Formula 1 Post Race: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

The final Formula 1 race of the 2020 season began in the twilight of the setting sun at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the United Arab Emirates. Max Verstappen began from pole position, with Valtteri Bottas second, and Lewis Hamilton third.

The opening lap of the grand prix was clean, with all 20 cars surviving. The only incident involved Pietro Fittipaldi locking up his tires going into turn 1. Verstappen quickly pulled away from the Mercedes of Bottas and Hamilton.

Problems for Pérez

On lap 10 Sergio Pérez developed a problem with his engine and was forced to shut the car down on track. A virtual safety car, and then full safety car were deployed.

Most of the field would come in to pit, including Mercedes who once again double stopped. This week they performed flawlessly. The Ferrari’s of Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel stayed on track, as did Daniel Ricciardo, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Kevin Magnussen. Carlos Sainz spent the rest of the race under investigation for intentionally slowing on pit road, no penalty was given after the race.

Smooth Sailing

From here the race was largely uneventful. Leclerc came in to pit on lap 23, followed by Vettel on lap 36, and Ricciardo 4 laps after that. On lap 47 Leclerc was shown the black and white flag for track limits violations.

Due to MGU-K issues Mercedes spent the weekend slightly down on power. As a result they were never able to catch the Red Bull of Verstappen as he slowly pulled further away lap after lap. The race ended for podium in the same order they started as Verstappen won, with Bottas second, and Hamilton third. Alexander Albon got close to threatening for the last podium spot at the end but ran out of time.

Season Finale

After the race both Mercedes drivers did donuts in celebration of a dominant season by the team. The drivers’ standings finished in the order of Hamilton, Bottas, and Verstappen for the top 3. Perez just edged out Ricciardo for “best of the rest” in 4th.

Meanwhile the constructors’ standings finished with Mercedes first, Red Bull second, and McLaren third. The bad luck at Abu Dhabi pushed Racing Point down to 4th, ahead of Renault and Ferrari.

The fact that a full, if edited, 2020 season was able to be completed during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic is a commendable feat by the FIA. The next Formula 1 race won’t be until March 21st when the 2021 season is set to get underway in Melbourne Australia.