The race was the twenty first and final round of the 2018 Formula One World Championship and marked the tenth running of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the tenth time that the race has been run as a World Championship event since the inaugural event in 2009.

[2] McLaren also invited the family of seven time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson to the race.

[3] Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in qualifying followed by Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas and the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.

[4] Hamilton won the race from pole position with Vettel and Max Verstappen completing the podium.

This caused the Renault R.S.18 to flip and barrel roll into the barriers to the left of turn 9, thus sending the race into a safety car situation, the first such instance in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix since 2012.