Hamilton wraps up dream title season with flawless win in Abu Dhabi

Lewis Hamilton enjoyed a dominant win in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday to cap a magical campaign in the 2019 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

Hamilton started from pole and led every lap of the twilight race en route to taking the chequered flag for the 11th time this year. To add to his achievements, the Mercedes ace also clocked the evening’s fastest lap, earning him the Fastest Lap Award for the highest number this season.

Hamilton completed the sprint in a total time of one hour 34 minutes 5.715 seconds. It was his 84th victory in Formula 1 and fifth at the UAE capital, while also claiming his 50th Formula 1 victory while starting from pole position.

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen finished as the runner-up a distant 16.772 seconds behind. He managed to get the better of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who had to settle for third 43.435s from Hamilton.

Valtteri Bottas in the other Mercedes challenger also had a brilliant drive for the constructors’ world champions, taking fourth place after finishing from the very back of the grid. Sebastian Vettel in the second Ferrari car was fifth, Alexander Albon in the other Red Bull came sixth, Sergio Perez of Racing Point finished seventh and Lando Norris of McLaren was eighth.

Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr rounded out the points finishers in ninth and 10th, respectively.

Following the Grand Prix, Hamilton commented: “What a way to end the season! As a team, as a whole, we’ve been very strong this weekend and Valtteri did a great job today as well.

“I’m just so grateful for everyone’s continued hard work and dedication this year, we continue to raise the bar together. The support has been unbelievable, I’m completely overwhelmed, so a big, big thank you to everyone at the track but also back home who supports me.

“Team LH is such a cool, positive movement, I really appreciate it. This has probably been the biggest year of growth for us as a team, so I hope that that will put us in a good position for a new challenge next year. I’ve had some great races with Valtteri, Max and Charles this year and I anticipate that it will be even tougher competition in 2020. These guys will be working flat out to try and raise the bar, so I’m under no illusion that I will have to do the same this winter, but I wholeheartedly think I can.

“I feel fresh and just ready to keep going and I’m looking forward to another challenge next year.”

Hamilton ended the 2019 Formula 1 season in first place with 413 points, followed by Bottas with 326 points in the Drivers’ Championship. Verstappen finished third with 278 points, just 14 ahead of Leclerc who was 24 points in front of teammate Vettel.

Mercedes completed the Drivers’ Championship with 739 points, well ahead of second-placed Ferrari who have 504, while Red Bull are third on 417.