The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2022 was the 22nd round of the 2022 F1 season, and took place at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, during the weekend of the 18th to the 20th of November.
Max Verstappen won the race from the pole, followed by Charles Leclerc, and Sergio Pérez completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 31 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 12-15: 11 stops
- Laps 17-21: 6 stops
- Laps 38-42: 7 stops
The fastest pit stop was Lewis Hamilton's, stopping the clock at 21.270 seconds during his pit stop on lap 18, while the slowest one was was George Russell's, who stopped the clock at 27.931 seconds, 6.661 seconds slower than Hamilton, during his pit stop on lap 39.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
The race was not obvious in terms of pit stop strategy, with different teams and different drivers choosing to make anywhere from 1 to 2 stops.
The race winner, Max Verstappen, was on a 1 stop strategy.
1 stop
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3Pierre Gasly
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13Lewis Hamilton
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10Fernando Alonso
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4Daniel Ricciardo
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-Max Verstappen
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1Charles Leclerc
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1Sebastian Vettel
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1Kevin Magnussen
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3Valtteri Bottas
2 stops
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6Alexander Albon
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6Lance Stroll
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1Esteban Ocon
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-Yuki Tsunoda
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4Mick Schumacher
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1Sergio Pérez
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1Lando Norris
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1George Russell
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1Nicholas Latifi
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3Guanyu Zhou
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-Carlos Sainz
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy gained 1.29 positions on average, while those on a 2 stops strategy gained 1.3 positions on average.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 2 stops strategy was the best option, even if Max Verstappen managed to win the race making 1 stop.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Yas Marina Circuit, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There race went on mostly with no incidents. Only 3 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, Lewis Hamilton, who experienced an hydraulic malfunction on lap 55, Nicholas Latifi, who retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars on lap 55, and Fernando Alonso, who suffered a water leak on lap 27.
Hydraulics
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Lewis HamiltonLap 55
Collision damage
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Nicholas LatifiLap 55
Water leak
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Fernando AlonsoLap 27
Qualifying
Max Verstappen managed to get the pole position by 0.228 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:23.824. Sergio Pérez was right behind him, helping Red Bull score a one-two and monopolize the first line of the grid.
The second line fo the grid was dominated by Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc in third position, and Carlos Sainz in fourth.
But the team pairings didn't stop there, as the two Mercedess were right behind them, with Lewis Hamilton in fith position, and George Russell in sixth.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and all of the drivers that took place in Q2 improved their times in this second session.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that all of the drivers that took place in Q3 managed to improve their times in this last session.