Abu Dhabi GP: Single point for Massa in his last race
By Andrew Hooper
November 26 2017
The 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix would see the Williams Martini team come away with a single point courtesy of a 10th places finish from Felipe Massa. A great result for Felipe was his Formula One career comes to an end. For team-mate Lance Stroll his race was far more difficult not been able to get the best from his car and been forced to pit three times. Williams would be able to finish their season in fifth in the Constructors championship after what was overall a difficult season. Felipe would come on his radio and thank his team and would complete some donuts in his FW40 to celebrate his career in Formula One.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Race Review
With Felipe
Massa and Lance Stroll starting from tenth and fifteenth grid positions the
Williams Martini team would be on the grid for the fifty five lap 2017 Abu
Dhabi Grand Prix. For Felipe this was his last Formula One race as he moves
on to different things in 2018. On pole was Bottas followed by Hamilton,
Vettel, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Perez, Ocon and
Felipe. The top ten would all start the race on the ultra soft tyres. The
only drivers who were on the super soft tyre were the two Sauber's and
Harley but they were starting from the rear of the grid. Lance was on a set
of new ultra soft tyres for his first run.
The cars would complete their formation lap returning and with the start it
would be Bottas leading from Hamilton with Vettel third. Felipe had dropped
one place to be eleventh behind Alonso. Lance was in fourteenth as Felipe
was able to re-pass Alonso to be tenth again. Raikkonen was now fifth
followed by Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Perez, and Ocon in ninth. Lance had
moved up to thirteenth to be right behind Sainz. lap three and Bottas was
1.2 seconds ahead f Hamilton with a similar margin from Hamilton to Vettel.
Hulkenberg would receive a five second penalty for gaining an advantage when
he went off the track. Felipe was 2.6 seconds off ninth place Ocon. Grosjean
would pass Lance for thirteenth but Lance would get back past with both
using their DRS.
The fight between Grosjean and
Lance would continue with the Hass running close behind. But Lance was now
over five seconds off twelfth placed Sainz. Lap eleven and Bottas was 1.7
seconds ahead of Hamilton. Vettel was still third followed by Ricciardo,
Raikkonen, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Perez and Ocon in ninth. There were gaps
between all the drivers as Grosjean finally got past Lance for thirteenth.
Lance would pit complaining about flat spots returning on super soft tyres
and was running last. Felipe now had Alonso close behind but Felipe had the
advantage of his Mercedes engine.
Bottas continued to extend his lead over Hamilton with the top ten remaining
the same. Verstappen would pit on lap sixteen coming back out on super soft
tyres. He would return in ninth while Raikkonen would also pit on lap
seventeen also taking on the super soft tyre. He would also get an
adjustment of his front wing. Perez would also pit taking on the super soft
tyre coming back out in thirteenth. Lap nineteen and Hulkenberg would 0pit
from fifth also getting a new set of super soft tyre. Hulkenberg would
return in twelfth having taken his five second penalty. Lance was down in
nineteenth while Felipe had moved up to eighth but had yet to pit. The top
four had yet to pit but fifth and sixth had come in for their stops.
Ricciardo was now in for super
soft tyres returning still in fourth. But Ricciardo would pull off the track
with a hydraulic problem and he was told to switch off. Raikkonen was now
fourth followed by Verstappen, Ocon, Felipe, Alonso, Sainz, and Hulkenberg
tenth. Bottas would pit on lap twenty three seeing Hamilton now leading.
Bottas had also taken on the super soft tyres. Lap twenty four and Felipe
would pit also taking on super soft tyres to be eleventh just head of
Alonso. Alonso would get past the first chicane using the DRS and was able
to open up a bit of a gap and was able to stay ahead of Felipe. Quickly
Alonso was able to open a gap to Felipe of 1.6 seconds. Hamilton would also
pit taking on the super soft tyre coming back out in second.
Lance was down in seventeenth right behind Ericsson. At the front Hamilton
was closing in onto Bottas closing to be around one second. Vettel was a
distant third while for Williams Felipe was twelfth. Lance was now sixteenth
with twenty eight laps completed. Lap thirty and the fight between Bottas
and Hamilton continued. Lance would pit again on lap thirty two taking on
ultra soft tyres. He was again running last while at the front Hamilton
would run wide after having made a small mistake. Sainz would pit but he
would have to stop with the left front wheel appearing to now be put on
correctly. He would retire from the race out on the track. Lance would go a
lap down but Felipe would move up to tenth as a result of other drivers pit
stops including Sainz and Grosjean.
Ericsson would pas Lance for
seventeenth with thirty six laps completed. Felipe was four seconds behind
Alonso in ninth as Lance pitted again. It was becoming a test session for
Lance as he took on ultra soft tyres again. Lap forty and Bottas had been
able to maintain the lad over Hamilton. Vettel had dropped further away from
Hamilton with margins behind the rest of the top ten. Lap forty five and
Bottas was able to keep Hamilton that bit over a second behind. Felipe would
be lapped still running in tenth. At the front Hamilton was able to close
the gap to Bottas as Bottas went past Alonso's McLaren. But quickly Bottas
was able to open the gap back out. For Williams Felipe was tenth and Lance
last and in eighteenth. Lap fifty two and a fastest lap from Bottas to bring
his lead out to 2.2 seconds over Hamilton.
The final laps would be completed and it would be Bottas who would take
victory in the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hamilton was second followed by
Vettel, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Perez, Ocon, Alonso and Felipe
tenth. For the Williams team it was not the best of races but at least
Felipe was able to finish and come home in the points even if it was only a
single one. Williams would be able to finish their season in fifth in the
Constructors championship after what was overall a difficult season. Felipe
would come on his radio and thank his team and would complete some donuts in
his FW40 to celebrate his career in Formula One.
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment.
We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals.
We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards.
If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing
abuse@sportnetwork.net