Simply Abu Dhabi XXXVI

5 8 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I Photography: Yas Marina Circuit from a poor start dropping from second to eighth on the opening lap but climbed back to take his second win after he was cleared of the tricky pass on LeClerc. It was what the championship needed to stop the Mercedes juggernaut despite the Silver Arrows still holding a commanding 135-point lead over Ferrari before the month-long summer break. When racing resumed, Ferrari bounced back at the famous Spa-Francorchamps Circuit in Belgiumwith LeClerc finally getting his first win after near misses in Bahrain and Austria. LeClerc led the opening stages before passing teammate Vettel after his pit stop and fought off heavy pressure from Hamilton in the final laps. The Ferrari driver secured his first F1 victory which he dedicated to his good friend, Antione Hubert who was tragically killed the day before in the Formula 2 warm up race. A week later F1 was at Ferrari’s home track of Monza where the Tifosi sniffed a comeback fight by their beloved red army and again it was rookie LeClerc and not the experienced Vettel who led the charge. LeClerc scored Ferrari's first home win at Monza in nine years after a tight battle with both Mercedes drivers and elevated him above Vettel as the man most likely to chase down the surging Mercedes drivers. Pole-sitter LeClerc survived a battle that saw both him and Hamilton make mistakes and go off the circuit with Bottas entering the fight for victory in the closing stages. LeClerc was Ferrari’s sole runner after Vettel spun early and was penalised for dangerous driving. Hamilton’s championship lead was diminishing, though he still held a 63-point lead over Bottas with Verstappen a further 36 points behind and LeClerc just three points off his tail. Vettel replied at the next round in Singapore with a win, making it a hat trick of victories for Ferrari before Hamilton found his winning ways once more to take the chequered flag in Russia as the circus moved to Japan.