Lewis Hamilton has capped a dominant year with victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final race of the 2019 Formula One season on Sunday.
Mercedes’ Hamilton finished first ahead of rising stars Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on the podium in second and third respectively.
Six-time world champion Hamilton finished the 2019 season with 413 points, almost 100 points clear of his nearest rival and teammate Valtteri Bottas on 326 points. Bottas finished fourth at Abu Dhabi.
Verstappen ended the 2019 campaign in third, made impressive given Red Bull’s constraints, finishing ahead of Ferrari pair Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel.
Leclerc edged out four-time F1 champion Vettel by 24 points, arguably representing a shift within the Ferrari garage, given the 22-year-old Monegasque driver’s ability to deliver on his promise.
Hamilton was the story in Abu Dhabi, leading from start to finish and crossing the line 17 seconds ahead of Verstappen.
The triumph was Hamilton’s 11th of the 2019 season and one in which he claimed an additional point for fastest lap, given his dominance at the front of the track.
“Even though we had the championship won we wanted to keep our head down and see if we could extract more from this beautiful car,” Hamilton said.
Meanwhile, there is speculation Hamilton could move to Ferrari next season, with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitting there’s a “25 per cent chance” the Briton could leave.
The 2020 Formula One season commences with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne in March.
