2022 - Race 22 Abu Dhabi

[F1nKS]

Last race of the 2022 season. Story lines:

1. Perez vs Leclerc - winner gets 2nd

2. Alonso vs Ocon

3. Could Mercedes catch Ferrari

4. Alpine looks to be in good position for 4th

5. Can Haas hold on to 8th?

[airshifter]

1. Overall I'd say Leclerc has been the better driver over the season, but Ferrari has had some massive strategy blunders vs RB. Checo has done a good job protecting the #2 position, but overall i think both Merc and Ferrari have a better driver lineup.

2. Fred would need a good race to make up the deficit, but at times has shown his brilliance.

3. If Ferrari implodes it could happen. Merc have made up some ground, but on the strategy/execution of on track operations have been superior to Ferrari.

4. I think Alpine has it wrapped up. More chance of a Merc/Ferrari swap probably.

5. Hard to say, but it seems that other than Williams being a solid last that the lower half of the field has a LOT of ground to make up to get close to in line with the upper half of the field.



As for the track, I kind of liked it more before the slow kink was removed. It might be more suited to a larger range of cars now, but lost some of the original feeling for the track. It's still a decent track, but not in line with the great tracks IMO.

I expect Merc to be back closer to Ferrari again. I think a lot of people thought that Merc made huge leaps due to Brazil, but overall I think it was more a case of RB and Ferrari getting it wrong. Hopefully we can see at least 3 teams at the top again next year. If Merc continue to improve and Ferrari get their act together someone might be able to put a real challenge to RB.

[F1nKS]

Not much drama. Could have been a little exciting finish if Perez didn't get held up a little.

Final standings

1 Red Bull Racing 759
2 Ferrari 554
3 Mercedes 515
4 Alpine Renault 173
5 McLaren 159
6 Alfa Romeo 55
7 Aston Martin 55
8 Haas Ferrari 37
9 Alpha Tauri 35
10 Williams 8

[Tazio]

In teammate competition,
Oc' whips Fred, and
Rus' spanks "The Boss"

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

[airshifter]

Strategies kept the race interesting towards the front, and kept us guessing in the midfield.

Lewis bailed really early on that first incident. I don't know if that hit caused any damage or his eventual DNF, but it surely didn't help anything. Overall good pace from the Mercs though, with George getting screwed up and Lewis having a failure, but they are worlds above where they started the season.

Both Max and Charles make the 1 stopper work well, and Checo did what he could to catch up and fight for 2nd. It might have been close without that traffic, but he screwed himself when he overtook Hamilton in the first DRS zone too. At the end of the day, I think Charles was the stronger driver over the course of the year, and really 2nd place is a good result considering the Ferrari blunders this season.

Though it sucked for Merc and Lewis with the issue that took them out, it is great to see both Danny Ric and Seb take points in their final races.... only time will tell if either of them end up back on track. Though Ricciardo has had issues at McLaren and Seb in a less than stellar AM, I'll miss seeing both of them on the grid. Strange to think that both exited RB only to see their choices be the thing to regret later.


It's been a long season. Now we have to wait and see how all the cars stack up for next year. Hopefully the deck will shuffle enough to bring some more cars towards the front to challenge.