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A season that began with a Sebastian Vettel win at Australia ends with Lewis Hamilton winning the season-ender at Abu Dhabi, a night safari spectacularly lit by shining lights and amazing pyrotechnics of drivers.
By winning the 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Hamilton usurped the rest of the grid, yet again, and demonstrated his authority over the others in a race that would be remembered for multiple reasons, not merely Hamilton's stellar consistency.
This was the final ever race for one of Formula One's true titans. One wonders, how's it that fans and the rest of the grid are going to cope up without Fernando Alonso? One also wonders what might Valtteri Bottas' thoughts be at this moment. In a season where he failed to win a single race while most frontrunners managed to squeeze in some fine moments, how does the Finn feel?
All that said here are the key takeaways from the season-ender at Yas Marina
Hammer-time, once again
Currently, as it stands on the grid, only one man seems certain to catch Michael Schumacher's record for most Grand Prix victories.
It's the indomitable Lewis Hamilton, who, by virtue of winning the Abu Dhabi contest matched Schumi's tally of most race wins from the pole position.
In all honesty, if one were looking for an adjective of consistency in the realm of Formula 1 then citing Lewis Hamilton as an example wouldn't be a bad idea at all.
Or would it?
In winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final showdown of a season he's utterly owned, the Mercedes driver took his overall win tally to 11. If that's not a measure of phenomenal consistency then what is?
This quite simply means that Hamilton didn't just win more than half of the races held this year, he managed to leave arch-rival Sebastian Vettel way behind, the German ending up with no more than 5 race wins, which included 2 back-to-back wins starting from Australia and Bahrain.
Hamilton, who entered Abu Dhabi on a high, at the back of a dominant Brazil win would set the fastest lap and also end on the top step of the podium.
Where the next season goes, that's the man to beat, isn't it? Yet again!
Lacklustre from Bottas
On this very track, 12 months ago, Valtteri Bottas was able to scamper home with a fantastic win. The night safari was mastered by a clinical performance by the Mercedes driver, someone who's now ended an entire year without a win.
That must be a hard feeling to grapple with, isn't it?
Having said that, it wasn't that a podium was always out of reach of a man, who, for the better part of 2018, has been described as Hamilton's wing-man.
Bottas started well from his second and would chip away from a pack involving Vettel, Raikkonen, and Ricciardo.
Till, the halfway stage, he was nearly four-tenths quicker on the Ferrari of Vettel, the only real threat apart from the two Bulls, both of whom ended with an impressive race.
But finishing fifth, and eventually ending up P5 on the driver's standings, Bottas, who struggled for speed and grip was no match to the faster Red Bulls, that seemed dominant with nearly half a second worth of advantage of the straight line speed.
Once he dropped behind Vettel, he was challenged successfully by the Bulls and would never recover. Thankfully, he'd hold on to his P5.
A big upset for Kimi
Raikkonen, who had been driving as well as he'd ever done for the Scuderia expected to end on a high. And truth be told, the chances of a strong finish weren't completely unfounded based on a decent job that Kimi was able to do on the qualifying run on Saturday.
Starting from fourth, the Iceman was initially challenged by the Red Bull of Ricciardo, but would hold on well for six more laps which is when tragedy struck, how else would you put it?
On Lap 7, Raikkonen, steeming on the main straights was caught by the faster Sauber of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari-bound for 2019). Kimi's sassy pace as seen earlier turned sour and his race was marred by a mechanical malfunction that eventually led him to retire.
In the end, a man who performed so well during the European run of the circuits drove the fastest-ever lap in the history of F1 at Monza, and went as far as collecting that long-awaited win at the USA was struck by a mechanical problem in that Ferrari at Abu Dhabi.
On this occasion, Kimi didn't know what his car was doing. In the end, he had to be left alone!
Multiple DNFs at Abu Dhabi make the race sombre and Alonso's prediction
It doesn't help to see retirements in any race, on any track for that matter. Accidents aren't of any picturesque value and do not add to the fun of the sport. Having said that, right at the start of the season finale at the Yas Marina, inside the opening lap itself, the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg and the Haas of Romain Grosjean came to blows at a tight-corner.
The aftermath of the accident was Nico Hulkenberg's retirement from the race, but not before it took nearly fifteen minutes of work by several marshals to get the retiring German on his feet.
The accident was arguably the most dramatic moment of the Grand Prix was quite a nervy sight. Incidentally, no penalties were handed to Grosjean and no ruling was made in relation to either of the cars involved in a scary collision.
Having said that, the retirement of Hulk wasn't the only dramatic exit. Raikkonen would follow soon, in his Ferrari. Piere Gasly and Esteban Ocon also didn't have a great run at the Yas Marina.
Add to that the talk about Alonso and Ocon both being penalized for leaving the track of different occasions and thus, gaining an advantage of nearly 5 seconds.
It didn't help that Marcus Ericsson, driving his last Sauber race wasn't able to finish and had to race-retire.
Interestingly, however, at the conclusion of the qualifying session, Alonso had predicted for a major opening lap collision right at the start and so it happened. Well done, Mr. Clairvoyant!
11 World Championships in the donut
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix brought different results for different drivers. For instance, to Lewis, it signified the triumph of authority. For Alonso, it brought the curtains on what has been a truly fascinating career, marked with 32 race wins, 97 podium finishes, culminating into 2 world titles.
For Sebastian Vettel, however, it meant finishing the race on the podium, a strong one at that in the form of a P2.
But for the fans, it meant a fascinating spectacle altogether.
Wondering how?
There wasn't one but three drivers together who performed the signature celebratory 'donut' move at the conclusion of the 55-lap contest, Hamilton, Vettel, and Alonso performed the donuts and drove their respective cars in circles to celebrate with the fans, giving everyone something to cheer about.
Not since the 2018 Donut-festival as seen at the Abu Dhabi race track has F1 seen multiple drivers involved in such a grand fiesta.
