Both championships had been settled well before the Abu Dhabi weekend. Hamilton had clinched his fifth World Drivers' title at the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix and headed into the season finale leading Vettel by 81 points, with Kimi Räikkönen third a further 51 points back. In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes led Ferrari by 67 points with one race remaining. Red Bull Racing was third in the standings.
Alonso had announced he would not race in Formula One in 2019, making Abu Dhabi his final grand prix before an eventual return with Alpine in 2021. McLaren ran a special commemorative one-off livery — departing from their usual scheme — in honour of the two-time world champion's career. Max Verstappen was fastest in first practice, Valtteri Bottas fastest in second practice, and Hamilton fastest in third practice.
Hamilton set the fastest time in qualifying with a lap of 1:34.794. Bottas was second in the other Mercedes at 1:34.956, and Vettel third for Ferrari at 1:35.125. Räikkönen was fourth, Daniel Ricciardo fifth, and Verstappen sixth for Red Bull Racing. Romain Grosjean qualified seventh for Haas, and Charles Leclerc eighth for Sauber. Alonso qualified fifteenth for McLaren.
Hamilton led from pole position throughout and was never seriously challenged at the front.
The most dramatic moment came on the opening lap. Hülkenberg overtook Grosjean at Turn 8 on the back straight. Not realising Grosjean was still on his inside, Hülkenberg attempted to take the normal line through Turn 9 and his rear-right tyre ran over Grosjean's front-left wheel, flipping the Renault RS18 upside down on the outside of the corner. The safety car was deployed — the first at the Yas Marina Circuit since 2012 — and Hülkenberg was classified as a retirement having completed zero racing laps.
Hamilton won with a race time of 1:39:40.382. Vettel finished 2.581 seconds behind in second, and Verstappen was third at 12.706 seconds back. Ricciardo was fourth, Bottas fifth. Carlos Sainz Jr. scored sixth for Renault, rising from eleventh on the grid. Leclerc finished seventh for Sauber, and Sergio Pérez climbed from fourteenth on the grid to eighth for Force India. Räikkönen retired after six laps with power loss. Esteban Ocon also retired late with an engine failure, while Pierre Gasly retired with engine issues on lap 46.
Alonso finished eleventh, one lap down, in his final Formula One race of this chapter of his career.
After the chequered flag, Alonso performed celebratory doughnuts on the pit straight alongside Hamilton and Vettel — the three World Champions who had completed the race, as Räikkönen had retired. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was the last race Charlie Whiting officiated as FIA race director; Whiting died in Melbourne shortly before the 2019 Australian Grand Prix.
Alonso returned to Formula One with Alpine for the 2021 season.
Hamilton finished the 2018 season on 408 points, Vettel second on 320, Räikkönen third on 251, Verstappen fourth on 249, and Bottas fifth on 247. In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes won with 655 points ahead of Ferrari on 571, Red Bull Racing on 419, Renault on 122, and Haas on 93.
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