Hamilton wins Abu Dhabi GP
World champion Lewis Hamilton’s 11th victory of another dominant season proved so easy that the driver who finished way back in second place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix joked that he should have eased up a bit.
Hamilton’s 84th career win saw him finishing around 17 seconds clear of Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver had started from second place behind Hamilton.
“I wasn’t expecting to have the pace advantage to that extent,” Hamilton said.
After Hamilton pulled clear from pole, he was five seconds ahead within 10 laps and Verstappen never got remotely close to catching his Mercedes.
Although Verstappen had reliability issues approaching the midway point of the 55-lap race, the 22-year-old Dutchman conceded it had little impact on who won.
“We drove around the problem,” he said. “But it wouldn’t have made any difference today..”
Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari.