Mercedes successfully retained their lead on Ferrari to claim second place in the Constructors’ Championship after round 23 in Abu Dhabi GP.

With both their drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finishing within points, on P3 and P9, respectively, the team increased their team points to 409, just three points ahead of Ferrari’s 406.

In the drivers’ championship, following last week’s Las Vegas GP, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez had secured second place and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton the third.

A four-way battle for fourth place put pressure on the teams coming into the last grand prix of the season—Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso were tied with 200, McLaren’s Lando Norris had 195 and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had 188.

In the end, Alonso and Leclerc tied with 206 points, followed by Norris with 205 and Sainz with 200.

Leclerc finished P2, a one-place promotion from third place due to Perez’ 5-second penalty after causing a collision with Norris in Turn 6 on Lap 47.

Perez fell two places to settle for P4 behind Russell on P3 after 58 laps in the Yas Marina Circuit.

Sainz, meanwhile, had to pit in the second to the last lap, and consequently had to give up his P10 placement and go home without points.

Alonso finished P7, unmoved from his qualification placement after a strong defense despite struggling on the long straights of the track.

Max Verstappen breaks more records

Up ahead on the field was three-time world champion Max Verstappen who once again dominated the Abu Dhabi track for the fourth consecutive time.

It was also here where he won, although controversially, his first world championship in 2021 to defeat then defending champion Hamilton.

This year, his dominance of the Yas Marina track made him the first driver to lead 1,000 laps in a single season.

This was also his 19th race win out of 22 races this year. He only missed out once on the podium in Singapore where he finished P5.

The Dutch driver also has the third most race wins in Formula 1 history with 53, according to ESPN F1. Still with the most wins was Hamilton with 103 and Michael Schumacher with 91.

Here are the latest 2023 standings:

Driver Standings

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 575
2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) - 285
3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 234
4. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) - 206
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 206
6. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 205
7. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) - 200
8. George Russell (Mercedes) - 175
9. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 97
10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) - 74
11. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) - 62
12. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) - 58
13. Alexander Albon (Williams) - 27
14. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) - 17
15. Valterri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) - 10
16. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) - 9
17. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri) - 6
18. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) - 6
19. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) - 3
20. Liam Lawson (AlphaTauri) - 2
21. Logan Sargeant (Williams) - 1
22. Nyck De Vries (AlphaTauri) - 0

Constructor Standings

1. Red Bull - 860
2. Mercedes - 409
3. Ferrari - 406
4. McLaren - 302
5. Aston Martin - 280
6. Alpine - 120
7. Williams - 28
8. AlphaTauri - 25
9. Alfa Romeo - 16
10. Haas - 12