Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Charles ends the season on the podium

Charles Leclerc ended his first season with Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow with a third place finish, his tenth podium. Sebastian Vettel took the chequered flag in fifth place.

Two stops. Both drivers ran similar strategies. At the start, Charles managed to pass Max Verstaqppen, but he was unable to match the pace of race leader and eventual winner Lewis Hamilton. Sebastian stayed fourth. The team brought the drivers in for their tyre change, one after the other on lap 11 to fit the hard ttres. Verstappen and Hamilton stayed out longer. On lap 32, the Dutchman, running fresher rubber, passed Leclerc to take second  and that led the Scuderia to pit both its drivers again to send them out on new tyres. Again they both pitted on the same lap – 39, with Leclerc on Softs and Vettel on Mediums. Charles stayed third, able to fend off Valtteri Bottas in the closing stages. Sebastian had been overtaken by the Finn and Alex Albon, but he managed to pass the Thai driver to finish fifth.

Season summary. Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow finished second in the Constructors’ while Charles is fourth and Sebastian fifth in the Drivers’. Overall the team took nine pole positions, Charles securing more than any other driver with seven. Then there were the three wins, two for Charles at Spa and Monza and one for Sebastian in Singapore and a total of 19 podium finishes. Although the season is over, there is still one appendix to it in the shape of a two day tyre test at this track on Tuesday and Wednesday.