Valtteri Bottas concludes the 2017 season with a victory

Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) did not relive his misadventure at the start of the Brazilian Grand Prix, where the Finn lost his pole and then the race by letting him fly away Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari). The driver of the German brand perfectly mastered his Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to win in front Lewis Hamilton and Vettel.

The start took place without major problems, with Bottas maintaining the advantage over his teammate Lewis Hamilton, while Kevin Magnussen (Haas) spins into turn 3.

Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) for his part got off to a bad start but managed to stay seventh, not without confronting the Force India of Sergio Pérez by going off-course at turn n°11 and n°12. The German from the French brand was ultimately penalized by five seconds by the stewards.

The top 10 quickly stabilizes with Bottas still leading Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel stays away from the two Mercedes W08s and leads Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), but none of the leading pilots attempted to attack in the first loops.

To find a trace of animation, you have to look towards Romain Grosjean (Haas) and Lance stroll for the gain of 13th place. The Frenchman tried several times to attack the Canadian, and succeeded in his maneuver in two stages.

After attacking the pilot Williams at turn n°8, the former Lotus resident finally went to the outside when braking at turn n°11, despite the use of DRS for Stroll in the preceding straight.

The mechanics come to a halt for Ricciardo

Max Verstappen initiates pit stops among the front men at the end of the 14th lap. The Dutchman returns to the track in ninth position behind Esteban Ocon, before Räikkönen imitated the Red Bull driver a lap later. Iceman succeeds in covering the strategy of the Milton Keynes team.

Having gone to the pits to put on new tires, Hülkenberg lost time when he stopped, in addition to his penalty, with a stubborn right rear wheel to remove for the mechanics. The German then enters into a fight with Romain Grosjean.

If the Renault resident manages to overtake the Frenchman, the latter surprises the RS 17 when braking for the first corner. Hülkenberg finally regained his possession in the following lap.

The first twist in the top 10 came after Ricciardo stopped at the end of the 19th lap. The Australian returns after feeling the start of a puncture on his RB13, probably after a slight contact with the safety rail. The Red Bull driver was, however, forced to stop a few moments later following a hydraulic problem.

Bottas contains Hamilton

Bottas stops at the end of the 21st lap. The Finn handed over control of the race to Hamilton who remained on the track until the end of the 24th lap. The world champion, however, was unable to pass his teammate thanks to this stop and came out in second position.

The Briton quickly tried to attack Bottas but made the same mistake twice at turn 17, going wide, and slightly lost contact. A small error from the leader on the 49th lap allows Hamilton to come back under second, but Valtteri Bottas immediately regained a slight lead, enough to secure his third career victory.

Hamilton finished second ahead of Sebastian Vettel, well behind with his SF70H. Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) follows in fourth position, and takes advantage of Ricciardo's retirement to steal fourth place in the championship from the Australian.

Max Verstappen (Red Bull) takes fifth place ahead of Nico Hülkenberg, which delivers Renault with the all-important sixth place in the Manufacturers' championship face Toro Rosso and Haas F1 team.

The Force India of Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon finished in 7th and 8th positions, ahead of Fernando Alonso (McLaren), for the last Grand Prix of the Woking team with Honda.

Felipe Massa (Williams) ends his F1 career with the point of tenth place, ahead of Romain Grosjean (Haas). Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren), Kevin Magnussen, Pascal Wehrlein (Sauber), Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso) follow in the standings.

Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso), who spun at the exit of the penultimate corner, finished 16th ahead of Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) and Lance Stroll. Carlos Sainz (Renault) joined the list of retirements after stopping, with a loose front left wheel.

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Race ranking

Discover the full report and analysis of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondent on the Yas Marina Circuit, in AUTO issue 2142hebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.