Hamilton: Mercedes did well to stop me so early

Lewis Hamilton won his 11th victory of the season, the 73rd of his career and his 4th at Yas Marina, winning the Abu Dhabi GP where he started from pole. The pilot Mercedes had the situation under control until the race was interrupted by a virtual safety car, a consequence of Kimi Räikkönen stopping on track (Ferrari) victim of a mechanical problem.

Mercedes then chose to call the five-time world champion back to the pits so that he could put on the soft tires for his second stint while he still had nearly 50 laps to cover.

“My engineers asked me to pit early. They were too relaxed behind the wall, commented the Grand Prix winner. I told them: “I still have a long way to go and it doesn't seem fantastic at the moment. » But the tires lasted the distance. They had once again calculated everything well and that is why I have such confidence in this team. »

Lewis Hamilton also welcomed the opposition offered by Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) which gave the Briton a hard time… during the first part of the season.

“It was an honor and a privilege to fight against Sebastian, added the Mercedes driver. I've known him since we were doing F3 and he has always been an honest, hard-working opponent who rolls with his heart. He did a fantastic job all season. »

Lewis Hamilton concluded the 2018 season by being the first driver to pass the 400 points milestone in a season. With 408 points, he is ahead of his runner-up Sebastian Vettel by 88 points.

Discover the analysis of the Abu Dhabi GP carried out by our special correspondents in AUTO issue 2193hebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.