| 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | ||||
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Race 20 of 20 in the2017 Formula One World Championship
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| Race details[1] | ||||
| Date | 26 November 2017 (2017-11-26) | |||
| Official name | 2017 Formula 1Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix[2][3] | |||
| Location | Yas Marina Circuit,Abu Dhabi,United Arab Emirates | |||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | |||
| Course length | 5.554 km (3.451 miles) | |||
| Distance | 55 laps, 305.355 km (189.739 miles) | |||
| Weather | Clear | |||
| Attendance | 195,000[4] | |||
| Pole position | ||||
| Driver | Mercedes | |||
| Time | 1:36.231 | |||
| Fastest lap | ||||
| Driver |  Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | ||
| Time | 1:40.650 on lap 52 | |||
| Podium | ||||
| First | Mercedes | |||
| Second | Mercedes | |||
| Third | Ferrari | |||
Lap leaders | ||||
The2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (formally known as the2017 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) was aFormula One motor race held on 26 November 2017 at theYas Marina Circuit inAbu Dhabi,United Arab Emirates. The race was the twentieth and final round of the2017 FIA Formula One World Championship and marked the ninth running of theAbu Dhabi Grand Prix and the ninth time that the race has been run as a World Championship event since the inaugural season in1950.[5][6]
Mercedes driverValtteri Bottas controlled the pace throughout the race to win frompole position.[7] Lewis Hamilton finished in close second place, withSebastian Vettel finishing third.Red Bull'sDaniel Ricciardo retired due to mechanical failure, which was significant in facilitating fourth place forKimi Räikkönen in the Driver's Championship. This was also the final Grand Prix for 11-time Grand Prix winner and2008 runner-upFelipe Massa.
The firstFormula One eSports event was held in tandem with the Grand Prix, with British competitorBrendon Leigh winning the2017 competition.
Bottas would not win again until the2019 Australian Grand Prix a full season later.
With both championships and the top places almost settled, the final race of the season would settle an intense three-way battle for sixth place between constructorsToro Rosso,Renault andHaas.[8] Toro Rosso was ahead by 4 points, but running with two recently signed drivers who were yet to score a point. Renault was then 2 points ahead of Haas. Fourth place in the Drivers' Championship was also unsettled, contested byDaniel Ricciardo andKimi Räikkönen.[8] Ricciardo was 7 points ahead of Räikkönen.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix takes place at sunset, leading to great changes in track and air temperature. Free practices 1 and 3 are in afternoon heat, whereas free practice 2, qualifying and the race begin in the slightly cooler evening. The temperatures further evolve through the race, as it usually lasts two hours and spans the sunset.
The weekend marked the final Formula One race forFelipe Massa, who retired fromFormula One and moved toFormula E. Throughout his F1 career, Massa scored 11 wins, 16 pole positions, 15 fastest laps, 41 podiums, and 1167 career points. It was also the last Formula One race to date forPascal Wehrlein, as he returned to theDeutsche Tourenwagen Masters. This would be the last race to feature a Brazilian driver untilPietro Fittipaldi raced in the2020 Sakhir andAbu Dhabi Grands Prix three seasons later. This was also the last Formula One race broadcast byNBC Sports in theUnited States; the rights went toESPN for 2018.
Sebastian Vettel set the fastest lap time in FP1 forFerrari, just over a tenth of a second faster thanMercedes'Lewis Hamilton in second, withMax Verstappen close behind in hisRed Bull.[9] Hamilton bettered Vettel's fastest lap time in FP2, followed by Ricciardo's Red Bull. Hamilton retained the fastest lap time in FP3. During this session, the lap times increased in speed. At about the half-way point, Räikkönen's Ferrari bettered Hamilton's time and Vettel's came within a whisker. After this, Hamilton again improved his time, andValtteri Bottas improved to second, for a Mercedes one-two.[10] Hamilton's final fastest lap was almost 3 tenths faster than Bottas in second and over half a second faster than both Räikkönen in third and Vettel in fourth. Red Bull set fifth and sixth andMcLaren set seventh and eighth.
