Here’s Giles Richards’s report:
Summing up
And that, my friends, is that for F1 2020. Overall a fine one for the sport in the most trying of circumstances. F1 probably had a better pandemic than most sports, though not without its controversies and harrowing moments (thoughts and best wishes with Romain Grosjean on that score). And it was a season that was dominated again by Lewis Hamilton, who somehow managed to reach yet another level.
Today’s race wasn’t up to much but there was plenty to admire in the way Max Verstappen masterfully controlled it. Thanks for following, and for your emails and Tweets. Bye,
And here’s Hamilton after his 165th podium finish: “You can’t win them all. Considering the past couple of weeks I’ve had I’m really genuinely happy with that. I was not perhaps 100% – congrats to Max that was a really hard race physically for me, and a big big thankyou to the team for their continue support – it’s still fantastic to get two podium places here.
“Physically [after having Covid] I don’t think I’ve ever been so blown, my body was not great but I didn’t think any time last week I’d be here so I’m just truly grateful to be alive and here. Looking forward to getting back to training.
“It’s a fantastic job to see Alex [Albon] right up there with us in a two-team battle – that’s what this sport needs.”
Verstappen speaks: “It was really enjoyable hyesterday and today – we had a good start and today it was about looking after the car and we had a really good balance. You can control the race abit more when you start out front.” As for his late tyre concerns, he says: “I saw they were dropping off behind me too so could take it a bit easier, it was just a very strong race for the tgeam. I’m going to enjoy the poduum then enjoy going home.”
Bottas is next up: “Red Bull was too quick today – surprisingly quick and they could control the race. I tried but couldn’t keep up with them. I had a solid race but couldn’t get more out of the package we had today. It’s been a while since I’ve been on the podium so will enoy that. The team has been amazing this year so am really proud we got a 1-2 in the drivers’ championship – I’m really proud of all of them.”
As for the actual champion, Hamilton, this is his biggest ever title-winning margin. He jumps out of his car, looks at it admiringly and embraces his teammates
Updated
Verstappen didn’t pull off that race slam in the end – Ricciardo pipped him with a late fastest lap, which seems a fitting reward for his drive.
The fireworks illuminate the night sky as the back runners come through. Albon in fourth is followed by the McLaren pair of Norris and Sainz. Ricciardo is seventh, Gasly eighth. Celebrations in the McLaren camp as they finish third in the constructors’ championship.
Max Verstappen wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix!
Lap 55/55: That was almost never in doubt. Albon has a bit of a go at Hamilton for third, but never gets quite within striking distance. So Hamilton is third, Bottas second and Verstappen an emphatic winner.
Updated
Lap 54/55: Verstappen is told over the radio to “bring it home”. He’s not going to find that too troubling from here.
Lap 53/55: Verstappen leads by 11 and a half seconds with two laps left. All over. Nothing’s happened for a long time now, we must be honest.
Lap 52/55: So McLaren are headed for third spot in the constructors’ championship, which will encourage them hugely for next season. Norris and Sainz have driven well.
Lap 51/55: Ocon, 10th, versus Stroll in ninth is probably the tightest battle at the moment, with very few contenders.
Lap 50/55: There’ll be no more pitstops now. We’re nearly done.
Lap 49/55: “You can turn the engine down if you want to,” bellows Verstappen to his team, sounding like a man on easy street. He leads by 11.6sec. He would be the youngest man to take a grand slam of pole, race win, leading from the start and fastest lap if he sees this one out.
Lap 48/55: Ricciardo’s struggling to make gains on Sainz in sixth, which given his confident early driving might have looked more possible than it now does. The Renault driver remains seventh, which would be a respectable enough finish.
Lap 47/55: A black and white flag for Leclerc, after his third registered track limit violation, though the Sky commentary team suggest it’s actually his fifth. Verstappen now leads by 11 seconds. He should surely have this now.
Lap 46/55: Hamilton has closed a fair bit on Bottas now and is only two seconds behind his teammate; might he strike late for second place?
Updated
Lap 45/55: But Mercedes can’t up the pace at the moment on the hard compounds and Verstappen’s lead is extended slightly, more than nine seconds with 10 laps to go.
Lap 44/55: Ooh, and now Verstappen reports some tyre vibration concerns, and asks his team whether Mercedes are showing signs of similar. Does that mean Mercedes will pit Hamilton to let Bottas loose?
Lap 43/55: How they stand update: 1 Verstappen 2 Bottas 3 Hamilton 4 Albon 5 Norris 6 Sainz 7 Ricciardo 8 Gasly 9 Stroll 10 Ocon
Lap 42/55: “I think Toto ought to tell Bottas to either shit or get off the pot and let Hamilton at Max’s throat,” roars Steve Carbert. Not quite sure Hamilton has that in him today, to be honest, but certainly Bottas hasn’t laid a glove on Verstappen in this race. Verstappen leads by 8.5sec.
Lap 40/55: The old warhorse Kimi Raikkonen shows all his smarts in swiftly striking back after Leclerc overtakes him, moving straight back in front of the Monaco driver in 12th.
