# 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

The 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 2018 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 25 November 2018 at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The race was the twenty first and final round of the 2018 Formula One World Championship and marked the tenth running of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the tenth time that the race has been run as a World Championship event since the inaugural event in 2009. The race was the last to be officiated by Charlie Whiting as race director as he would die shortly before the next race was held. It was also notable for being the final Grand Prix for Fernando Alonso until his return in 2021.

## Report
### Background

McLaren announced they would be using a special one-off livery to celebrate the last race of Fernando Alonso, who had announced he would not be racing in Formula One in 2019 (he eventually returned in 2021). This was the first time McLaren had run a special livery since the 1986 Portuguese Grand Prix. McLaren also invited the family of seven time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson to the race. Johnson and his family watched the race from the McLaren garage.

#### Title standings before the race

Prior to the race, Lewis Hamilton had already secured the 2018 World Drivers' Championship title, while his team, Mercedes, had secured the 2018 World Constructors' Championship title. Lewis Hamilton claimed his fifth World Drivers' title at the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix; following the Brazilian Grand Prix he led Sebastian Vettel by 81 points with Kimi Räikkönen being third, a further 51 points behind. In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes led Ferrari by 67 points with only one race remaining in the season, with Red Bull Racing being third in the standings.

### Practice

Max Verstappen was fastest in first practice, Valtteri Bottas was fastest in second practice and Lewis Hamilton was fastest in third practice.

### Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in qualifying followed by Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas and the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.

### Race

Hamilton won the race from pole position with Vettel and Max Verstappen completing the podium. On the first lap at turn 9 Nico Hülkenberg overtook Romain Grosjean at turn 8 at the end of the back straight. Grosjean was pushed off the track by the move but tried to still make turn 9 alongside Hülkenberg. Not realizing that Grosjean was still on his inside, Hülkenberg attempted to take the normal line through turn 9 and his rear right tire ran over Grosjean's front left. This caused the Renault R.S.18 to flip and barrel roll into the barriers to the left of turn 9, thus sending the race into a safety car situation, the first such instance in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix since 2012.

### Post race

After the race had been completed Alonso celebrated the end of his career by performing doughnuts on the pit straight alongside Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, the other two World Champions who completed the race (Kimi Räikkönen had retired from the race.) Jimmie Johnson congratulated Alonso on his career. The two would later exchange their respective cars in a car swap at Bahrain International Circuit. Three years later however, Alonso returned in F1 with Alpine.

## Classification
### Qualifying

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Qualifying times | Qualifying times | Final grid |
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Final grid |
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:36.828 | 1:35.693 | 1:34.794 | 1 |
| 2 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:36.789 | 1:36.392 | 1:34.956 | 2 |
| 3 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:36.775 | 1:36.345 | 1:35.125 | 3 |
| 4 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:37.010 | 1:36.735 | 1:35.365 | 4 |
| 5 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 1:37.117 | 1:36.964 | 1:35.401 | 5 |
| 6 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 1:37.195 | 1:36.144 | 1:35.589 | 6 |
| 7 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1:37.575 | 1:36.732 | 1:36.192 | 7 |
| 8 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:37.124 | 1:36.580 | 1:36.237 | 8 |
| 9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes | 1:36.936 | 1:36.814 | 1:36.540 | 9 |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 1:37.569 | 1:36.630 | 1:36.542 | 10 |
| 11 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Renault | 1:37.757 | 1:36.982 | N/A | 11 |
| 12 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:37.619 | 1:37.132 | N/A | 12 |
| 13 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1:37.934 | 1:37.309 | N/A | 13 |
| 14 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:37.255 | 1:37.541 | N/A | 14 |
| 15 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Renault | 1:37.890 | 1:37.743 | N/A | 15 |
| 16 | 28 | Brendon Hartley | Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda | 1:37.994 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
| 17 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda | 1:38.166 | N/A | N/A | 17 |
| 18 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Renault | 1:38.577 | N/A | N/A | 18 |
| 19 | 35 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams-Mercedes | 1:38.635 | N/A | N/A | 19 |
| 20 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 1:38.682 | N/A | N/A | 20 |
| 107% time: 1:43.549 ||||||||
| Source: ||||||||

### Race

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 55 | 1:39:40.382 | 1 | 25 |
| 2 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 55 | +2.581 | 3 | 18 |
| 3 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 55 | +12.706 | 6 | 15 |
| 4 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 55 | +15.379 | 5 | 12 |
| 5 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 55 | +47.957 | 2 | 10 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Renault | 55 | +1:12.548 | 11 | 8 |
| 7 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber-Ferrari | 55 | +1:30.789 | 8 | 6 |
| 8 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India-Mercedes | 55 | +1:31.275 | 14 | 4 |
| 9 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 54 | +1 lap | 7 | 2 |
| 10 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 54 | +1 lap | 13 | 1 |
| 11 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Renault | 54 | +1 lap | 15 | |
| 12 | 28 | Brendon Hartley | Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda | 54 | +1 lap | 16 | |
| 13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 54 | +1 lap | 20 | |
| 14 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Renault | 54 | +1 lap | 18 | |
| 15 | 35 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams-Mercedes | 54 | +1 lap | 19 | |
| Ret | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda | 46 | Engine | 17 | |
| Ret | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes | 44 | Engine | 9 | |
| Ret | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 24 | Power loss | 12 | |
| Ret | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 6 | Power loss | 4 | |
| Ret | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 0 | Collision | 10 | |
| Source: ||||||||

#### Notes

* ^1 – Fernando Alonso received three five-second penalties for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Esteban Ocon received one five-second penalty for the same offence.

## Final Championship standings

| | Pos. | Driver | Points |
| | 1 | Lewis Hamilton* | 408 |
| | 2 | Sebastian Vettel | 320 |
| | 3 | Kimi Räikkönen | 251 |
| 1 | 4 | Max Verstappen | 249 |
| 1 | 5 | Valtteri Bottas | 247 |
| Source: ||||
| | Pos. | Constructor | Points |
| | 1 | Mercedes* | 655 |
| | 2 | Ferrari | 571 |
| | 3 | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 419 |
| | 4 | Renault | 122 |
| | 5 | Haas-Ferrari | 93 |
| Source: ||||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
* Bold text and an asterisk indicates the 2018 World Champions.