Lewis claimed his 84th victory in Formula One - his eleventh of the 2019 season and fifth at the Yas Marina Circuit. Valtteri started last on the grid but stormed through the field to take P4, just 0.944 seconds shy of P3.
Today's result marks Lewis' 50th Formula One win starting from pole position. Lewis claimed the fastest lap of the race and was also awarded the Fastest Lap Award for the highest number of fastest laps this season.
Lewis (413 points) ends the 2019 Formula One season in P1 with Valtteri (326 points) in P2 in the Drivers' Championship. Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (739 points) finishes the season with a 235 point lead over Ferrari (504 points) in the Constructors' Championship.
Britta Seeger, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, Mercedes-Benz Cars Marketing & Sales, accepted the Constructors' trophy on behalf of the team.
Toto Wolff: So much hard work goes on behind the scenes, so I'm really, really happy we've ended the season in style with a spectacular win for Lewis and a brilliant fightback by Valtteri. Overall, the race was very good. Some great work in the pit stops, Valtteri's drive from last to P4 was amazing and Lewis was absolutely untouchable at the front of the field. It may look easy, but it's never comfortable. Results like this take so much time, effort and work from everyone, we are pushing so hard. I'm really happy for the team, it's a strong way to sign off 2019 and head into the winter break.
James Allison: This is as good a day as we've had all year, in a very, very strong season with a lot of contenders for close to faultless performances - even if we didn't have both cars on the podium today. Lewis was imperious at the front of the field, while Valtteri was aggressive, smooth and ruthless from the back of the grid to finish fourth. Showing the team at both ends of the grid in the best possible light. It's fantastic for all of us after a long, hard year at the factories and the track to go into the winter knowing that we've finished the season in the same style that we started it. We look forward to coming back in the new year with a car that we hope can fight for championships all over again.
Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow rounded off its 2019 season with a third and a fifth place for Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel respectively. It was the Monegasque's tenth podium of the season, the Scuderia's 19th.
First stop. At the start, Charles managed to pass Max Verstaqppen for second place and chased after race leader Lewis Hamilton, who was outpacing everyone on track. Sebastian also tried to pass the Dutch Red Bull driver, but had to settle for fourth. Both drivers came in for their pit stop on lap 12: Charles was trying to avoid being undercut by Verstappen and Sebastian because he had started on the soft tyres. They both fitted Hards, while Verstappen and Hamilton stayed out for a further 13 and 14 laps respectively. The Englishman kept the lead, while Verstappen came out behind Charles, but thanks to his fresher rubber, was able to overtake the Monegasque to go second on lap 32.
Second stop. At this point, the team realised the pace wasn't quick enough on the hard tyre and brought its drivers in once more to put them out on fresh tyres. Again they came in on the same lap 38, with Leclerc taking on softs and Vettel mediums. Charles stayed third, managing to fend off Valtteri Bottas in the closing stages, while Sebastian who had lost two places to the Finn and Alex Albon, managed to pass the Thai to finish fifth.
Season summary. Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow finished second in the Constructors' while Charles is fourth and Sebastian fifth in the Drivers'. Overall the team took nine pole positions, Charles securing more than any other driver with seven (four of which in a row). Then there were the three wins, two for Charles at Spa and Monza and one for Sebastian in Singapore and a total of 19 podium finishes. Although the season is over, there is still one appendix to it in the shape of a two day tyre test at this track on Tuesday (Sebastian) and Wednesday (Charles).
Mattia Binotto Team Principal: "We knew that we were lacking some elements to have one of our better races today. We had to try something different to manage the difficult task of getting Charles to finish third in the Drivers' Championship. His performance level today was an accurate reflection of our car's potential in this race and it was therefore satisfying to see him on the podium. He drove a strong race to round off a great season.
"As for Sebastian, he struggled a bit in the early stages as he could not use DRS, when his soft tyres should have given him an advantage. After that he did all he could to finish in the points.
"Now we have a busy winter ahead of us, when we will work very hard, while concentrating on the priorities of doing a good job by all pulling together.
"The final thought at the end of this long season goes to our fans. We want to thank them once again for having always stood by us during the good and the bad times. They deserve so much and we can't wait to repay them for their support."
Christian Horner: "It was a very strong race for Max to finish second and cement third in the Drivers' Championship. It was his ninth podium of the year and our 170th in total. We lost a position on the first lap to Leclerc but with good strategy and pace, Max got back past and it was a very comfortable second place to the end of the race. Alex was in the thick of it and his pace with Sebastian was right there today. We tried to take advantage of Ferrari's pit stop mishap by covering them off and it was very close but we just missed out. When Seb made his second stop we elected to do the opposite and we knew it would come down to the last couple of laps. P6 for Alex today is still a very positive result, he's learned so much in the nine races he's done with us with eight of them finishing in the top six. I'm sure we're going to see much more from him next year. It's always good to finish the year with donuts down the main straight, which our drivers are very good at, and I think it's been a great second half of the year for Formula One. For us, it's very much been a transitionary year with Honda but as a Team we can be proud of our achievements and we go into the winter with good confidence."
