Formula 1

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix post-race reaction

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By: Charles Bradley

Summary

Status: Stopped

19:50

So that's it for F1 2018. Thanks for your company, and stay tuned to Motorsport.com for all the rest of the evening's news from Abu Dhabi. Don't think the season ends there, though!

Tomorrow, Jimmie Johnson and Fernando Alonso swap cars in Bahrain – which promises to be a lot of fun.

And then it's Pirelli tyre testing here at Abu Dhabi.

19:36

Speaking of Lewis, he's admitted that pre-race filming with Will Smith disrupted his usual preparation for a grand prix.

19:32 The champagne is flowing at the Mercedes team photo, as Lewis Hamilton soaks his team.

19:26

Here's the video of that epic moment on the startline...

19:25

Here's a great moment in time: five-time champion Lewis Hamilton celebrating his 11th win of the season, along with two-time champ Fernando Alonso – in what might well be his final grand prix.

19:23

Looks like Will Smith enjoyed himself at the track tonight!

19:21 Here's our story on Nico Hulkenberg's dramatic opening lap crash, when he flipped over after contact with Romain Grosjean.

Nico Hulkenberg, Renault Sport F1 Team R.S. 18 upside down after crashing

Nico Hulkenberg, Renault Sport F1 Team R.S. 18 upside down after crashing

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Sutton Images

19:15 Verstappen also reveals that oil from Gasly's car covered his visor and he ran out of tear-offs: "It was like driving through fog, it was horrible!"

19:15

Asked about Honda's improvements this year, and whether it's already more powerful than Renault, Verstappen replies: "For sure, yeah. I think this year has been pretty good, although they lost some engines – I prefer to win a race and blow up one, than not being quick at all."

19:14 Verstappen on his battle with Brazilian GP nemesis Esteban Ocon: "I enjoyed that too. I don't enjoy the straight. We got through without damage, so I'm happy."

19:13

Verstappen is asked about how he's changed his approach in the second half of this season: "You learn from your mistakes, but as a driver I didn't change massive things. Your instinct is always there, and you fine tune things."

19:10 Vettel is in rueful form on whether he had the car to win the championship this year: "We lost it three races ago already, the gap is quite big. The gap could have been closer."

19:09 Speaking of 2019, Lewis Hamilton had some interesting things to say about the regulation changes and what Mercedes is already looking to exploit.

19:02

Valtteri Bottas sounded despondent on Sky Sports F1: "I wanna have some time off and time to think about things. Mentally, it's been a pretty tough year and I need a break."

18:59 Here's our story on Daniel Ricciardo's race today.

18:58 Lewis Hamilton tells Sky about his expected rivals for the 2019 titles: "I would imagine it's going to be Sebastian and Valtteri, but Red Bull has a new engine, will it be able to compete with ours? I hope so. That would be epic. If Red Bull could mingle with us more, week-in, week-out. I really wish them all the best."

18:55

Fernando Alonso on the F1 post-race Twitter show: "I'd like to finish this interview as soon as possible, I've been so busy today!

Talking about his career highs, he said: "It's been a dream to fight with Michael Schumacher, spend half your life in this paddock, and now I feel proud. I had a wonderful time, and that's my memory forever."

18:50 Chase Carey on F1's post-race show: "It's been a great season, some great drama and races. Credit to Lewis, he took on every challenge and proved why he's so special. And he finished on a high here. I think we'll have another great year, Max Verstappen has taken a huge step forward, so there's a lot to look forward to in 2019."

18:48

Carlos Sainz on a fabulous run to P6: “I was planning to pit on lap 15, but we left it until lap 33, so it was a perfectly-executed overcut. It’s exactly what I needed, and what I felt I deserved after losing P6 and P7 with reliability issues. It was one of those races where everything comes together, it was like a win for us!”

18:48

Leclerc: "It's always been a dream [to drive for Ferrari] – so really looking forward to it."

Here was our full story on from yesterday.

