Heartache and joy in Abu Dhabi as Vettel waves F1 goodbye amid Verstappen's victory

Max Verstappen completed his championship year by taking victory at Formula 1's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton's record of winning in every season of his career went up in smoke when he retired with three laps remaining.

Verstappen finished 8.7 seconds clear of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who made a one-stop strategy work to secure the runner-up spot in the standings ahead of Red Bull's Sergio Perez.

The Red Bull driver stopped one more time than Leclerc but failed to catch the Monegasque in the closing stages and finished third.

Carlos Sainz was fourth for Ferrari, with Hamilton's Mercedes-AMG teammate, George Russell, fifth, leaving the Silver Arrows behind the Italian team and third in the Constructors' championship.

Cue the donuts! ?? #AbuDhabiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/c2z7w8JfCA

Standout performer

Verstappen snatched victory from Hamilton a year ago to claim his maiden title in the most contentious circumstances.

But the Dutch driver has been the standout performer of 2022, and his win under the thousands of bulbs that light up the Yas Marina Circuit was his 15th from 22 appearances.

Hamilton left Abu Dhabi at the end of last season pondering if he would ever return, so aggrieved was he by Michael Masi's officiating of the decider, which cost him a record eighth crown.

The seven-time world champion decided against retirement, but he will head into this season's winter break having failed to register a single win - the first time that has happened in his career, which began in 2007 - and reflecting on a DNF which summed up a sour campaign.

As Verstappen raced away from pole position to pave the way for another crushing win, Hamilton was on the move when he got the jump on a slow-starting Sainz.

On the run