Race report
Formula 1 Abu Dhabi GP
Abu Dhabi GP: Bottas fends off Hamilton to win finale
Valtteri Bottas held off Mercedes Formula 1 teammate Lewis Hamilton to win the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina.
Lawrence Barretto
Edited: Nov 26, 2017, 3:35 PM
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Bottas retained the lead from pole at the start and though he lost it briefly when he pitted first, he absorbed pressure from Hamilton to secure his third win of the season.
World champion Hamilton crossed the line 3.8 seconds adrift, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel completing the podium in third.
Once Bottas got through Turn 1 in the lead, he quickly opened up a one-second lead over Hamilton before gradually building it up to two seconds before the stops.
He was the first of the Mercedes drivers to pit, swapping the ultrasofts for supersofts and rejoining in second place.
Hamilton stayed out for three further laps, clocking the fastest lap in the process, but couldn't make up enough ground and rejoined behind Bottas.
The world champion attacked his teammate, briefly getting within DRS, but locked up at Turn 17, running off track before rejoining.
Hamilton kept up the pressure and even got within 0.5s after Bottas locked up but his team-mate responded by putting the hammer down and pulling away.
Hamilton crossed the line second to secure Mercedes's third one-two of the season.
Vettel had a quiet race, lapping the Yas Marina circuit in a lonely third place and ended up 19.3s adrift, ahead of Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was on course to finish fourth, but pulled off track and retired the car with a hydraulic problem shortly before the halfway point.
His teammate Max Verstappen finished fifth, just 0.8s behind Raikkonen, with Nico Hulkenberg sixth to secure sixth place in the constructors' championship for Renault.
The German escaped with a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage when battling Sergio Perez.
His teammate Carlos Sainz retired for the fourth time in six races after the tea did not attach the front-left tyre properly at his pitstop.
Perez was seventh, 6.8s clear of Force India teammate Esteban Ocon.
Fernando Alonso signed off the McLaren-Honda partnership with ninth place, securing the team's third consecutive points finish.
Felipe Massa completed the 269th and final grand prix in the points with 10th and celebrated with a few donuts after the chequered flag.
Romain Grosjean was involved in the race's most entertaining battle, squabbling with Lance Stroll over 13th and coming out on top.
The Haas driver finished 11th, ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne with Kevin Magnussen recovering from a first lap spin that dropped him to the back of the field to finish 13th.
ClaDriverChassisEngineGap 1 
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Mercedes 2 
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 3.899 3 
Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari 19.330 4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari 45.386 5 
Max Verstappen Red Bull TAG 46.269 6 Nico Hulkenberg Renault Renault 1'25.713 7 
Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1'32.062 8 
Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 1'38.911 9 
Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 1 lap 10 
Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1 lap 11 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1 lap 12 
Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 1 lap 13 
Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1 lap 14 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 1 lap 15 
Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso Renault 1 lap 16 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso Renault 1 lap 17 
Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1 lap 18 
Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1 lap 19 Carlos Sainz Renault Renault 24 laps 20 
Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull TAG 35 laps
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