, Carlos Sainz opted to start on the hard tyre alongside Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas and calmly managed his tyres in a second trail of cars in 13th positions and found himself running third as others pitted.
That strategy gamble saw him help hold up Russell to help his teammate – Leclerc effectively secure second place in the mid-race stint, which the Monegasque driver held to the checkered flag behind Verstappen.
Daniel Ricciardo triggered the second round of pit stops on Lap 32 which saw little change up front except for Perez, who ran long and found himself second when he pitted at the end of Lap 42 and rejoined sixth.
That strategic decision saw Perez mount a late charge as he passed Tsunoda then Norris on Laps 44 and 48, although he banged wheels with Norris into Turn 6 on Lap 47, which stewards adjudged him at fault for and handed the Mexican a five-second time penalty.
Verstappen eventually cruised to a 23rd victory across Grands Prix and Sprints of this season and became the first driver to lead 1000 laps in a F1 season, as Leclerc and Russell rounded out the podium ahead of Perez who finished second on the road before his penalty was applied.
Leclerc’s podium finish ultimately didn’t prove enough for Ferrari to snatch second from Mercedes in the constructors’ standings, whilst McLaren finished fourth ahead of Aston Martin and Alpine.
Williams clung on to finish seventh ahead of AlphaTauri. Alfa Romeo and Haas in the Constructors’ standings.
Norris’ fifth place meant that he missed out on fourth in the drivers’ standings to Alonso who finished seventh behind Norris’ teammate – Piastri, plus was jumped for fifth by Leclerc who missed out on fourth by virtue of two less third-placed finishes on countback.
Tsunoda fought off Hamilton on the final lap for eighth as Stroll rounded out the top ten.
F1 will stay in Abu Dhabi for a post-season test on Tuesday 28 November, before the 2024 season commences in Bahrain across 29 February – 2 March, followed by a trip to Saudi Arabia a week later from 7-9 March with both races scheduled for the Saturdays due to Ramadan.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 58 | 1h 27m 02.624 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 58 | + 17.993 |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes | 58 | + 10.328 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 58 | + 21.453 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 58 | + 24.284 |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 58 | + 31.487 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 58 | + 39.512 |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 58 | + 43.088 |
| 9 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 58 | + 44.424 |
| 10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 58 | + 55.632 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri | 58 | + 56.229 |
| 12 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 58 | + 66.373 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 58 | + 70.360 |
| 14 | Alex Albon | Williams | 58 | + 73.184 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 58 | + 83.696 |
| 16 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 58 | + 87.791 |
| 17 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 58 | + 89.422 |
| 18 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 58 | + 76.844 |
| 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 58 | + 1 Lap |
| 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 58 | + 1 Lap |