Max Verstappen took the season finale win with the same dominant, inch‑perfect execution that long since secured his second championship but it was another victory that only emphasised how much the sport has missed a genuine fight at the front of the grid this season. Lewis Hamilton was at the heart of it with Verstappen last year, losing out in that controversial decider at Abu Dhabi. In a 16‑year career, it is only the third time Hamilton has been outscored by a teammate. “We started with a car we didn’t want and we finished with a car we didn’t want,” he said. I gave it everything, but ultimately the last race was like my whole season. Verstappen has endured no such angst with his machinery. Verstappen is in the vanguard and with ease and finality in Abu Dhabi he once more demonstrated his ascendance in 2022.

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