2017 ABU DHABI GP: SEASON FINALE FOR VALTTERI BOTTAS

Valtteri Bottas claimed his third victory of the year, beating Mercedes team-mate and four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton by just under four seconds at the final race of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel finished third for Ferrari.

At the start Bottas got away cleanly from pole position and took the lead ahead of Hamilton, Vettel and Ricciardo who all retained their starting positions. Behind them Max Verstappen in the second Red Bull closed on Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen and made two aggressive attempts to pass the Finn.

The second almost succeeded but in the end the Dutchman backed out of the attack and Räikkönen held fifth as they crossed the line at the end of lap one.

Further back Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg went off track and rejoined in seventh place ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez who had got ahead at the start. The German was promptly handed a five-second time penalty for gaining an advantage.

The order then settled and by lap 10 Bottas had eked out a two-second advantage over Hamilton, with the British driver 2.7s clear of Vettel. Ricciardo was also managing to pull away from Räikkönen who was now 3.9s in arrears to the Australian. That order remained the same through the first pit stops, though not for long afterwards.

Following regulations stops for Verstappen, Räikkönen, Vettel and Bottas, Ricciardo dived towards the pit entry earlier than expected saying he suspected he had a puncture. He took on supersofts tyres and rejoined in P4 but the real problem soon became clear. “I think I’m losing power steering,” he reported and then almost immediately drove off track and stopped at Turn 5, his race over.

At the front Hamilton was the last of the front runners to pit and his stop once again boosted Bottas into the lead. The Finn now led his team-mate by just over a second, but Vettel was now a sizeable 11.4s behind in third. Following Ricciardo’s retirement Räikkönen was promoted to third, 1.5s ahead of Verstappen in the sole remaining Red Bull.

Force India’s Esteban Ocon was sixth ahead of the Renaults of Carlos Sainz and Hulkenberg. Sainz needed to make a first pit stop, and he did that on lap 31, in tandem with the sixth-placed Force India of Esteban Ocon.

While Ocon rejoined in P8, there was a problem for Sainz. His crew failed to attach his front left wheel correctly and the Spaniard barely it made out of the pit tunnel and back on track. He quickly pulled over and retired.

The stops, though, boosted Hulkenberg to P6, a position that if held would earn Renault eight points and elevate them to in the Constructors’ standings, above Toro Rosso, whose drivers, Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly, were lingering in P15 and P16 respectively.

And there the order stagnated. At the front Bottas had a solid 1.7s advantage over Hamilton on lap 43, with Vettel a further 20 seconds back. He was followed by Raikkonen and Verstappen, while Hulkenberg was now secure in sixth place some seven seconds ahead of Perez.

And that was how it ended, with Bottas eventually taking his third victory of the season almost four seconds clear of Hamilton and almost 20 seconds ahead of Vettel, whose third place means he finishes as runner-up to Hamilton in the Drivers’ standings, 12 points ahead of Bottas. Raikkonen’s fourth place, coupled with Ricciardo’s retirement boosts the Finn ahead of the Australian, to fourth in the Drivers’ table.

Further back Hulkenberg held sixth place to hand Renault the same place in the teams’ standings. Perez was seventh for Force India ahead of team-mate Ocon, while Fernando Alonso handed two points to McLaren and Honda in the final race for the team and engine manufacturer as partners. Finally, Felipe Massa scored a point on his final race in Formula 1, with the Brazilian retiring after 269 F1 starts.

2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Yas Marina
55 laps, 305.470km., Weather: Dry.
CLASSIFICATION:
 P.   DRIVER            TEAM         TIME/GAP 
 1. Valtteri Bottas   Mercedes AMG 1h34:14.062
 2. Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes AMG  +    3.899
 3. Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari       +   19.330
 4. Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari       +   45.386
 5. Max Verstappen    Red Bull      +   46.269
 6. Nico Hulkenberg   Renault       + 1:25.715
 7. Sergio Perez      Force India   + 1:32.062
 8. Esteban Ocon      Force India   + 1:38.911
 9. Fernando Alonso   McLaren       +    1 lap
10. Felipe Massa      Williams      +    1 lap
11. Romain Grosjean   Haas          +    1 lap
12. Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren       +    1 lap
13. Kevin Magnussen   Haas          +    1 lap
14. Pascal Wehrlein   Sauber        +    1 lap
15. Brendon Hartley   Toro Rosso    +    1 lap
16. Pierre Gasly      Toro Rosso    +    1 lap
17. Marcus Ericsson   Sauber        +    1 lap
18. Lance Stroll      Williams      +    1 lap

2014 L.Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1h30:02.555
2015 N.Risberg - Mercedes AMG - 1h38:30.175
2016 L.Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1h38:04.015
2017 V.Bottas - Mercedes AMG - 1h34:14.062

Fastest Lap: Valtteri Bottas - 1:40.650       

NOT CLASSIFIED:                               
Carlos Sainz JR.  Renault
Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull
FINAL CLASSIFICATION                                       
 DRIVERS:                  CONSTRUCOTRS:   
 1. Lewis Hamilton   363   Mercedes AMG 668
 2. Sebastian Vettel 317   Ferrari      522
 3. Valtteri Bottas  305   Red Bull     368
 4. Kimi Raikkonen   205   Force India  187
 5. Daniel Ricciardo 200   Williams      83
 6. Max Verstappen   168   Renault       57
 7. Sergio Perez     100   Toro Rosso    53
 8. Esteban Ocon      87   Haas          47
 9. Carlos Sainz JR.  54   McLaren       30
10. Nico Hulkenberg   43   Sauber         5
11. Felipe Massa      43
12. Lance Stroll      40
13. Romain Grosjean   28
14. Kevin Magnussen   19
15. Fernando Alonso   17
16. Stoffel Vandoorne 13
17. Jolyon Palmer      8
18. Pascal Wehrlein    5
19. Daniil Kvyat       5
20. Marcus Ericsson    0
21. Pierre Gasly       0
22. Antonio Giovinacci 0
23. Brendon Hartley    0