Published 14:05 IST, December 2nd 2019
Lewis Hamilton finishes Formula One season with Abu Dhabi victory
Lewis Hamilton registered his 11th win of the season in Abu Dhabi; however, his future remains uncertain as he is yet to extend his contract with Mercedes
The 2019 Formula One season ended on Sunday in Abu Dhabi. Unsurprisingly, Lewis Hamilton won the race comfortably. It was Hamilton's 11th victory this season. Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took the second and third positions respectively.
Hamilton races away
The win meant that Hamilton finished the season with 413 points. His teammate Valtteri Bottas finished second with 326 points and Verstappen finished third with 278 points. In the constructor's standings, Mercedes finished the season first with 739 points. On the second and third positions were Ferrari and Red Bull Racing with 504 points and 417 points respectively.
It was Hamilton's 50th pole-to-win of his career and it was a race that he won comfortably. After the race he said that he was proud of his team and how much they pushed themselves. He further added that he felt great racing that day and felt good after the win. He also feels like he's at his best of the year at the moment and he's sad that he has to stop for the year. But he's also glad that the team and him are ending the year on the right note. He also hopes that the team starts on the right note the next year.
Youngster and Red Bull's Principal driver Verstappen said that Lewis and Mercedes were just too quick on this track. However, he felt that Red Bull had better strategy and pit stops as a team. Therefore, second place was a good result on this track. The pace was good and overall Red Bull were quite a bit faster than the others.
It was Nico Hulkenberg's last race with Renault, and since he has not signed a new contract with any other team, it was potentially his last race in F1. He finished the race 12th and later said, it was a worthy final race for him. He was happy to cross the line and 'finish the race in style'. He felt good about his performance.
(With inputs from agencies)
Updated 22:56 IST, December 2nd 2019