Updated
Lap 40/55: Sure enough, Ricciardo pits, moves onto medium tyres and returns to the track in seventh, which is impressive for a driver who began in 11th.
Lap 39/55: Verstappen lets his lead drop a touch but it remains unthreatened in general. Ricciardo locked up a touch just there though, which suggests a pitting is imminent. His has been a strong drive.
Lap 38/55: Ah well, it’s surpassed expectations in general, this F1 season, even if this one’s dragging a bit.
Lap 37/55: Verstappen now leading by 8.1sec, with Bottas second and Hamilton third. The top three have not changed since the start. Ho hum.
Lap 36/55: Lewis Hamilton reports that he has a flat point, as Vettel makes what will probably his last Ferrari pitstop. And it’s a slow one. He comes out behind Leclerc. Ricciardo now the only driver on the same tyres he started with.
Lap 35/55: Lance Stroll having traction trouble, which is keeping him from being able to make a move on Vettel, who remains ninth. Leclerc moves up a place to 14th after overhauling Russell. In fifth Ricciardo continues to look strong, and still yet to pit.
Lap 33/55: Verstappen nearly eight seconds ahead now – he could stick on a playlist at the moment and just chill.
Lap 32/55: Charles Leclerc’s wretched race continues - he just registers a fourth track-limit violation, which will mean a penalty.
Lap 31/55: And some actual overtaking happens, right on cue. Gasly squeezes past Vettel who tries to strike straight back but is held off - Gasly now eighth, Vettel ninth.
Lap 30/55: Verstappen’s increasing his lead stealthily without taking too many risks, preserving tyres as well as advantage. All a bit uneventful out front, but always a risk with this overtaking-unfriendly circuit.
Lap 29/55: It would appear Sainz’s pit-lane go-slow impeded Stroll and Racing Point had complained.
Lap 28/55: Here’s the scores on the doors at just over halfway: 1 Verstappen 2 Bottas 3 Hamilton 4 Albon 5 Ricciardo 6 Norris 7 Sainz 8 Vettel 9 Gasly 10 Stroll.
Lap 27/55: Sainz is going to be investigated after the race we’re told, over that pit-lap issue, which could mean final championship standings being determined then. Verstappen now six seconds clear.
Lap 26/55: Ricciardo gets on the blower to his team to tell him his tyres still feel good, as Verstappen holds a firm lead at 5.2sec.
Lap 25/55: No sense that Ricciardo’s going to pit just yet - his pace remains strong in fifth place.
Lap 24/55: Verstappen shows a touch of anxiety by radioing his team to ask “is Lewis catching Valtteri?”
Lap 23/55: Sure enough, Leclerc goes into the pits and comes out at the back. Hamilton is beginning to close on Bottas in the tussle for position with his teammate, it’s about 1.5secs at the moment. But Verstappen’s five seconds further forward and looking comfortable.
Lap 22/55: A little bit of a mid-race lull at present. Leclerc is slipping further back, now passed by Ocon to drop to 12th. He’ll need a tyre change soon, surely. His teammate Vettel well placed to sign off with points though
Lap 20/55: Verstappen’s lead is now nearly four seconds, with Mercedes’ caution keeping their two men behind the front-runner.
FASTEST SECTORS
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 13, 2020
Valtteri, Lando and Max take a sector each 👀#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/QloHWmxFWL
Lap 19/55: The to and fro between Stroll, Leclerc and Gasly down around ninth place is a good watch, but out front this is how it looks: 1 Verstappen 2 Bottas 3 Hamilton 4 Albon 5 Ricciardo 6 Norris
Lap 18/55: Daniel Ricciardo hasn’t pitted yet but he’s got himself into a decent position in fifth; if he can choose his break wisely he’s in the mix here. Verstappen leads by more than three seconds now - Mercedes haven’t threatened properly yet.
Lap 17/55: Vettel shows he’s still got it with some expert holding-off of Sainz on the bend, to hold his eight position. Verstappen meanwhile leads by around two and a half seconds.
Lap 16/55: Leclerc is overtaken again, by Stroll, but gets back within DRS range and swiftly overhauls back, to hold ninth.
Meanwhile Sainz is under investigation for driving too slowly in the pit lane, which would be a grievous blow to McLaren and a five-second penalty.
Lap 15/55: A fine overtake by Sainz of Leclerc puts Sainz up into eighth, as night falls over Yas Marina.
Lap 14/55: The two Mercedes are closer to Verstappen than they were now as racing resumes in earnest; this is a big test of nerve for the leader now. His advantage over Bottas is now just over a second, as he rallies to record the fastest lap so far.
Lap 13/55: If Albon can hold fourth, he moves up to sixth in the final championship standings. Hamilton in third still not happy with his car’s performance. The safety car’s about to end …
Updated
Lap 12/55: Phew. Time for a recap: 1 Verstappen 2 Bottas 3 Hamilton 4 Albon 5 Ricciardo 6 Norris 7 Vettel 8 Leclerc 9 Sainz 10 Stroll. The Mercedes, unlike most, have not pitted yet, nor has Ricciardo, but Vettel’s enjoying himself by the looks.
Hamilton’s a little disquieted too. “Car’s just not turning,” he says over the radio.
