Photos: McLaren and Alpha Tauri Oscar Piastri has ended his rookie FIA Formula 1 World Championship season with another points finish after placing sixth in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix overnight.
The young Australian’s 11th top-10 finish of the year helped him seal ninth on the driver standings, while also helping McLaren secure fourth in the 2023 Constructors’ Championship.
It was a solid weekend out for Piastri, who enjoyed a brilliant Saturday performance to qualify third ahead of teammate Lando Norris and behind Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen.
Unfortunately, the young Aussie slipped slightly down the order in the final race of the year having been passed by Norris, George Russell and Sergio Perez throughout the 58-lap affair.
Piastri lost his first place to Norris right off the line, before showing some good defensive skills against Russell for multiple laps until he eventually got passed by the Mercedes on lap 11.
Piastri fell behind Perez on lap 28 to sixth and dropped to seventh after his second pit stop with Yuki Tsunoda opting for a one-stop pit strategy to maintain track position.
Piastri eventually closed in on the Japanese driver with just 10 laps to snatch sixth place back before crossing the line eight seconds ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who also got past Tsunoda.
Aston Martin also had the advantage over Alpha Tauri further down the order as Lance Stroll edged out Australian Daniel Ricciardo for the final championship point of the race – just sixth tenths separating the two drivers at the chequered flag.
Although he missed out on a top 10 finish, it was still a decent outing for the West Australian, who started the race in 15th, before he managed to climb four spots throughout the outing.
Taking out the victory was Max Verstappen, while Charles Leclerc finished second ahead of George Russell after Sergio Perez was handed a five second penalty post-race for contact with Norris.
Russell’s podium ended up sealing second place for Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship by just three points over Ferrari, while Norris’ fifth place and Piastri’s sixth helped McLaren secure fourth over Aston Martin by 22 points.
Ricciardo’s Alpha Tauri just missed out on seventh on the Constructors’ standings as Williams took out the position by just three points, while the Australian himself finished 17th on the Driver Standings having competed in only seven races throughout the season.
View the final standings for the 2023 season.
The FIA Formula 1 World Championship will now enjoy an extended break with pre-season to begin at the end of February before the Bahrain Grand Prix kicks off the 2024 season on 2 March.
Keyword: Piastri ends impressive debut season on high