Following an unbelievable turn of events at the Yas Marina Circuit Abu Dhabi, Valtteri Bottas achieved an amazing feat and won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2017 after starting from the pole position. Bottas managed to win the final race of the season, but not before surviving some breathtakingly high-speed pressure laps from his fellow Mercedes-Benz teammate, Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton, who won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year came second in this year’s race.
Despite being a tough track to conquer, it was a thrilling race nonetheless, where Valtteri Bottas kept his cool and managed to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2017. While Bottas won his third race of the year, Lewis Hamilton won the F1 title after winning 9 out of 20 races this year.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2017 – As it Happened
The 9th edition of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was held at the Yas Marina Circuit. The stage was set for yet another exciting Grand Prix, especially after the last year’s thrilling race where Lewis Hamilton won the race, but lost the F1 championship in a close tussle with his then fellow Mercedes-Benz driver, Nico Rosberg.
The 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix had a grand start as all the drivers received an overwhelming reception from the crowd. Bottas started from the pole position and maintained the lead from beginning right till the end of the 55th lap to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton, the other Mercedes-Benz driver in the race, kept pushing hard and made it extremely tough at regular intervals for Bottas to maintain his lead. A point came in the race when Hamilton closed the gap to just 1.1 seconds on the 29th lap and then the big push on the 49th lap left a gap of just half a second between Bottas and Hamilton. However, the composure of Bottas helped him manage the most convincing victory of his career by taking a significant lead over all other drivers to win the race. He reached the finish-line by a margin of 3.8 seconds from his Mercedes-Benz teammate Hamilton who secured the second position in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2017.
Here are the results from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix:
LAP 45/55: ALO fifth fastest ? #AbuDhabiGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/68HweKi4OI
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 26, 2017
Valtteri Bottas expressed his delight after winning the race and said that “We Finns don’t show much emotion but it doesn’t mean we don’t have any. I am so happy. There has been so much support. I can’t show it too much but I feel good.”
Concerns of Drivers about the Race Track
The 28-year-old Bottas from Finland recorded a memorable victory as the conditions at the Yas Marina Circuit were not friendly at all. Some drivers found it difficult to even complete the race and retired because of different mechanical issues with vehicles. One such driver was the Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo, who after a poor start, had to retire from the race as his vehicle faced hydraulic problems on the 21st lap. The other retirement came from the French team on the 31st lap when immediately after the pit stop, Carlos Sainz’s vehicle had a loose left front wheel, which brought an accidental end to his race just when he was all set to score more points. Due to unsafe release, the French team also had to pay a penalty of €5,000.
It was a difficult track for drivers and even the world champion Lewis Hamilton had his reservations about the track. According to Hamilton, it was almost impossible to follow a driver closely, which made it tough to break the lead taken by Bottas. However, Hamilton appreciated the calm approach of Bottas and congratulated him on winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2017.
Also read: Hamilton Wins the Abu Dhabi GP 2016 as Rosberg Clinches F1 Title
Annual F1 Standings after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2017 was the third career victory for Valtteri Bottas. All of Bottas’ victories have been recorded, after he joined Mercedes-Benz as Lewis Hamilton’s partner. Nico Rosberg, who won the F1 title last year left Mercedes-Benz unexpectedly after which Bottas joined the team.
The Ferrari driver, Sebastian Vettel, who recorded five victories this season came third in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and shared the podium with Bottas and Hamilton. The other Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen came at 4th place.
Here are the F1 Championship standings after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix:
ICYMI: The Top 10 drivers of the 2017 F1 season ? ?#AbuDhabiGP #F1Finale pic.twitter.com/RZpno2fv7P
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 26, 2017
The biggest disappointment of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2017 was the retirement of Daniel Ricciardo on the 21st lap. He had won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in June this year and was set to improve his annual F1 standings by finishing the final race of the season on a good note.
In the Championship standings, Lewis Hamilton maintained his convincing lead over other drivers with 363 points. The Ferrari driver, Sebastian Vettel, came second with 317 points. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix winner Valtteri Bottas secured the third position with 305 points.
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