Motorsport pictures of the week

The final F1 race of 2017 is featured in our motorsport pictures gallery this week, coming from the spectacular Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.

Mercedes-Petronas was the team to beat naturally, as Bottas and Hamilton locked out the first row after an impressive qualifying session. Despite the championship title having already been decided, Bottas and Hamilton romped into the distance at race start anyway, pulling out a comfortable gap between themselves and the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. Bottas went on to win the race, despite constant pressure from Hamilton behind. 

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Due to the high circuit speeds, the Mercedes’ superior power units once again left Ferrari with little ammunition to mount a challenge. Raikkonen followed his team-mate home in fourth and Vertsappen in the Red Bull finished in fifth. Daniel Ricciardo’s retirement in the early stages of the race unfortunately led to his demotion to fifth in the championship, with Raikkonen taking back fourth place in the overall driver standings.

It was behind these front runners where points scoring was of more importance. Hulkenberg’s finish in sixth position lifted Renault’s end of year points tally above that of rival Toro Rosso, landing them an extra £7m in prize money as a result.

As is usually the case in Abu Dhabi, the track's spectacular setting in a custom built marina and hospitality complex was tarnished slightly by the circuit’s habit of producing pretty flat racing.

In an effort to increase excitement during the race, F1 is under a period of cautious redevelopment under the leadership of Ross Brawn and Liberty Media.

Discussions about the next generation power units due in 2021 have started, with an increase in noise being a key priority, meanwhile over the weekend, teams and drivers were shown early prototype sketches of the intended aerodynamic direction F1 wishes to take to coincide with these engine changes.

For now though, Formula 1 is all packed up for the 2017 season. Will Ferrari and Red Bull push Mercedes-Petronas even harder next year? And will McLaren take advantage of a new and improved Renault power unit to once again fight for the championship, rather than just the odd points finish? We'll have to wait to find out.

Click below to see the gallery in full and scroll down for our previous evo Motorsport pictures of the week instalments...

More great motorsport pics

Scroll down the page and click to see our previous motorsport pictures of the week galleries...

WRC Rally Australia

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FIA Formula 1 Gran Prix round 19 in Brazil

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V8 Supercars in Auckland

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WRC Rally Wales

Click here for our full WRC Welsh Rally gallery.

FIA Formula 1 Gran Prix round 17 in Austin Texas

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FIA World Endurace Car Championship 6 hours of Fuji

Click here for our full WEC 6 hours of Fuji gallery.

WRC Rally Catalunya

Click here for our full WRC Rally Catalunya gallery.

FIA Formula 1 Gran Prix round 15 in Malaysia

Click here for our full gallery from the Malaysian F1.

DTM Round 8 in Austria

Click here for our full DTM round 8 gallery

FIA Formula 1 Gran Prix round 14 in Singapore

Click here for our full gallery from the Singapore F1

Goodwood Revival 2017

Click here for our full Goodwood revival 2017 gallery

FIA Formula 1 Gran Prix round 13 in Italy 

Click here for our full Monza F1 gallery

FIA Formula 1 Gran Prix round 12 in Belguim 

Click here for our full Spa F1 gallery

WRC Rally Germany

Click here for our full WRC Germany gallery

Ginetta Junior Championship 

Click here for our full gallery of the Ginetta Junior Championship

FIA World Rallycross

Click here for our full FIA Rallycross gallery

WRC Rally Finland 

Click here for our full Rally Finland gallery. 

FIA Formula 1 Gran Prix round 9 in Austria

Click here for our full Austrian F1 gallery

WRC Rally Poland

Click here for our full Rally Poland gallery. 

FIA Formula 1 Gran Prix round 8 in Baku

Click here for our full Baku F1 gallery

V8 Supercars Hidden Valley

Click here for our full Hidden Valley gallery

WRC Rally Sardinia

Click here for our full Sardinia Rally gallery.

WEC Le Mans test day

Click here for our WEC Le Mans test day gallery.

WRC Rally Portugal

Click here for our full rally of Portugal gallery.

FIA Formula 1 Gran Prix round 5 in Barcelona

Click here for our gallery of the 2017 Spanish F1 Gran Prix.

FIA World Endurace Car Championship 6 hours of Spa

Click here for our WEC 6 hours of Spa gallery.

WRC Rally Argentina

Click here for our Rally of Argentina gallery.

V8 Supercars Phillip Island

Click here for our Australian V8 Supercars gallery.

FIA Formula 1 Gran Prix Round 3 in Bahrain

Click here for our gallery of the 2017 Bahrain F1 Gran Prix.

FIA Formula 1 Gran Prix Round 2 in Shanghai

Click here for our gallery of the 2017 Shanghai F1 Grand Prix.

MSA BTCC round 1 at Brands Hatch

The MSA BTCC was held at Brands Hatch for the first round of 2017, click here for our best pictures gallery.

FIA Formula 1 Grand Prix Round 1 in Melbourne

The 2017 Formula 1 Championship took off in Melbourne last weekend, click on the link for our full mega gallery.

Toyo Tyres MSA British Rallycross

The British Rallycross season kicked off in Croft, with Nathan Heathcote taking the win.

WRC Rally Mexico

Rally Mexico graced our gallery this week, with Brit Chris Meeke coming out on top after a frustrating start to his season and a detour through the spectator carpark.

Daytona 500

 

The Daytona 500 kicked off the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series with Stewart-HAAS driver Kurt Busch taking the win in a Ford Fusion.  

Formula E Buenos Aries

The Argentinian capital Buenos Aries hosted Formula E and produced some spectacular images, with former F1 driver Sebastian Buemi taking the win in his Renault E.Dams racer.

2017 WRC Rally Sweden

Rally Sweden featured in our Motorsport gallery of the week in mid February with Jari Matti Latvala claiming Toyota's first WRC win in only their second rally since their return to the sport at the start of the season.

Ford's M-Sport Fiestas were both competitive, pushing the Finn till the end. The Hyundai i30 WRC of Thierry Neuville was leading the rally in its early stages but crashed out mid rally.

Remember to come back every Monday for the next batch of motorsport images...