All cars were fitted with Pirelli ultrasoft tyres for Q1. Hamilton and Bottas traded lap times whilst Räikkönen appeared to outpace Vettel in the following two positions. In Q2, Hamilton set a marginally faster time than Bottas, whilst Vettel likewise pipped Räikkönen. In both sessions, the Red Bulls were further behind, with Ricciardo in fifth and Verstappen in sixth.
The final qualifying round saw Bottas set a faster time than Hamilton early, with neither improving. Hamilton qualified in P2, with Vettel remaining ahead of Räikkönen. An unexpected change to the order arose when Ricciardo set a late lap ahead of Räikkönen taking P4. Räikkönen was in P5 and Verstappen in P6. Further back, Renault'sNico Hülkenberg qualified ahead of theForce Indias, amongst whichSergio Pérez ledEsteban Ocon.Felipe Massa completed the top-ten.
After the front-runners all made a good start, positions at the front of the field did not change from the start grid into the opening laps.Mercedes driver Bottas retained first place frompole position. Hamilton followed Bottas closely, able to challenge for position at times. Hamilton later congratulated Bottas on his dominant performance, saying the former 'gave it everything, every single lap'.[11] Bottas said that he had been "managing the pace and that way the race", and "it was a nice feeling, a really nice feeling",[11] suggested he could have pushed harder. Indeed, Bottas set the fastest lap of the race in the closing stages.
Behind, Vettel remained in third place through most of the race, largely neither challenged for the podium nor mounting a convincing challenge against Hamilton's second place. Räikkönen put his nose ahead of Ricciardo on the opening lap, but Ricciardo held fourth place until retiring due to a hydraulic failure on lap 21. Both Toro Rosso drivers spun off the track, but rejoined to complete the race as back-markers. All cars ran a one-stop strategy.Carlos Sainz Jr., one of the later cars to pit, was released by Renault with the left-front wheel loose. Sainz made it out of the pitlane before retiring, and Renault incurred a fine for the unsafe release. The other Renault driverNico Hülkenberg incurred a 5-second stop-go penalty early in the race for gaining an advantage cutting a corner. Later serving the penalty during a scheduled pit-stop, there was a delay removing the right-rear wheel reducing his track position to 11th. He fought back up to 6th place to secure the points required to lift Renault up to sixth in the Constructors' Championship.
The top three remained the same throughout most of the race, Hamilton taking the lead briefly between Bottas' earlier pit-stop and his own pit-stop. Bottas won the race. Hamilton finished in close second place, with Vettel finishing third. Ricciardo's retirement was significant in handing the fourth place in the Drivers' Championship to Räikkönen. Excluding the retired Ricciardo, the top eight places were ordered identically to the starting grid.Fernando Alonso had overtaken Massa for ninth. Massa finished in tenth (the last points-paying) position in the final Formula One Grand Prix of his career.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 55 | 1:34:14.062 | 1 | 25 |
| 2 | 44 |  Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 55 | +3.899 | 2 | 18 |
| 3 | 5 |  Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 55 | +19.330 | 3 | 15 |
| 4 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 55 | +45.386 | 5 | 12 |
| 5 | 33 |  Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 55 | +46.269 | 6 | 10 |
| 6 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 55 | +1:25.713 | 7 | 8 |
| 7 | 11 |  Sergio Pérez | Force India-Mercedes | 55 | +1:32.062 | 8 | 6 |
| 8 | 31 |  Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes | 55 | +1:38.911 | 9 | 4 |
| 9 | 14 |  Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 54 | +1 lap | 11 | 2 |
| 10 | 19 |  Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 54 | +1 lap | 10 | 1 |
| 11 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 54 | +1 lap | 16 | |
| 12 | 2 |  Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Honda | 54 | +1 lap | 13 | |
| 13 | 20 |  Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 54 | +1 lap | 14 | |
| 14 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber-Ferrari | 54 | +1 lap | 18 | |
| 15 | 28 |  Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso | 54 | +1 lap | 20 | |
| 16 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 54 | +1 lap | 17 | |
| 17 | 9 |  Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 54 | +1 lap | 19 | |
| 18 | 18 |  Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 54 | +1 lap | 15 | |
| Ret | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Renault | 31 | Wheel | 12 | |
| Ret | 3 |  Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 20 | Hydraulics | 4 | |
| Source:[13] | |||||||
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| Previous race: 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 2017 season | Next race: 2018 Australian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Next race: 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |
