Verstappen wins 2023 finale as Mercedes secures second

This was despite a series of late-race passes and a penalty for Sergio Perez meaning Leclerc actually gifted him second on the road on the last lap in a failed attempt to extend the Mexican driver’s gap to George Russell behind.

Several drivers, including Verstappen, also face a post-race stewards’ investigation regarding possible pitstop infringements related to eyewear worn by their mechanics.

At the start, Leclerc made a better getaway than polesitter Verstappen and was fully alongside the outside of the Red Bull at the first corner, but the world champion swept around the Ferrari to maintain the lead.

The same thing played out at Turn 5, at the end of the Yas Marina track’s long back straight, then a third time when Leclerc surged in Verstappen’s wake but was obliged to move to the outside of the Turn 9 hairpin at the end of the second long acceleration zone – the circuits’ curved run from the Turns 6/7 chicane.

Verstappen then dropped Leclerc by enough to move out of DRS threat, which left the Ferrari under more pressure from the swarming McLaren pair behind.

Initially Oscar Piastri headed Lando Norris – the Briton having jumped his compatriot Russell through the race’s opening corners – before Norris moved ahead on lap four of 58.

A long DRS train ran back from the leaders through the early laps, before gaps began to appear as Leclerc pegged Verstappen’s lead around the 1.5s-mark and Piastri fell back from Norris.

As the lap count moved into double figures, Norris could not match the pace at the front in the mid-1m30s, with Leclerc still just over a second behind Verstappen as they nursed the medium tyres they had all started on through the opening stint in what was a thermal degradation, tyre management affair.

Although Verstappen complained his front tyres were “getting hurt a bit”, it was Leclerc who fell back as the pitstops approached – kicked off for the frontrunners when Piastri, Norris and Russell stopped on laps 13 and 14.

Verstappen came in at the end of lap 16 with a 2.0s lead to switch to hards, which was nearly doubled thanks to the undercut’s power when Leclerc rejoined on the same compound one tour later.

Ferrari initially had to be more concerned about Russell’s threat on warmed hards after he had jumped Norris in the pits thanks to a slow…