Mercedes and Ferrari produce thrilling F1 fight as Verstappen wins Abu Dhabi GP

26 November 2023 , 14:31

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Max Verstappen does donuts on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix track after winning the race (Image: Getty Images)

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell did just enough for Mercedes to beat Ferrari to second place, while Max Verstappen strolled to Abu Dhabi Grand Prix victory unchallenged.

Sergio Perez did his best to spoil the Mercedes party at the end after getting the better of Russell with a few laps to go. But a five-second time penalty meant he did not have enough of a gap to snatch the last podium place from the Brit.

And the fact Hamilton out-scored Carlos Sainz meant Mercedes had enough points to hold on to second place in the constructors' championship. Charles Leclerc let Perez past in a desperate attempt to slow Russell down, but it wasn't quite enough for Ferrari to leapfrog their rivals.

So Leclerc was second after Perez's penalty and Russell third, dropping the Mexican down to fourth place. Hamilton scored minor points while a Ferrari gamble with Sainz to wait for a safety car did not pay off and the Spaniard did not score at all.

Leclerc put up a furious fight against Verstappen on the opening lap and tried several times to snatch the early lead. But the Red Bull racer placed his car in all the right positions to make sure there was no room for the Monegasque to get the move done.

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After holding off the Ferrari, Verstappen was soon able to build the gap he needed to make sure his rival would not get DRS from when the system was activated on the third lap. So instead of challenging the Red Bull in front of him, Leclerc soon had the McLarens behind him to worry about.

Norris had got the better of Russell at the start and so he and Piastri were working together to reel in the Ferrari. Further back, Hamilton had started well to get past a couple of cars including Perez, but it wasn't long before the Mexican had retaken that place.

Mercedes and Ferrari produce thrilling F1 fight as Verstappen wins Abu Dhabi GP

It was Max Verstappen's 19th win of a record-breaking F1 season for Red Bull (Getty Images)

Russell was staying in DRS range of Piastri ahead but still didn't have quite enough speed to get past the rookie. With Hamilton also stuck in 10th with Perez ahead of him, it was not looking good for Mercedes in their bid to out-score Ferrari.

But things changed on lap 11 when a lock-up from the Australian opened the door for Russell who did not need an invitation to go through it. And he enjoyed even more luck when he and Norris pitted at the same time - the McLaren driver suffered a slow stop and so he came back out behind his fellow Brit, who was up to net third place.

Of the leaders, Red Bull were the first to blink and brought Verstappen in for his first stop to give Leclerc the lead. When Ferrari responded a lap later, it left Yuki Tsunoda to become the second Japanese racer in F1 history to lead a Grand Prix, after former Jordan and BAR driver Takuma Sato.

George Russell and Charles Leclerc joined Max Verstappen on the podium (Getty Images)

Eventually, of course, he had to pit and Verstappen took his very familiar place back at the front of the pack. He wasn't roaring away from Leclerc but doing enough to keep him a few seconds behind whilst managing his tyres - doing the smart thing.

In the end, Leclerc had to pit before him to respond to Russell changing to fresh tyres. Had Ferrari waited another lap they would surely have lost track position to the Mercedes as their driver only just came back out ahead of the Brit who was hot on his gearbox.

Further back, Hamilton was fighting Fernando Alonso for the minor points positions. And the Spaniard incurred the wrath of his rival when he appeared to brake test the Brit after coming out of the pit lane just ahead of him, prompting Hamilton to rage about the move over the radio. But the stewards decided no investigation was necessary.

They were less lenient on Perez after the Mexican barged Norris off the road. A five-second penalty ended his hopes of reaching the podium and helped out Russell and Mercedes a lot in their bid to finish ahead of Ferrari in the championship.

Leclerc did his best to thwart Russell by even allowing Perez to pass him so that he could try to hold up the Brit as much as he could. But it was not enough in the end as the gap between them was less than four seconds when they took the chequered flag, relegating Perez to below the both of them.

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Hamilton scored minor points while Sainz's gamble to wait for a safety car did not pay off, meaning he did not finish in the top 10. So Mercedes had done enough to beat Ferrari to the runner-up spot in the championship despite Leclerc's best efforts.