Renault F1 Team came away from a tight Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix empty-handed, however, maintained fifth position in the Constructors' Championship.
On his final start for the team, Nico Hulkenberg finished outside of the points in twelfth, narrowly behind team-mate Daniel Ricciardo who passed Nico on fresher tyres on the final lap.
Daniel made a strong start from seventh on the grid, jostling with both McLarens on the opening lap. He was caught in the pack after an early pit stop, but climbed back through the field with a late second stop for Soft tyres where he passed Nico to finish outside the points in eleventh.
Nico made the most of a good start and strong first stint to get ahead of his team-mate and Carlos Sainz and was hunting down the sister McLaren. However with Daniil Kvyat and Sergio Perez on the reverse strategy with a long first stint, Nico was overtaken in the closing stages of the race. On the final lap, Sainz also found a way past, which left the door open for Daniel to sneak by.
Over the 2019 season, Nico and Daniel scored 91 points with Daniel ending ninth (54 points) and Nico fourteenth (37 points) in the Drivers' Championship.
Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal: "Today was on the one hand a race like 20 others in the season, but on the other a race where we had the imperative objective to secure a championship position and we did it. Having said that, it was an exasperating race and we saw the current rules of starting on the qualifying tyre again penalising teams from P7 to P10. This was aggravated by being blocked behind McLaren and DRS not working due to an FIA technicality, meaning we were in dirty air at a critical part of the race, effectively another penalty.
"Nevertheless there were a couple of good moments with nice overtaking manoeuvres but they didn't materialise into points, which is a disappointment, in particular for Nico. He's been important to the team and our progress. I'd like to thank him, Daniel and the entire team at Enstone and Viry for their contribution and hard work over this tough season; let's look to build on it and better it in 2020."
Haas F1 Team drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean closed out the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship season with finishes of 14th and 15th, respectively, in Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit.
Both Haas F1 drivers started on fresh sets of Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires and had mixed results from their grid positions of 14th for Magnussen and 15th for Grosjean at the start. Magnussen picked up five positions on the opening lap while Grosjean dropped a pair of positions to 17th, and both held those relative positions through the early going.
Grosjean was up to 12th before pitting for a set of White hard tires on lap 18, dropping him to 19th with several competitors ahead of him yet to pit. Magnussen was up to eighth before his stop for hard rubber on lap 21, and he resumed in 14th.
The Haas F1 duo held steady the rest of the way with Magnussen up to 14th by the checkered flag and Grosjean up to 15th.
With today's results, Haas F1 Team finished ninth in the constructors' championship with 28 points.
The record-setting, 22-race FIA Formula One World Championship calendar for 2020 commences March 15 with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Preceding the championship's 70th anniversary season will be annual preseason testing Feb. 19-21 and 26-28 at Circuit de Barcelona - Catalunya.
Guenther Steiner: "The season ended as we expected. We got the most out of the car today. We're glad the season is over and now we can focus on next year. We got a little bit bruised this year, but we're not broken - we will come back. The aim is to forget 2019 and start next season as we left off 2018. The focus is on next year and we're really looking forward to that work."
Andreas Seidl, Team Principal: "Finishing in fourth place in the Constructors' World Championship and sixth and 11th places for Carlos and Lando respectively in the Drivers' World Championship, is a great achievement for the McLaren team this year. Most of all today I want to thank every single member of the team here at the track and back home, and our colleagues from Renault, for the outstanding hard work and great spirit everyone put into this year. Our congratulations go to Carlos and Lando for an excellent job all year, in and out of the car, which has been fundamental to all the points we scored and for a brilliant team spirit.
"It wasn't an easy race for us today, since the start on Soft tyres compromised our race time compared to the guys that had free tyre choice at the start. Later in the race we decided to split our strategies and Carlos managed to put in an impressive extra stint with decisive overtakes on Medium tyres, which was then just enough to score the one point needed to secure P6 in the Drivers' Championship. Lando did a great job managing his Hard tyres for a long, long stint, which was just not enough to keep Perez behind, but gave us another P8 in the last race of the season.
