By David Thatcher, Clarion Staff Reporter
The final Grand Prix of the Formula One season concluded Sunday, December, 12 and I have to say it certainly was a phenomenal race to conclude the season.
Throughout the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, everybody was convinced that Lewis Hamilton was going to win his eighth world championship of his career. Due to the fact Hamilton had a much better pace in his car compared to Max Verstappen who was falling behind gradually.
A miracle occurred toward the end of the race when a safety car was called out on the track due to a wreck involving driver Nicholas Latifi. This caused all of the cars to be grouped up together and let the lapped cars pass the safety car, putting Verstappen right behind Hamilton-making it a final lap showdown between the two title competitors after the safety car exited the track.
This final lap of the whole season was the greatest lap to watch. Verstappen chased down Hamilton, then finally passed him, and held him off until crossing the finish line. This officially made Max Verstappen the Formula One Champion, his first career championship, which definitely makes this win more special for the driver.
There were many notable drivers including Max Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez who used amazing defensive racing techniques to keep Verstappen from losing too much time. He even gave Verstappen a chance to gain time back after going in for a quick pit stop to change his tires (or “tyres” as they are referred to by the Formula One Organization.) This teamwork has certainly been amazing to watch between these two drivers.
In addition to the Driver’s championship in Formula One, there is still something called the Constructors’ championship which compensates teams for both of their drivers’ overall performance.This championship is also based on points, but both drivers’ points from the team are added up together. Similar to the Driver’s championship, whoever has the most points wins the championship. This season's constructors champion is Team Mercedes who had a combined 613.5 points from Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas to win Mercedes 8th consecutive Constructors championship, while Team Redbull was behind with 585.5 points. Finally, Team Ferrari came in third place with 323.5 points.
Although there have been ups and downs in this season of Formula One racing, it was definitely a season that will be remembered for many years to come. Hopefully next season is just as eventful and exciting as this season!