Red Bull dominates and Mercedes-AMG comes second in the constructor’s championship as the 2023 Formula 1 season came to a dramatic end under the lights of the Abu Dhabi Yas Marina circuit.

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ABU DHABI, UAE

The 2023 Formula 1 season comes to a dramatic close at the conclusion of the Abu Dhabi GP.

The driver’s and constructor’s championship fight has already been won by Max Verstappen and the Red Bull Racing team prior to the final race of the season, but the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team and Scuderia Ferrari team were in a feverous battle.

With just 4 points separating both Mercedes and Ferrari (392 points vs 388 points respectively), the Italian and German outfits battled it out on the track – with Mercedes-AMG emerging 2nd in the constructor’s championship.

The race began with Max leading the charge after edging his RB19 ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at turn 1. As the race wore on, tensions were at a fever pitch as both McLaren drivers clung on to Leclerc’s tail with Mercedes’ George Russell in hot pursuit of the McLarens. Lap 15 saw Lando Norris held back in the pits with a 5.1-second stop which saw Russell return to the grid ahead of Norris.

In a bizarre turn of events, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda led the race from lap 18 to 22 before being overtaken by Verstappen when the Japanese driver went into the pits. A collision between Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Lando Norris saw the Mexican driver get slapped with a 5-second penalty, which ultimately lost Perez his chances at a podium finish.

In the final minutes before the end of the race, Charles Leclerc allowed Perez by in an attempt to hold Mercedes’s George Russell back for Ferrari to claim 2nd in the constructor’s championship. Alas, it was a valiant sacrifice that was unsuccessful. Max Verstappen crossed the finish line in first place with an additional point for securing the fastest lap, bringing his points tally to a record-breaking 575 points. 

The order for the rest of the point scorers in the Abu Dhabi GP are:

Charles Leclerc of Scuderia Ferrari in 2nd
George Russell of Mercedes-AMG in 3rd
Sergio Perez of Red Bull in 4th
Lando Norris of McLaren in 5th
Oscar Piastri of Mclaren in 6th
Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin in 7th
Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri in 8th
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes-AMG in 9th
Lance Stroll of Aston Martin in 10th

There’s a lot to be said about Max Verstappen’s stellar streak for the entirety of the 2023 season. The Dutchman has broken numerous records including bringing home 19 wins, 12 pole positions and 1003 laps in the lead. Not to mention the record for most consecutive wins (10 races in a row, beating out Sebastian Vettel who set the previous record with 9 consecutive wins).

For the entirety of the 2023 season, the Red Bull RB19 reigned supreme with a grand total of 21 wins, 14 pole positions, 5 sprint victories, 30 podiums and a mighty 860 point tally in the constructor’s championship. The 2023 Singapore GP was the only race that saw Red Bull bested by Carlos Sainz of Ferrari.

Further down in the pecking order, Mercedes emerged victorious in the fight with Ferrari over 2nd place in the constructor’s title with 409 points over Ferrari’s 406. McLaren comes in 4th with 302 points, followed by Aston Martin with 280, Alpine with 120, Williams with 28 (their best finish since 2017), AlphaTauri with 25, Alfa Romeo with 16 and Haas with 12 points.

What to expect from the 2024 season

While the cars will stay largely similar (preferably with even more performance enhancements), there will be some organisational changes in the pit lane. Alfa Romeo and Sauber’s partnership ends as Alfa Romeo leaves the sport – no word yet on the new title sponsor for the Swiss motorsport outfit.

Daniel Ricciardo will make a return as a permanent fixture on the grid alongside Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri, though the brand will undergo a name change for the 2024 season onwards. The team also bids goodbye to team principal Franz Tost who will retire at the end of this season’s finale race.

The first race of the 2024 F1 season will be held in Bahrain from the 28th of February to the 2nd of March 2024. Just 93 days before we tune in to the hottest motorsport race series for yet another season of track battles. Hopefully Netflix’s next season of Drive To Survive will be released before then.

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