"Thank you to all our great partners for the incredible support we've had throughout the season, which is key to our performance recovery and boosts our team spirit. Thank you to Formula 1, the FIA and our fellow teams and competitors for putting on a great show again and continuing to help us build this great sport for the future. Most of all, thank you to our fabulous fans, who make it all worthwhile, are such fantastic supporters of McLaren and give us the extra motivation every day. Bring on 2020!"
Otmar Szafnauer: "I'm pleased we could end the season with a strong performance and seventh place for Checo - as best of the rest - is a well-deserved result for the entire team. We judged the strategy well tonight with a one-stop race combined with some excellent overtakes by Checo. The move on Lando [Norris] for seventh place, on the final lap, was the pick of the bunch. Unfortunately Lance's race ended in retirement due to a brake issue in the final few laps. Before that it had been a tough race with some damage on the opening lap forcing a very early pit-stop for a front wing change, which ended Lance's chance of fighting for points."
And so goes the 2019 Formula One season into the history books.
The last nine months have been an incredible rollercoaster, full of heady heights, sheer drops, emotions, passion and, most importantly, hard work by everyone involved in the team. Our shakedown in Italy, all the way back in February, the first test in Barcelona and the season debut in Melbourne - all these feel like ages ago. And yet, here we are, staring at the end of another exciting season of racing.
2019 gave us reasons to laugh, cry, rejoice and be angry. But it most importantly gave us a lot of lessons. We will go back to Hinwil (not before next week's test, that is), where work has already long been underway on the 2020 car; we will regroup, study and analyse. We will come back ready for the new challenges ahead.
When the chequered flag fell in Abu Dhabi, it wasn't just the end of a new season. That flag also marked the start of the new one.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "We bring this season to an end with a challenging race, but we won't let this overshadow the good work we did this year. After yesterday's qualifying we split the cars' strategies to maximise the chances of a good result, but in the end the circumstances didn't play in our favour. Still, we can look back at a season in which we scored more points than in 2018 and we have made strides in terms of performance. The midfield is the most competitive it has ever been, but we fought bravely. There is a lot we can learn from this season to come back even stronger next year."
Jody Egginton (Technical Director): "Today's race has been unlucky for Pierre, who unfortunately had his front wing knocked off in a lap 1 incident, which effectively ended his race. Dany got his head down and was right in the midfield battle at the end of the race after an extremely strong first stint, scoring points and ending the season on a high.
"Looking back over the season, I think we can be very satisfied with the progress made as a team in what has been an incredible tight midfield group. The STR14 has shown itself to be competitive in the midfield pretty much all year and has responded well to the in-season development. Although there is always room for improvement, everyone in Faenza and Bicester should be pleased with their part in moving the team forward. The result of the hard work put in by everyone in Toro Rosso is Sixth Place in the Constructors' Championship and this is a very well deserved, hard-earned result and the baseline on which we will build on in 2020."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "Coming to the last race of the year, we were 16 points ahead of Racing Point and 8 points behind Renault. Following a fantastic start, Pierre was beside a Racing Point when Stroll crashed into him, pushing him into Perez and damaging his front wing. Therefore, we had to call him in to change the nose, an operation which took unfortunately a lot of time because of the damaged screws. The pace during the race was really fantastic and I think Pierre could have possibly finished in seventh or eighth position without the accident. As for Daniil, he drove one of his strongest races of this year with us. He was very fast on the Base tyre and showed extremely competitive pace. We called him in on lap 40 to change to Primes and he was again very fast on that compound. Unfortunately, when he overtook Hulkenberg, his front wing got damaged and that's the reason why he lost some performance in the last laps.
"This was the most successful season for Toro Rosso with two podium finishes, Daniil in Hockenheim and Pierre in Sao Paolo. We finished in sixth position in the Constructors' Championship, only a few points behind the fifth. I want to thank Daniil and Pierre for their commitment and mature performances as well as everybody in the team for their fantastic work during the year, a massive effort from everybody in Faenza but also in Bicester, because the upgrades we got from the aero department worked very well. In addition, Honda's developments along the year were impressive and all these factors together made it possible for us to be competitive until the end of the season. I want to say a big thank you to Honda, because they did an unbelievable job last winter to get ready for the season. Three races won with Red Bull Racing and two podiums with us make me feel confident that next year we can be even stronger and we are looking forward to 2020."