18:45 Charles Leclerc to Sky Sports F1: "Extremely happy about the start, then we were pretty quick in the first laps. Our car was actually very strong on the straight, because we don't have much downforce. We took the choice to stop under the second VSC, but we had traffic, and I don't think it was the right strategy."

18:43 Fernando Alonso to Sky Sports F1: "It's been a good memory, the whole package in Formula 1. I came from a country with no tradition, my father was not a racing driver, so it's all been a welcome surprise. We will maybe come back on day, maybe in a different way. Right now I'm not thinking to come back, but I don't know how I'll feel next year. I want to fight for the Triple Crown. In 2020, maybe I will feel the need to do a full calendar in IndyCar or in F1."

18:40 Stoffel Vandoorne on his final grand prix for McLaren: "I'm happy to have seen the chequered flag. It's been a tough season, the highlight was probably Melbourne, it was a great start. Then it didn't turn out ot be the year we hoped for. It was fun to fight with a couple of quicker cars."

18:39 Kubica on future Williams teammate George Russell: "I know him very little, we've met two times. He looks like a very nice guy, very intelligent, he won GP3 and F2, so a big talent. At Williams we have to concentrate on working together. We have to maximise our opportunities to score points."

18:37 Robert Kubica joins F1's live post-race show to talk about his F1 comeback: "It's a big thing, but I still need to do my job and it's going to be a big challenge to be back in F1 after eight years. Racing against the best drivers in F1 will not be easy. Let's try, and I've worked really hard. It should be good fun."

18:35 Hulkenberg says it's the first time he's been upside-down in a racing car.

18:34 Nico Hulkenberg to Sky Sports F1: "All fine. Just the normal disappointment you have when you're out in lap one of the race. With a lot of damage, you just feel bad. We have to put it down as a racing incident. I went wide in Turn 8, I thought I had Turn 9 to myself, obviously he was still there. Just a couple of flips, but nothing really dramatic."

18:30 In case you missed it, Haas F1 chief Gunther Steiner insists his team's protest against Force India this weekend wasn't an attempt to stop the rival team from racing.

18:28 Elsewhere, it's great news for Sky Sports F1 subscribers, as Jenson Button signs up to join its presenting team next season.

18:26 Horner on Pierre Gasly's Red Bull deal for 2019: "It's a big step, and they're big shoes to fill."

18:25 On Verstappen's problems, Horner reveals they thought they'd taken all the 'safety modes' off the engine, but the water pressure rose too high – sending it into an automatic safe mode anyway!

18:24 Christian Horner to Sky Sports F1 on Ricciardo: "It's been a blast having him in the team. He had such a rough part of the year, which were power-unit related, and it's been hugely frustrating. Last year it was Max. We hope with the change of engine partner, that becomes less of a factor next year."

18:23 Ricciardo says he'll "close everything with Red Bull" this week, and then meet with his new team, Renault, before taking a break in Australia, where he'll be "talking to the sheep and cows on the farm – they get me!"

18:22 Ricciardo: "I would have loved a podium, I can't be ecstatic with fourth. Some amazing memories here, we close this chapter now. I woulda loved to drink out of my shoe."

18:21 Daniel Ricciardo to Sky Sports F1: "It wasn't the most exciting race. I led a bit, which was fun, but it put me out of reach of the leaders at the end. We coulda pitted early, but it was always hard to know. I was kinda helpless at the end, the pace advantage fell away quite quickly."

18:19 Wolff on 2019: "I have no doubt that [the team] will be every inch motivated to do it again. Remember the last rule change, and now there's a new curveball being thrown at us – hopefully we can catch it."

18:18 Wolff on Bottas's poor race: "After the pitstop we saw there was something on the rear-right, we couldn't locate what it was. When we changed the tyres, it seemed to be better."

18:17 Toto Wolff to Sky Sports F1: "Nice way of carrying some momentum over the winter break. It's nice to win it like this, we wanted to have a positive last race. This was an enjoyable weekend."

18:16 Pirelli will be F1's tyre supplier until 2023 after beating off competition from Hankook.

18:15 While we wait for the TV interviews and media sessions, let's catch up on some of the news that broke today.

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