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Max Verstappen won his 54th race as he emerged victorious in the final race of the 2023 F1 season, the Abu Dhabi GP.
The 2023 season was fabulous for the three-time world champion and so was the showdown in the Abu Dhabi GP. With his 19th victory of the season, Verstappen became the only F1 driver to complete 1000 racing laps in a season. He is also the only driver this season to finish every race and now has 54 wins, the third best in the all-time list behind Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen also had the most wins in a single season by a driver, most consecutive wins (10) and a total of 575 points, the most to be ever scored by a driver in F1 history.
Following him on P2 was Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari, who, despite his best efforts, could not bring the team to second position in the constructors' championship. This was because George Russell finshed P3 to take the final place on the podium and the second position for Mercedes in the standings.
Here are the final race results -
Sergio Perez finished second in track position at the Abu Dhabi GP but had a five-second time penalty to serve because of an earlier incident he shared with Lando Norris, which sent him down to P4.
After what was an incredible season for Red Bull throughout, it was Max Verstappen who won the world championship and his teammate Sergio Perez who followed him. Despite the team's long history of achievements, this is the first time their drivers have finished 1 and 2 in the standings.
Mercedes finish P2 in F1 WCC battle at the final showdown in the Abu Dhabi GP
While Red Bull had sealed the top of the constructors' standings, there was an intense battle for the second position at the Abu Dhabi GP. This was between Mercedes and Ferrari as they were separated by only four points going into the race.
Charles Leclerc started in second position and kept the same, while George Russell kept gaining to take third place. Leclerc further tried to slow Russell down as there was a 5-second time penalty on Perez, but it did not work out for him as it was the final lap of the race.
Ferrari did not pit Sainz until the last lap as they were "waiting for a safety car." Because of this, he went out of points. Lewis Hamilton's P9 finish, though low, was enough for Mercedes to bring in 409 points in the end, three ahead of Ferrari at 406.
