The ideal strategy for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was finely balanced between a one-stop and two-stop strategy. Most drivers who finished in the top 10 opted for the latter, but the first two drivers home one-stopped.
This was partly because in order to make the tyres last that long drivers had to avoid over-taxing them in the opening laps. Max Verstappen ran in free air and Charles Leclerc kept his in good condition; both kept their original sets of medium tyres going until at least lap 20.Sergio Perez, however, was in for a set of hards on lap 15. The driver so often renowned for nursing his tyres ended up two-stopping, Red Bull bringing him in as soon as Leclerc closed up on him after 33 of the 58 laps.
In the final phase of the race Perez gave chase. However he lost crucial seconds at several points: First when he emerged from his first pit stop behind Feranando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, fumbled his pass on the Aston Martin, and spent an extra lap behind it as a result.
He caught a whiff of the disturbed air from Verstappen’s car at one point, and was quickly on the radio to alert his team that he was losing time, to no avail. Then in his final stint he was delayed lapping Pierre Gasly, whom Perez pointedly stated afterwards deserved a penalty. These hindrances added up to him losing second place in the championship as well as the race, by 1.3 seconds.
While Hamilton enjoyed the quickest complete turnaround of the race on his sole pit stop, team mate George Russell pitted twice in the other Mercedes and neither visit went well. The first was slow and led to him incurring a five-second time penalty, which delayed his second pit stop.
Before the race Fernando Alonso predicted that having two sets of hard tyres might pay off for Alpine. They almost did for his team mate Esteban Ocon, who fitted hards for his third stint and chased down Lando Norris, nearly reaching the McLaren before the chequered flag. But Alonso’s race was over long before this point.
As was the case for all three front-running teams, Aston Martin split their strategy between one and two stops. In Sebastian Vettel’s estimation, it cost him a better finish and, with that, sixth place in the constructors championship for his team. Vettel’s long first stint on his one-stopper dropped him behind Daniel Ricciardo, who used the same strategy, and kept the retiring four-times champion behind to the flag. Meanwhile Lance Stroll pitted twice and got ahead of his team mate.
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2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix lap chart
The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
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2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race chart
The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix lap times
All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:
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2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix fastest laps
Each driver’s fastest lap:
| Rank | No. | Driver | Car | Lap time | Gap | Average speed (kph) | Lap no. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’28.391 | 215.09 | 44 | |
| 2 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1’28.836 | 0.445 | 214.01 | 48 |
| 3 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 1’28.879 | 0.488 | 213.9 | 50 |
| 4 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1’28.972 | 0.581 | 213.68 | 52 |
| 5 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1’29.333 | 0.942 | 212.82 | 45 |
| 6 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1’29.392 | 1.001 | 212.68 | 54 |
| 7 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Red Bull | 1’29.489 | 1.098 | 212.45 | 40 |
| 8 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’29.600 | 1.209 | 212.18 | 53 |
| 9 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’29.620 | 1.229 | 212.14 | 42 |
| 10 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’29.719 | 1.328 | 211.9 | 48 |
| 11 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’29.788 | 1.397 | 211.74 | 42 |
| 12 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Haas-Ferrari | 1’29.833 | 1.442 | 211.63 | 39 |
| 13 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 1’29.939 | 1.548 | 211.38 | 40 |
| 14 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1’30.309 | 1.918 | 210.52 | 45 |
| 15 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’30.312 | 1.921 | 210.51 | 35 |
| 16 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’30.352 | 1.961 | 210.42 | 47 |
| 17 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine-Renault | 1’30.579 | 2.188 | 209.89 | 24 |
| 18 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’30.785 | 2.394 | 209.41 | 45 |
| 19 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Red Bull | 1’31.018 | 2.627 | 208.88 | 17 |
| 20 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’31.158 | 2.767 | 208.56 | 40 |
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2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tyre strategies
The tyre strategies for each driver:
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2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix pit stop times
How long each driver’s pit stops took:
| Rank | No. | Driver | Team | Complete stop time (s) | Gap to best (s) | Stop no. | Lap no. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 21.27 | 1 | 18 | |
| 2 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 21.36 | 0.09 | 1 | 15 |
| 3 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 21.367 | 0.097 | 2 | 33 |
| 4 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 21.559 | 0.289 | 2 | 42 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 21.575 | 0.305 | 2 | 39 |
| 6 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 21.591 | 0.321 | 1 | 14 |
| 7 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 21.734 | 0.464 | 2 | 41 |
| 8 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 21.74 | 0.47 | 1 | 19 |
| 9 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 21.793 | 0.523 | 1 | 12 |
| 10 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 21.798 | 0.528 | 2 | 35 |
| 11 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 21.802 | 0.532 | 2 | 40 |
| 12 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 21.814 | 0.544 | 1 | 13 |
| 13 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 21.855 | 0.585 | 1 | 14 |
| 14 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 21.893 | 0.623 | 1 | 19 |
| 15 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 21.895 | 0.625 | 1 | 14 |
| 16 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 21.93 | 0.66 | 1 | 17 |
| 17 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 22.21 | 0.94 | 1 | 21 |
| 18 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 22.234 | 0.964 | 1 | 15 |
| 19 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 22.262 | 0.992 | 2 | 38 |
| 20 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 22.276 | 1.006 | 1 | 14 |
| 21 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 22.387 | 1.117 | 1 | 28 |
| 22 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 22.423 | 1.153 | 1 | 15 |
| 23 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 22.435 | 1.165 | 1 | 15 |
| 24 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 22.573 | 1.303 | 1 | 30 |
| 25 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 22.735 | 1.465 | 1 | 20 |
| 26 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 23.159 | 1.889 | 2 | 44 |
| 27 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 23.186 | 1.916 | 1 | 25 |
| 28 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 23.53 | 2.26 | 2 | 34 |
| 29 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 24.243 | 2.973 | 1 | 15 |
| 30 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 25.174 | 3.904 | 2 | 38 |
| 31 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 27.931 | 6.661 | 2 | 39 |
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2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
- Norris dissatisfied with solitary podium finish: “One isn’t enough”
- Verstappen achieves most dominant title win since Vettel in 2013
- Magnussen’s experience makes him ‘positive’ ousted Schumacher can return to F1
- Overtaking still difficult at Yas Marina despite 2021 track changes, say drivers
- Depressing to consider points lost says Gasly after AlphaTauri slump to ninth
