It’s same old story for Lewis and Max
Verstappen strolls to win as Hamilton limps out
LEWIS HAMILTON’S unique record of winning in each season of his career was consigned to history when a broken gearbox terminated his participation in the abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
as max Verstappen capped a year of imperious control with his 15th victory, Hamilton lost his shifts while running fifth with three laps remaining, having hit the kerbs early on. the Briton’s speed plummeted and he was back in the garage before the post-race fireworks illuminated the clear, dark sky.
thus closed a world championship that outlived its usefulness once Verstappen, who was booed here, had defended his title successfully in Japan six weeks and four races ago.
For Hamilton, it was another day to forget in his annus horribilis that ended with him sixth in the championship, his lowest ever, 35 points behind mercedes team-mate George Russell.
‘I am very pleased it is over and done with,’ said the seven- time world champion with a sigh of resignation.
‘I kept up hope until the last race that I had a chance. I gave it everything but ultimately the last race was like the whole season. It summed it up.’
after Russell notched mercedes’ first win of 2022 in Brazil last week, hopes were high that they could roll that success into a car that can make a real scrap of it with Red Bull and Ferrari when the circus returns in Bahrain next march.
But this was a reality check. Hamilton qualified fifth, Russell sixth. team principal toto Wolff called that ‘toilet’. and in the race, they were again the third best team, a season-long affliction that allowed Ferrari, rather than them, to claim second in the manufacturers’ championship. Hamilton’s fate was, it seems, sealed on the first lap. He and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz tangled on turn Six and Hamilton climbed over the sausage kerbs. the car bounced violently on its suspension. the stewards investigated.
Sainz was cleared of forcing Hamilton off. the Briton, though, was deemed to have gained an advantage and told to cede the place back. He did so. He then quickly zoomed past Sainz, only for the Spaniard — who finished fourth — to overtake him in an avenging move moments later.
Hamilton complained of damage — a broken floor, he thought. If so, you did not need to be Columbo to work out why.
then, much later, he came on the radio to say his shifts had gone and that was that.
Russell finished fifth. He drove well enough, passing Hamilton on the ninth lap, but suffered a slow pit stop and an unsafe release that cost him a five-second penalty. the norfolk- born racer has bided his time maturely in his first season with the Silver arrows. His reward is beating Hamilton by the margin of one race win plus another 10 points. It may be a different equation when there is a prize for them to fight over, for that challenge is apt to turn Hamilton into a greyhound chasing an electric rabbit, but Russell’s advantage is a mighty impressive feather to wear in his crash helmet. Russell’s pride was understandable as he said: ‘nine times out of 10 if you finish ahead of lewis Hamilton you are probably going to be world champion. ‘In a season like this, when the car is not performing, we have all had our own difficulties and I have no doubt he will be back to his normal levels next year if the car is capable of a championship win. He had a difficult start to the season. things didn’t go smoothly for him and they were going a bit more smoothly for me, but that form swung around. looking back, the luck probably balanced out.’
there was the runner-up place in the drivers’ championship to be decided here in the desert across these final 58 laps, with Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Charles leclerc going head-to-head for the honour, having arrived here tied on 290 points.
leclerc, who started third and finished second, secured the consolation prize. Perez, who started second and finished third after two stops to leclerc’s one, was left disappointed.
Sebastian Vettel, retiring at the age of 35 with four championships and 53 wins to his name, endured an annoying race, left in a strategic no- man’s- land. He finished 10th on his weekend of long goodbyes, one point to take with him on his exit.
aston martin owner lawrence Stroll was an notable absentee from the well-attended walk/run of the track that was organised on Saturday evening as Vettel’s farewell. the Canadian was instead sipping red wine at what a team spokesman described as an ‘important business meeting’. It was strange scheduling.