Toyoharu Tanabe (Honda F1 Technical Director): "Having one driver on the second step of the podium and three cars in the points was a good end to the season. Another strong performance from Max saw him do a good job of managing the tyres and he produced a fantastic passing move on Leclerc to take second place and he is now confirmed as third in the Drivers' championship. Alex had an excellent year as a rookie. As for Scuderia Toro Rosso, Daniil also did a good job of tyre management, running a brave strategy, being the very last driver to change tyres on lap 40, which put him in the points and then a great move on the Renault gave him a well deserved ninth place finish. Unfortunately, Pierre's race was really over after his opening lap collision. This was our first year in the hybrid era working with two teams, with whom we communicated very well, allowing us to make a solid step forward. That progress is reflected in our three wins with Red Bull and two podiums with Toro Rosso. I would like to thank both teams; those members working at the track and everyone back in the facilities in Japan, Italy and the UK, as well as our suppliers. We even had support from other departments within Honda, so the whole company played a part in our improved performance this year. I would also like to thank all the fans who have supported us. This has been an encouraging year, but what we achieved this season is not yet where we want to be, so we will keep pushing to improve."
George Russell finished 17th and Robert Kubica 19th in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Brit started 18th and Robert 19th on the grid, both on the hard Pirelli tyre. Both drivers ran a one-stop strategy, Robert pitted first on lap 24 and George on lap 32, both for the medium Pirelli tyre.
Dave Robson, Senior Race Engineer: We enjoyed the final race of the season and raced hard to the end. George was ambitious on the opening lap and caused some damage to Robert's car, which hampered his pace for the remainder of the race. With a paddock-wide DRS problem early in the race, George was destined to complete the first stint behind Robert and was only in front of Gasly who had to pit for an early front wing change.
We pitted Robert a little earlier than planned as we looked to cover Stroll. Robert was able to pull out a healthy advantage over George but, equally, George was able to create a tyre advantage. Once again, we allowed them to race after the pit stops and, on this occasion, aided by DRS, George was able to clear Robert and then, with Robert's car damaged, pull away. George then enjoyed a very good stint on the option tyre. His pace and low degradation allowed him to chase down Stroll and he would have passed him easily had the Racing Point not retired. Robert's pace was further compromised by a collision with Giovinazzi, which caused quite extensive damage to the floor and bargeboard on the right-hand side of the car. This meant that he fell back into a clutch of lead cars, losing further ground to George.
Throughout a difficult season, the drivers and the whole team have performed well, professionally, and with good humour. We thank Robert for all his efforts behind the wheel and at the factory. His determination, experience, and knowledge have been invaluable over the last two years. We wish him all the very best for his future.
George has served his first season in Formula One in difficult circumstances, however, his talent, drive and enthusiasm are obvious and it is clear that he has everything he needs to be a truly exceptional F1 driver. While he may not appreciate it fully yet, this year may prove to have provided him with some very valuable experience that will pay significant dividends in the future.
Our attention now immediately turns to 2020 as we focus on tyre testing. This is a very good opportunity to understand the new tyres in hot conditions and will provide us with the information we need to select compounds for winter testing and the opening races of the 2020 season.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the final race of the season with a one-stop medium-hard strategy, just like Red Bull's Max Verstappen in second. However, the third-placed Ferrari of Charles Leclerc adopted a different strategy, adding a final soft stint to his medium-hard run plan, to take advantage of the red tyre's extra speed in the crucial closing stages of the race.
Hamilton won from pole without losing the lead and was never troubled throughout the 55 laps. However, there was a close fight for the final two podium places behind him. The Englishman completed an impressive grand slam: pole, win, and fastest lap.
Ferrari chose to pit both of their cars twice, which were running different strategies from each other. On each occasion, the cars were double stacked in the pit lane, and both used all three available tyres - hard, medium and soft - albeit in a different order.
Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas finished fourth after starting last due to a grid penalty, running a long initial stint on medium before switching to hard for the final stint. He ended up less than a second off the podium.
The longest stint was completed by Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly, who switched onto the hard tyre following contact on lap one, and then ran it all the way to the finish: a total of 52 laps (as he finished two laps down).
A total of five different pit stop strategies were seen in the top 10.
The race lap record that had stood since 2009 was finally broken courtesy of Hamilton, who set the fastest lap of the race on the hard, with just two laps to go.
Mario Isola: "From a tyre point of view, with the three softest compounds in our range, we are satisfied with the overall performance here. We saw some long stints and low degradation, but also plenty of tactical variation and raw speed, with the decade-old race lap record finally broken on quite old hard tyres. This underlines the constant increase in performance we have seen in Formula 1 this year, which we have to bear in mind for the future. So now our focus turns to testing for 2020 and beyond as we remain at Yas Marina. On Tuesday and Wednesday all the teams will try out a range of 2020 tyres, with the opportunity to compare them to the current 2019 tyres. After that, we'll also be testing the 18-inch tyre for 2021 in the last of our private tests this year. Congratulations to Hamilton and Mercedes, not just for this emphatic race win but also for claiming both championships."
