Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Race: the last of the 2020 season for Verstappen

Max Verstappen won the last race of the 2020 season this Sunday!

Held in Abu Dhabi during the day-to-night transition (as usual), the Dutchman won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after a smooth plan, securing the 10th victory of his career.

No clean sweep though: he finishes 3rd in the final standings of the World Championship with 214 points, behind Lewis Hamilton (347 pts) and Valtteri Bottas (223 pts).

McLaren takes 3rd place in the constructors’ standings on the track

Starting from pole after a heroic session on Saturday, Verstappen held off the two Mercedes in the first corners. With momentum, Bottas nearly snatched the lead from the Red Bull driver on the inside. But it didn’t work out for the Finn, who never really got close again for the rest of the Grand Prix!

Bottas then tried to make the effort to catch up with Verstappen, ahead of an unexpectedly slow Hamilton, perhaps weakened by the aftereffects of the coronavirus.

The first round of pit stops was triggered on the 11th lap with the intervention of the Safety Car, caused by a mechanical failure that led Sergio Pérez to retire, and he stopped on the side of the track at the exit of turn 19. Almost the entire field took the opportunity to pit and change to hard tires (white band). Everyone did so except for the Ferrari drivers, who stayed longer on their starting compounds, which were also hard.

*Everyone disliked that*#AbuDhabiGP ???????? #F1 pic.twitter.com/T8iu0QelOy

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 13, 2020

The incident in this sequence was Carlos Sainz’s stop. The Spaniard was placed under investigation for slowing down too much under the Safety Car regime. The investigation was inconclusive but briefly jeopardized the 3rd place in the constructors’ standings, secured by the Spaniard’s 6th place… and Lando Norris’s 5th place, who started 4th. The young Briton fought through a few corners before yielding to Alex Albon’s Red Bull on the 6th lap. The Thai driver took 4th place in this Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, while waiting to decide his future. At Renault, the adventure ended with a respectable 6th place for Daniel Ricciardo, with the fastest lap.

The two Frenchmen in the race battled from the second round: advantage at the finish for Pierre Gasly, 8th, one position ahead of Ocon, who passed Lance Stroll’s Racing Point on the last lap.

Offbeat strategy useless for Ferrari

For his last Grand Prix with Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel stood out with his alternate strategy, extending his first stint until the 36th lap. He eventually finished 14th in this 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. His garage neighbor struggled: having fallen to the back of the pack, Leclerc only climbed back up to 13th position.

LAP 22/55

After a long stint on the mediums, Leclerc bolts on a set of hard tyres#AbuDhabiGP ???????? #F1 pic.twitter.com/gVwjoLissA

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 13, 2020

Leaving F1, Daniil Kvyat (11th at the finish) defended with a big move against his future former teammate Gasly on the 10th lap. Off to a good start, gaining 3 positions, Kevin Magnussen exits the premier discipline in 18th place, second to last, ahead of Pietro Fittipaldi, Romain Grosjean’s replacement for the 2020 finale.

Winner at Sakhir in the previous race, Pérez retired on lap 10 due to an engine problem. A frustration for his last race with Racing Point before leaving his seat to Vettel.

In the overall standings, McLaren provisionally secures 3rd place in the constructors’ final rankings, the last stake of this 17th and final race of a 2020 season that will go down in history for starting in July, due to the coronavirus epidemic.

If all goes as planned, the first Grand Prix of the next season in Australia is only in… 96 days, on Sunday, March 21, 2021!