Valtteri Bottas ended his first season at Mercedes-AMG in style, leading home world champion team-mate Lewis Hamilton to take victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Finn edged Hamilton in qualifying at the Yas Marina circuit to claim pole position, and quickly established a clear lead at the start of the race. Hamilton was able to reduce the gap after making a later pit-stop but, despite closing right in on Bottas on a handful of occasions, was unable to get past and had to settle for second. It was Bottas’ third victory of the season.
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Sebastian Vettel finished a distant third, securing the runner-up spot behind Hamilton in the final points standings. His Ferrari team-mate Kimi Räikkönen was fourth, helped when Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo retired with a suspected hydraulics failure. Max Verstappen finished fifth in his Red Bull.
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After the post-race podium ceremony, Formula 1 bosses unveiled a new logo, which they said is the first step in a ‘complete brand redesign’. According to the accompanying release, the logo is designed to reflect an F1 car: “flat, low to the ground and with a suggestion of speed”.
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-Ferrari junior driver Charles Leclerc capped his title-winning Formula 2 season with a dramatic victory in the season-finale at Abu Dhabi, passing race leader Alexander Albon on the final lap.
