Valtteri Bottas hails ‘perfect pole, fast lap and win’ combination in Abu Dhabi
After a season that had featured an often gripping and highly competitive battle for the title, Formula One closed the curtain on the campaign with a decidedly anti-climactic affair in Abu Dhabi. The fireworks that greeted Valtteri Bottas as he crossed the line to take victory at Yas Marina on an uninspiring circuit where passing is hard, had sadly not lit up the occasion.
But for Bottas this was anything but a damp squib, beating his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton into second was just the finish the Finn badly needed. Equally for Mercedes, sealing a dominant onetwo over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in third, was the perfect finale.
Bottas won with an untroubled run from pole, holding off Hamilton who had already claimed his fourth world championship. The win is of import to the Finn because his form has been lacklustre in the second half of the season and he badly needed to prove to Mercedes that they were right to re-sign him for next year.
Out-qualified and out-raced re-
cently by Hamilton and having been
beaten off the line and to the win at the last round in Brazil by Vettel, Bottas had a point to prove and he did so emphatically. “It is a really important win for me after having a pretty difficult start to the second half of the year,” he said. “It was perfect, pole, win and fastest lap, it couldn’t be better. It gives me confidence going into next year. How I got into the zone here, I need to find that next year.”
Hamilton had wanted to finish the season strongly but, after crashing in qualifying in Brazil and taking second here, he has been unable to close out with wins. He has, however, equalled Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher in becoming the only drivers to have scored points in every race in a world championship-winning year.
With the two drivers in evenly matched machinery, Hamilton could stay with his team-mate but not achieve the 1.4sec speed advantage required to pass – an issue at many circuits this season as a result of the aero-focused regulations. “Valtteri did an amazing job today,” he said. “It is really hard to overtake
here but I gave it everything. I am looking forward to coming back strongly next year.”
Suggestions that the team wanted Bottas to win were denied by Mercedes. “Lewis was really hard on him,” said the non-executive director Niki Lauda. “Valtteri did a fantastic race. It is difficult to follow here, Lewis tried hard to beat him but he couldn’t.”
The executive director, Toto Wolff, also confirmed they had let both off the leash. “Valtteri won on merit today,” he said. “Lewis was pushing very hard. He was asking for more engine power, we gave it to both of them and they raced to the end.”
Once Bottas had the lead off the grid he maintained control, staying in front after the only pit stop and while Hamilton pushed to edge closer, he simply could not pass. The pair were in a race of their own out front with Vettel ultimately finishing a full 19sec back.
Wolff cautioned against reading too much into the result but Mercedes will be pleased with how strongly they have closed out the season. The team had already secured their fourth constructors’ championship and have 12 wins, including four one-two finishes. Here they proved that their development of a car, which has been difficult to manage on occasion, was strong to the end. They have every reason to be confident for 2018 having laid down a final marker for Ferrari to match over the winter.
After the race Liberty Media unveiled a new logo for the sport, described soul-destroyingly as a new “brand identity inspired by fans”. After a bland finale in Abu Dhabi, it is a brand that might be better served if F1’s owners consider having the season end at a circuit where there is at least the opportunity of seeing it out in some style.
The battle for sixth place in the constructors’ championship between Renault, Toro Rosso and Haas, who were separated by six points, ended in Renault’s favour. Nico Hulkenberg’s sixth was enough to overtake Toro Rosso, who use a Renault engine.
It is a result which is likely to have ramifications, with the relationship between Toro Rosso and their engine manufacturer having deteriorated over the past three races. Toro Rosso, who will be using Honda engines next season, have accused Renault of not supplying them with new parts and will likely have more to say on the subject in the wake of losing the place.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo suffered a hydraulic failure and retired on lap 22, a costly DNF for the Australian. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen had been seven points behind him but his fourth was enough to secure fourth place in the championship.
The second Red Bull of Max Verstappen was in fifth. Hulkenberg was sixth, with the two Force India’s of Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon in seventh and eighth. Fernando Alonso brought the curtain down on McLaren’s unhappy relationship with Honda with a points finish in ninth and Felipe Massa closed his F1 career in 10th.