Oscar Piastri has ended his rookie FIA Formula 1 World Championship season with another points finish, placing sixth at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix overnight.
 
The young Australian’s 11th top-10 finish of the year helped him secure ninth place in the driver standings, while also helping McLaren in securing fourth place 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 was passed by Norris in the opening handful of laps of the race, 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 and then dropped to seventh after his second pit stop, as Yuki Tsunoda opted for a one-stop strategy to maintain track position.
 
Piastri eventually closed in on the Japanese driver with 10 laps to go, snatching sixth place back before crossing the line eight seconds ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who also overtook Tsunoda.

 
Aston Martin also had the advantage over AlphaTauri further down the order as Lance Stroll edged out Australian Daniel Ricciardo for the final championship point of the race – just six-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 and climbed 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 secured 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, surpassing Aston Martin by 22 points.
 
Ricciardo’s AlphaTauri just missed out on seventh in the Constructors' standings as Williams took out the position by just three points - while the Australian himself finished 17th in the drivers' 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.