The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina track was the last race of the year and it was perhaps fitting that Lewis Hamilton should give his teammate Valtteri Bottas a chance … but Hamilton is a winner and every time he loses it hurts.
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Bottas was of course thrilled with the result and had a magnificent weekend after achieving pole position on Saturday.
He was in a class of his own for most of the race but Hamilton did get within a second of him on a few occasions.
One couldn’t help thinking that Hamilton was merely cruising while Valtteri set the pace.
The Ferraris just didn’t have the pace to make an impression on the Mercs and Sebastian Vettel finished in third place, 19 seconds behind Hamilton, with teammate Kimi Raikkonen another 45 seconds back in fourth.
Max Verstappen was fifth in the sole remaining Red Bull after his teammate had succumbed to a power steering problem earlier on.
The sole surviving Renault of Nico Hulkenberg made it home to sixth position. Teammate Carlos Sainz had retired earlier with a loose front wheel.
The two Force Indias, driven by Sergio Perez and Estaban Ocon, again performed well, notching seventh and eighth places, while the Fernando Alonso brought his McLaren Honda home in ninth.
It was fitting that the old man of the race, Felipe Massa, who was retiring, should come home in the last point scoring position, tenth.
Although a lot of the team, including some technicians, will get a rest, it will be flat out on the design side where the new cars will take shape at a feverish pace before official testing early in the New Year.
It will be interesting to see how the new halo cockpit (driver inside a bubble of Perspex) turns out.
It feels a bit impersonal so we shall have to bear the wait of almost four months to the first Grand Prix of the new season in Melbourne in March 2018.
Festive greetings to you all.
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