F1 all over, Verstappen wins 🏁

...with a small possibility that it will be overturned on protest at the shenanigans in the closing laps.

It seemed so clear cut. A clean(ish) race at last! Hamilton was faster, and even though Perez entertained us trying to delay him, Verstappen couldn't keep up, never mind win. But then there's a safety car, Verstappen stops for fresh tyres, Hamilton can't stop, and Verstappen has an easy pass on the one remaining racing lap. I've praised Michael Masi (race director) before, but he may not have followed the safety car rules, and Mercedes have protested.

Oh well. We had a lot of fun this year. Leclerc and Norris had poles, both in cars that shouldn't have been there. There were wins for Perez, Bottas, Ricciardo and Ocon, and podiums for Sainz, Norris, Leclerc, Vettel, Alonso, Gasly and (kind of) Russell. Oh, and Hamilton and Verstappen hit each other several times.

Not everyone did well. Mazepin was always last in qualifying by quite a way, except when someone didn't take part or was penalised. But his father keeps the team afloat, so he's back again next year. Tsunoda didn't shine, although he picked up near the end of the year, and also gets another year. Ricciardo, despite his win, will probably want to forget this year. Bottas didn't shine, but Perez shone less, which gave the team championship to Mercedes.

So, unless there's a surprise reversal from the stewards, that's the end of F1 until March.

Final stats of the year

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