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The 2022 Abu Dhabi GP on Sunday was the last race of the season. While it was emotional to see the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo doing their last race for a while, there were also some impressive drives on the day.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull once again stood atop the podium, but how did the other drivers fare? Let's find out as we share our ratings for the 2022 Abu Dhabi GP:
2022 F1 Abu Dhabi GP: Rating the drivers
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton (Started: 5th, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 6
It was an uncharacteristically poor race for Lewis Hamilton. First, there was a repeat of last year, as Hamilton cut the corner on the first lap. This time around, the Mercedes driver was asked to give the position back to Sainz.
After that point, the second excursion of the track certainly did damage to his car as Hamilton seemed destined to finish P5 ahead of his teammate George Russell. That was of course before the hydraulics issue ended his race. Overall, it was not the best way for the Mercedes driver to end the season.
George Russell (Started: 6th, Finished: 5th)
Rating: 7
Russell could not back up his impressive drive in Brazil with a similar performance in Abu Dhabi. He lacked pace compared to his teammate, and P5 was the best he could manage in the circumstances.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen (Started: 1st, Finished: 1st)
Rating: 10
We'd predicted this. Max Verstappen was going to fight back this weekend. and he was going to do that with a vengeance. What followed was a dominant pole position on Saturday followed by a dominant win the next day. Win no. 15, the Dutchman ends one of the most dominant seasons in F1 history.
Sergio Perez (Started: 2nd, Finished: 3rd)
Rating: 7
There's just no excuse for losing out to a driver despite having a faster car at your disposal, but that's what Perez did. The Mexican has no one to blame but himself for not ensuring a Red Bull 1-2 after starting behind Verstappen.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc (Started: 3rd, Finished: 2nd)
Rating: 10
It's drives like these that make champions. Leclerc was methodical, precise, and knew what he needed to do from the start. He had no business beating Perez in a faster car, but that's what you do when you belong to the top tier of F1.
Carlos Sainz (Started: 4th, Finished: 4th)
Rating: 7
The Spaniard's season ended just like it had begun, in the shadow of his teammate. Sainz did put together a solid drive but if your teammate is extracting more from the same car, you're not doing enough.
McLaren
Lando Norris (Started: 7th, Finished: 6th)
Rating: 9
McLaren are fortunate enough that Lando Norris sees something in the team and is willing to invest in the long term.
If that wasn't the case, he would have been in Red Bull by now, as he has already been approached multiple times. Nevertheless, it was another race where Norris showed what a find he's for the team. Next season with Oscar Piastri is going to be interesting.
Daniel Ricciardo (Started: 13th, Finished: 9th)
Rating: 7
A decent final F1 race for the Australian in a while. A points finish is certainly a good result for Ricciardo as he bids adieu to McLaren. Will he make a return to the sport? That's a question for another day.
Alpine
Fernando Alonso (Started: 10th, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 8
It was such an Alpine way of ending the season for Fernando Alonso. The driver had done a great job and was on course to score points, but his power unit cried enough, and that was that for Alonso at Alpine.
Esteban Ocon (Started: 8th, Finished: 7th)
Rating: 8.5
Ocon showed once again at the Abu Dhabi GP that even though Alpine lost Alonso, they still have him.
The French driver was once again quicker than Alonso in qualifying. and if there had been one more lap in the race, he would have jumped Norris as well. An impressive season for the French driver as he starts to prove his caliber in the grid.
AlphaTauri
Pierre Gasly (Started: 17th, Finished: 14th)
Rating: 6
Not the best Abu Dhabi GP for Gasly. The French driver was outperformed by his teammate in his last race in AlphaTauri. He will hope for better fortunes and certainly a better car next season.
Yuki Tsunoda (Started: 11th, Finished: 11th)
Rating: 7
A strong race from Tsunoda. He will take over from Gasly next season, and it will be interesting to see what he can do with a new teammate in the other garage.
Aston Martin
Sebastian Vettel (Started: 9th, Finished: 10th)
Rating: 9
Just like in the last few races, Vettel could have scored a lot more points at the Abu Dhabi GP.
Once again it was the notorious strategy unit of Aston Martin that went into self-sabotage mode and ruined the race for the German. Nevertheless, the four-time world champion once again showed that he still had the minerals but just not the car to compete.
Lance Stroll (Started: 14th, Finished: 8th)
Rating: 7.5
This was an impressive recovery drive from Stroll. The Canadian does not often get credit for his driving, but the Abu Dhabi GP was proof that he can do great things in an F1 car.
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas (Started: 18th, Finished: 15th)
Rating: 5
Not the best ending to the season for Bottas. The Alfa Romeo driver had started the Abu Dhabi race weekend as a strong contender but just wasn't able to keep the momentum throughout the weekend.
Guanyu Zhou (Started: 15th, Finished: 12th)
Rating: 5
The Abu Dhabi GP was another weekend of a 'decent but nothing special' performance from the Chinese drivers. A P12 finish does look good, but Zhou has not really shown that he can make a major impact in an F1 car.
Haas F1
Kevin Magnussen (Started: 16th, Finished: 17th)
Rating: 5
Another uncompetitive weekend in which Magnussen got outperformed by Mick Schumacher.
The Danish driver did whatever he could in an uncompetitive machinery at the Abu Dhabi GP. The next season might be fun, though, with Nico Hulkenberg in the other seat.
Mick Schumacher (Started: 12th, Finished: 16th)
Rating: 6
Schumacher was impressive in the Abu Dhabi GP qualifying. However, his car just did not have the race pace to compete or fight for points. The tangle with Nicholas Latifi was unfortunate, though
Williams
Alex Albon (Started: 19th, Finished: 13th)
Rating: 7
Albon will be happy to have Logan Sargeant with him next season. It will be interesting to see how the two work together. Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi GP was a typical Albon weekend, where the former Red Bull driver tried different strategies to sneak a point or two but couldn't do so.
Nicholas Latifi (Started: 20th, Finished: 19th)
Rating: 3
Latifi bids goodbye to F1 following the Abu Dhabi GP. There wasn't much to talk about in terms of his race performance. It was the same old story as the rest of the season, as Latifi played catch-up all weekend only to finish miles off in last position.
