00:01The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it slides out and away we go and I think Sergio Perez has got a
00:05slightly better getaway.
00:07He's coming up Max Verstappen now, behind him they're all squabbling with Charles Leclerc in third place.
00:12Max Verstappen leads then from Sergio Perez, then comes Charles Leclerc and then comes Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz.
00:18George Russell seems to have lost a place to Lando Norris right at the start.
00:22They'll head now down towards the hairpin, the two Red Bulls getting away rather nicely.
00:26Charles Leclerc goes down the inside on Sergio Perez, Perez has to slam the door shut.
00:31And that will compromise Leclerc on the exit, that's why he's suddenly under attack instead of being the attacker.
00:37But that Ferrari I showed you on the grid, it's got slim rear wing, it's pretty handy in a straight
00:42line.
00:43Hamilton can't quite get near him because down the inside now comes Carlos Sainz on Lewis Hamilton.
00:48Sainz just squeezes Hamilton who goes over the rumble strip and launches into the air.
00:53Sainz goes past, sorry, Leclerc goes past, Hamilton keeps the place, but like last year he went off the track
00:59of that chicane.
01:00And did he do any damage to the underneath of the car?
01:03So Lewis is having a look at the inside of one Ferrari and then is joined.
01:09A little love tap there as it went past, but the door was open and he drove the Ferrari through
01:15it.
01:17OK, Lewis, we've been asked to give the position back to Sainz.
01:22And there it goes, Carlos Sainz then ahead of Lewis Hamilton, back up into fourth place.
01:29With an extra 15 km an hour advantage, Hamilton is getting closer and closer and they're going wheel to wheel
01:34into that chicane.
01:35And Sainz just ahead under braking.
01:38Hamilton then getting a very good exit out of that chicane.
01:41Officially the steward saying no further action, leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
01:46So they're satisfied, everything has been done.
01:48And now Hamilton has got a car length ahead of Carlos Sainz and a lap later.
01:52He is back ahead of the Ferrari and this time he shouldn't be told to give it back.
01:56And once again Carlos Sainz has that DRS, that 15 km an hour top speed advantage.
02:02And Sainz, under braking, now thinks about trying to get the inside line for the second part of that chicane.
02:08And Sainz of course will get more DRS and a better exit through the corner as Lewis had to defend.
02:13So you've got to expect the Ferrari to be in a great position here to overtake as they approach to
02:18turn nine.
02:19And he can sweep from the outside in and takes the place back again.
02:24That's now going to leave Lewis very vulnerable to his teammate.
02:27And Sebastian Vettel into that same corner, makes the move on Esteban Ocon and up into eighth place.
02:33Ocon is trying to come back at Vettel, as you can see, and says,
02:37Thank you very much, I quite like eighth place. I'll keep on to it for a little bit more.
02:41But this is a super little tussle between Esteban Ocon and Sebastian Vettel.
02:46Russell picking up a slipstream and with DRS2, pulls out from the rear of his teammate's Mercedes.
02:52George Russell powers his way past and up into fifth place.
02:57This is what happened with George Russell.
02:58He said he was stationary for 5.2 seconds.
03:02He was being held for quite a long time whilst they worked on the rear.
03:08George, we have a five-second penalty for a safe release.
03:13Alonso is a pretty frustrated man because this is ruining his strategy.
03:17Valtteri Bottas recovering from a terrible start and last.
03:20There you go, this is the overtake for you.
03:21Yes, he's got two into one.
03:23And he needed to do that because it was ruining his strategy after his stop.
03:27Fernando Alonso pitting and...
03:29Second pitch stop.
03:30Retiring.
03:31Have to retire the car.
03:33Oh dear.
03:34Well, Fernando Alonso, who has not had the best of luck with mechanical reliability this season,
03:41finishes off his stint with the Endstone team
03:43and finishes it off by being pushed into the garage as our first retirement this evening.
03:48Meanwhile, here comes Sebastian Vettel.
03:51Haven't said that for a while.
03:52And there he goes.
03:53Into the corner, the heads of Pierre Gasly.
03:57Lovely.
03:59We've had a tangle.
04:01Mick Schumacher and Nicolas Latifi have had just a little tangle.
04:06We can actually have a look at what happened down at the hairpin.
04:10Mick Schumacher thought he saw a gap there and just tags the rear of Latifi's Williams.
04:15Five-second time penalty for Mick Schumacher for causing a collision.
04:22Knock on there ahead of Ricciardo.
04:24Joe Guanyu weaving a bit on the straight.
04:26Vettel's got that one covered, though, and he's definitely got the pace to get past the Alfa Romeo.
04:33There you see the Perez pace that he's got, and he does get level with Lewis Hamilton.
04:38Little lockup, though, going into that chicane.
04:41And how much is that going to compromise him?
04:43Coming out of the chicane, Hamilton seems to get a much better exit.
04:47And he's now got DRS, a little bit of a slipstream as well, to try and get that place back.
04:52Perez thought he got the overtake done, but that one lockup, Martin, seems to accost him.
04:56And Hamilton manages to keep hold of that third place.
05:01Down the inside goes Sergio Perez.
05:04And we can see he's actually got Sakar Lend the head as they emerge out of turn nine.
05:09You see, so that's good learning from Sergio Perez.
05:12And this is the green of Lance Stroll catching Sebastian Vettel.
05:16Now, you hold your breath a little bit when these two get together,
05:20but that was Vettel making way for his teammate to get past.
05:24I've lost shifts. Shifts aren't working, probably.
05:27Copy. Okay, may have a hydraulic problem, so may go passive. Just be cautious.
05:32And it did go passive. As you can see, Carlos Sainz goes ahead of Lewis Hamilton,
05:37who was absolutely powerless to try and defend.
05:41And he's still stuck in seventh gear at the moment and trying to find a remedy.
05:47But this is a hydraulic issue.
05:51For his 15th victory in his second championship winning season,
05:56Max Verstappen wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
06:0015 wins in a season.
06:02That is the new benchmark for the rest to challenge.
06:06Charles Leclerc comes home to take second place ahead of Sergio Perez.
06:11Ferrari get that runners-up spot in both Constructors' and Drivers' Championships.
06:18Sebastian Vettel scores tenth in his final race.
06:22What an amazing season, Ruppert. Unbelievable.
06:26Very, very good job, Max. Well done.
06:28What did he say? Remember these times. They might not last forever.
06:32Sebastian, thank you. The memories definitely will.
06:36And now it's us who has to remember these days.
06:38Thanks, Seb. You've been a true champion for Red Bull, for Formula One and for yourself too.
06:46That's it. Formula One is over in 2022.
06:50Enjoy your winter. You've got 105 days to go until we race in Bahrain and we start all over again.
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