Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was the pole-sitter and winner of the 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final race of the 2018 Formula One season. Hamilton won comfortably over his main rival, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen taking the third and final podium position of the season.
Hamilton led early from his pole position but on the eighth lap, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg was flipped in the air after a clash of tires with Haas’ Romain Grosjean and the resulting caution flag allowed Hamilton to pit early for tires he would use for the remainder of the race. Hamilton initially dropped to fifth place after his pit stop but gradually, all the main contending drivers made their pit stops and Hamilton resumed the top spot in Lap 34 – and never looked back. Vettel, who started in third, overtook a flailing Valtteri Bottas in his Mercedes on the next lap, and Verstappen did the same on Lap 38 to finish the final 17 laps of the race in that order.
Entering the race, Hamilton and Vettel had already secured their 1-2 finish in the 2018 Formula One driver’s championship but the third position was up for grabs after Vettel’s Ferrari teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, was forced to retire on the seventh lap with a mechanical failure. But neither Bottas nor Verstappen were able to finish high enough in the race to overtake Raikkonen, who ended the season with 251 points to Verstappen’s 249 points and Bottas’ 247 points.
2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
6 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault
7 Charles Leclerc Sauber
8 Sergio Pérez Force India
9 Romain Grosjean Haas
10 Kevin Magnussen Haas