Before the season finale of Formula 1, Sebastian Vettel runs through the trellis of his fellow drivers – then he successfully fights for points in his last race. Max Verstappen once again dominates at the front and wins the 22nd race for the 15th time. Mick Schumacher picks up a penalty.
Big ovations and wet eyes from Sebastian Vettel before the start, but no big gifts on the track: The four-time world champion said goodbye to his self-imposed Formula 1 retirement with tenth place and thus a point at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“I would have liked to have scored more points, but I enjoyed the race,” said Vettel on the home straight in front of the grandstand: “I feel a bit empty now after this weekend. I see a lot of flags, a lot of smiling faces. I’ll probably do it all miss a lot more than I realize at the moment.”
5635 days after his Grand Prix debut, Vettel, who had dominated the premier class for a few years, was fighting passionately for a top result – but the one-stop strategy chosen by Aston Martin turned out to be a mistake. “How could we be so wrong with the strategy,” Vettel sparked when he fell out of the points nine laps before the end of the race. At least it got a point because his old rival and now friend Lewis Hamilton retired late with hydraulic problems.
Victory went to world champion Max Verstappen, who set a remarkable record with 15 successes in one season. His 454 points are also a new record – albeit helped by the record number of 22 races. “It will be difficult to repeat something like that,” said the Dutchman. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc secured second place in the drivers’ standings behind the outshining Red Bull driver by finishing second ahead of Verstappen colleague Sergio Perez. Both went into the season finale on equal points.
Record world champion Lewis Hamilton had to park his car in his 200th race for Mercedes. This ended an impressive series: For the first time since he entered Formula 1 in 2007, the Brit ended a season without a win.
Mick Schumacher finished 16th in what was his last Formula 1 race for the time being. Abu Dhabi will want to quickly forget the 23-year-old not only because of his resignation from Haas: In the race, Schumacher exuberantly caused a collision with Nicholas Latifi’s Williams. After he had to vacate his place at the US racing team for Nico Hülkenberg in 2023, Schumacher’s last, albeit small, chance of a regular cockpit in the coming season was shattered on Sunday.
Logan Sargeant secured the place at Williams. The American finished the Formula 2 season fourth overall and thus collected the necessary points for the premier class driver’s license, the so-called super license. A realistic option for Schumacher is now a place as a reserve driver with the top team Mercedes. After all, he won the last internal Haas duel with Kevin Magnussen that day.
For the 35-year-old Vettel, where he won his first title in 2010, it was only marginally about the sporting side. There was plenty of room for emotions. Father Norbert Vettel surprised his famous son with the first racing helmet, the first racing gloves and the first overall. Schumacher and Alonso wore helmets in Abu Dhabi in the typical Vettel design: white with black, red and gold.
Vettel, on the other hand, had an appointment with all his driver colleagues for dinner on Thursday, and he invited the entire paddock to do one last lap on the track with him on Saturday evening. Many followed his call, including Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali and buddy Mick Schumacher. “The run was great, it was a lot of fun,” said Vettel. His ex-team Ferrari gave him an engine cover, and the words “Thank you Seb” were emblazoned all over the paddock.
Vettel, who comes from the tranquil Heppenheim, leaves Formula 1 as one of the greats. He won 53 races, first in 2008 in Monza in the inferior Toro Rosso, most recently in 2019 in Singapore for Ferrari. Only Hamilton (103) and his idol Michael Schumacher (91) have more wins to their credit. The Hessian was on pole position 57 times. From 2010 to 2013 he won the Drivers’ World Championship four times in a row. In 2009, 2017 and 2018 he was Vice World Champion.