Lap 11/55: The top four all pitted there in fact, as did around half the race, and now the full safety car is out as they’ve not been able to shift Perez’s car off the track. There’s also a suspicion of oil on the track.
Updated
Verstappen and Bottas both go for an early pit stop, and Hamilton joins them, moving to medium compounds
Perez out of the race!
Lap 10/55: Mechanical bother for Perez, the winner of the last race, who splutters to a halt in his last race for Racing Point. He looks devastated, if his gestures are owt to go by. Verstappen still leads.
Updated
Lap 9/55: A bold move by Gasly on Kvyatt down the back straight is rewarded and puts Gasly up to eighth.
Lap 8/55: Hamilton has closed the gap a little on Bottas, it’s now around four seconds. Stroll moves up into seventh.
Lap 7/55 A less eventful lap so here’s how they stand: 1 Verstappen 2 Bottas 3 Hamilton 4 Albon 5 Norris 6 Sainz 7 Kvyatt 8 Stroll 9 Gasly 10 Ricciardo
Lap 6/55: Red Bull look to have a power advantage here, though there’s a long way to go yet. At the back, Russell has been overtaken by Perez as Albon moves into fourth in that intriguing battle with Norris.
Lap 5/55: Verstappen hasn’t put a foot wrong so far, having got away well at the start, established a healthy lead down the straight and kept his pursuers at a decent distance. He leads by 2.5sec now
Lap 4/55: Norris and Albon is the closest battle up the top of the race so far, with the former maintaing a lead of around a second in fourth place.
Lap 3/55: Verstappen set an early fastest race lap on the second there, and is travelling well. He has just over two seconds on Bottas with Hamilton still third.
Lap 2/55: Magnusson and Russell move up at the back, to 17th and 16th respectively, while Gasly overhauls Ocon in ninth. Quite a bit of early overtaking action for this difficult track.
Lap 1/55: Verstappen handles that start well and gets some distance on the back straight; Bottas struggled initially but holds second. Vettel passes Leclerc further back.
Lights out and away we go!
Verstappen holds the lead at the first turn
Updated
They’re off on their formation lap now …
The front three drivers are all starting on the medium tyres - we’re looking at a one-stop race for most today.
Some pre-race chat from Verstappen: “We a good lap yesterday and it’s nice to be on pole and now we need a very good race. I feel confident, I hope we can have a clean start and have a bit of fun out there.”
And then Hamilton: “I’m definitely feeling better today than I have done. It’s been an incredible year and season for us as a team, and I feel pretty chilled right now.” Of course he does
Knee-taking and anti-racism gestures completed before anthem-time in Abu Dhabi with the sun beginning to set.
Updated
On that subject …
Wholesome content alert 🥰
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 13, 2020
A guard of honour for Seb, as @ScuderiaFerrari send their warrior out to the grid, one last time#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/XgSKnLBaEz
Today also sees Sebastian Vettel’s last drive for Ferrari, for whom he won 14 GPs. “It will be emotional,” said the four-time world champion. “Especially with the mechanics, the guys in the garage. Obviously, in terms of results, it’s not really a high. So I’m looking forward to seeing the chequered flag.” Ferrari’s struggles have continued this season and they were off the pace again yesrterday, and Vettel’s back in 13th at the start, one behind his teammate Charles Leclerc.
Updated
How they line up on the grid:
1 Max Verstappen, Red Bull 2 Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 3 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 4 Lando Norris, McLaren 5 Alexander Albon, Red Bull 6 Carlos Sainz, McLaren 7 Daniil Kvyat, AlphaTauri 8 Lance Stroll, Racing Point 9 Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri 10 Esteban Ocon, Renault 11 Daniel Ricciardo, Renault 12 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari 13 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 14 Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo 15 Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo 16 George Russell, Williams 17 Pietro Fittipaldi, Haas 18 Nicholas Latifi, Williams 19 Sergio Perez, Racing Point 20 Kevin Magnussen, Haas
Updated
Preamble
Afternoon everyone. Only once in the past eight years has the final grand prix of the season had the drivers’ title riding on it, when Nico Rosberg held off Lewis Hamilton to clinch the championship in 2016, all of which has tended to give the Abu Dhabi race a slight Oval-Ashes-Test-in-the-90s vibe to it, a near-perpetual dead rubber. Such is the Hamilton supremacy, which seems to become more entrenched by the year, that the destination of the world title has of late been comfortably determined by this point.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t have a race worth watching this afternoon. Max Verstappen stealing through for pole yesterday gives us enticing looking front of the grid and lifted the hopes of Red Bull and Verstappen of a second race win of the season to add to their success in the 70th anniversary GP at Silverstone in August. And last week’s race, with its first-ever win for Sergio Perez and its foiled heroics of George Russell, was kind of fun too.
Hamilton meanwhile has ascended new heights in this strangest of years, and though he’ll have post-Covid grogginess to deal with today, you can’t rule anything out from him after a year in which he has transcended his sport, on and off the track, to the extent that even many non-petrolheads wouldn’t begrudge him a Sports Personality of the Year award next week.
Lights out 1.10pm!
