McLaren, for whom Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished fifth and sixth, took fourth in the constructors ahead of Aston Martin, an excellent result for the Woking team given they began the year with one of the slowest cars on the grid.

No-one could hold a candle to Verstappen or Red Bull, though. This win, the 54th of his career, lifted the Dutch driver clear of Sebastian Vettel (53) in the all-time standings, with only Michael Schumacher (91) and Hamilton (103) now ahead of him.

This one was never in doubt. The previous eight Abu Dhabi grands prix had all gone to the pole-sitter, and as soon as Verstappen got away cleanly, holding off a charging Leclerc in the opening laps, he was able to control the race, eventually winning by 16.4seconds from Pérez, who immediately dropped to fourth, behind Leclerc and Russell, after a five-second penalty was imposed for an earlier incident with Norris.