Finishing first at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Red Bull’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen closed the 2023 season with 19 wins over 22 races.

Verstappen completed 58 laps at Yas Marina in 1 hour 27 minutes 2.624 seconds, 17.993 seconds faster than second-placed Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. This overwhelming victory helps the defending champion end 2023 satisfactorily for both himself and the Red Bull racing team.

With 19 first-place finishes in 22 races, Verstappen set a new record for winning percentage in F1 history – 86.4%. Two races ago, at the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix, Verstappen broke the record of winning percentage in a season of 75% set by Alberto Ascari in 1952. But winning the last two races and setting the record The new record is 11% higher than the old record, showing the superiority of Verstappen and Red Bull.

Verstappen drifted on the Yas Marina racetrack to celebrate victory on the evening of November 26. Photo: X / redbullracing

At the end of the race, Verstappen was very emotional when he brought the car to the prize giving area. “Those were my last moments in the car that has helped me so much this season. This has been an incredible season. It will be very difficult to do the same thing again. Red Bull is working hard to have a more competitive car for next season. Other teams will try to beat, but we are ready for every challenge to come,” the champion said after the awards ceremony.

First place in Abu Dhabi came easily to the Dutch racer as he held the first starting advantage. The most significant pressure on Verstappen’s RB19 was only in the first lap, where Leclerc’s SF23 emerged to attack three times at the end of the straights but was quickly defeated by Verstappen at corners Turn 1, 6 and 6. 7.

The race that ended Red Bull’s successful season would have been even more perfect if their remaining driver, Sergio Perez, had finished second. However, the Mexican driver was given a five-second penalty for colliding with Lando Norris’s (McLaren) MCL60 at Turn 6 on lap 60. With this penalty, despite finishing second after suddenly passing Leclerc in the penultimate round, Perez was dropped to fourth. Ferrari directed Leclerc to actively slow down to let Perez pass in order to gain a points advantage over Mercedes in the battle for second place in the racing team rankings.

Ferrari’s calculation is to let Perez pass in the hope that the Mexican driver, with newer tires, can create a gap of more than five seconds with Russell – who is running 4th and overcome the five-second penalty to finish second. father. But in the end, Perez only created a gap of less than 4 seconds, and the Red Bull driver dropped from second to fourth place, 1.1 seconds slower than Russell.

Leclerc finished second, but could not help Ferrari take second place. Photo: X / ScuderiaFerrari

Leclerc can slow down in the final laps to hold back Russell to help Perez create a gap of more than 5 seconds, but the Monaco driver still maintains the same speed. Thanks to that, at the end of the season, Mercedes finished second on the overall table of racing teams. Before the final stage, the German team had four points more than rival Ferrari. In Abu Dhabi, Leclerc finished second, earning 18 points, Russell finished third with 15 points, Hamilton finished ninth and had two points. Meanwhile, because Carlos Sainz has no points, even though he has 3 points more than his opponent at the final stage, including the whole season, Ferrari is still one point behind his opponent.

“This result means a lot to the entire racing team after a difficult season. I’m really happy to know Mercedes kept second place”, Russell said after the race in Abu Dhabi.

Leclerc regretted: “Perez got a 5-second penalty, so we tried to get him faster enough against Russell. I tried to help, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough. Really disappointed to lose second place in the racing team rankings, but I am proud that Ferrari has recovered strongly after a difficult time at the beginning of the season”.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix results

+) Fastest-lap: 1 minute 26.993 seconds by Max Verstappen (Red Bull) set in round 45.

Final racing team rankings for the 2023 season