To be honest, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was not a classic event.
The circuit has a long history of races where overtaking was very difficult, and this one was no exception. But there were still plenty of talking points as the majority of Formula 1 folk headed for the airport to finish what has been a tough season, with 17 races in 23 weekends, in 12 different countries, including four tripleheaders.
Just pulling off the season was a huge achievement for the sport despite the complex and difficult circumstances.
Here's the biggest takeaways and all the final standings from the last race of a crazy Formula 1 season:
How Did Max Verstappen Win?
This one might have been a case for Verstappen wasn't quite as strong as he looked in leading every lap and winning from the pole.
Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas were suffering all weekend with an undefined problem with their cars' MGU-K units, which were turned down a little from their normal levels in order to try to keep up reliability. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted that there was “a gremlin” somewhere in the system, but added that the team didn’t really know what the problem was.
After the race and a 2-3 finish for Bottas and Hamilton, neither of the Mercedes drivers seemed to know that their power units had not been working at the maximum.
However, Wolff also believed that the biggest problem was not the engines but rather the way the Mercedes worked (or rather did not work) on the soft tires in qualifying. That gave Verstappen the chance to grab pole position, which gave him an advantage on a course where overtaking is difficult.
Lewis Hamilton Returns, But Not in Top Form
Hamilton arrived in Abu Dhabi by private jet from Bahrain on Thursday night after missing last week's race in Bahrain after a positive COVID-19 test. He tested negative in the days before the season-ending race, and the Abu Dhabi authorities accepted that he was not going to infect anyone. But that didn’t mean Hamilton was back to full health.
Throughout the weekend, he didn’t sound very healthy and after the race he admitted that it had been very hard for him.
“All year physically I've been fine, but today I definitely wasn't,” he said. “So I'm just glad it's over. My body is not feeling great but looking at the bright side I made it through. I didn’t think at any time last week that I’ll be here. So, I'm just really truly grateful for my health and to be alive, and looking forward to recovering and then get my body back to where I know it should be."
Albon Solid for Red Bull, But Was it Enough?
Alex Albon’s fourth place in Abu Dhabi for Red Bull enabled him to finish the World Championship in seventh place, equal on points to Carlos Sainz.
But was it enough to save his job at Red Bull, where team principal Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko are believed to be deciding between Albion, Racing Point free agent Sergio Perez or free agent Nico Hulkenberg for the Red Bull seat in 2021?
Albon scored a series of decent results—seventh, third, sixth and fourth—in the last four races to close out the season. Heading into the final four races, Albon was ninth in the standings and looking like a sure bet to lose his ride for next year.
After the race in Abu Dhabi, Albon was praised by Hamilton.
"It was a fantastic job to see Alex right up there with us," Hamilton said. "We were having a two-team battle, which is I think what the sport needs."
Sergio Perez Still Looking for a Job
Sergio Perez ended the Formula 1 season in fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship, his last race with Racing Point ending up with an early retirement with a mechanical problem.
“I’m really sad that my final race with the team ended so early and with a repeat of the engine problem we had in Bahrain,” he said. “I really wanted to sign off with a strong race for everyone in the team. I hope people remember winning the Sakhir Grand Prix instead of this weekend!
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It remains to be seen what happens to Perez in 2021. There is still a chance that he could go to Red Bull, as the team did not list Albon on the 2021 entry list, which was released on Friday. Red Bull and sister team AlphaTauri each had a spot listed as TBA, as Albon and AlphaTauri's Daniil Kvyat were missing from the list.
It is rumored that Perez may already have a deal for 2022 with Williams.
McLaren Grabs Third in the Constructors’ Championship
Going into the Abu Dhabi weekend, McLaren was 10 points behind Racing Point in the fight for third place in the Constructors’ Championship. Toss into the equation Perez’s victory in the Sakhir Grand Prix a week ago, it looked like Racing Point might be safe.
However, an early-season 15-point penalty came back to bite Racing Point in the end.
The so-called Pink Mercedes” team was docked 15 points at the start of the season in July for having copied the brake ducts used by Mercedes in 2019. If those points had been included in the final tally the team would have stayed third.
The history of Racing Point came to an end in Abu Dhabi and when F1 gathers again next year the team will be rebranded as Aston Martin Racing. The F1 entry list confirmed that BWT will be staying on as a sponsor, so expect cars to be a mix of British Racing Green and hot pink and with driver addition Sebastian Vettel leading the team.
Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Results
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 55 laps
- Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, +15.9 seconds
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +18.4 secs.
- Alex Albon, Red Bull, +19.9 secs.
- Lando Norris, McLaren, +1:00.7
- Carlos Sainz, McLaren, +1:-5.6
- Daniel Ricciardo, Renault, +1:13.7
- Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, +1:29.7
- Esteban Ocon, Renault, +1:41.0
- Lance Stroll, Racing Point, +1:40.7
- Daniil Kvyat, AlphaTauri, +1 lap
- Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo, +1 lap
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, +1 lap
- Sebastian Vettel, +1 lap
- George Russell, Williams, +1 lap
- Antonio Giovinazzi, +1 lap
- Nicholas Latifi, Williams, +1 lap
- Kevin Magnussen, Haas, +1 lap
- Pietro Fittipaldi, Haas, +1 lap
- Sergio Perez, Racing Point, +47 laps
Final Driver Standings
- Lewis Hamilton, 347
- Valtteri Bottas, 223
- Max Verstappen, 214
- Sergio Perez, 125
- Daniel Ricciardo, 119
- Carlos Sainz, 105
- Alex Albon, 105
- Charles Leclerc, 98
- Pierre Gasly, 75
- Lance Stroll, 75
- Esteban Ocon, 62
- Sebastian Vettel, 33
- Daniil Kvyat, 32
- Nico Hulkenberg, 10
- Kimi Raikkonen, 4
- Antonio Giovinazzi, 4
- George Russell, 3
- Romain Grosjean, 2
- Kevin Magnussen 1
- Nicholas Latifi, 0
- Jack Aitken, 0
- Pietro Fittipaldi, 0
Final Team Standings
- Mercedes, 573
- Red Bull, 319
- McLaren, 202
- Racing Point, 195
- Renault, 181
- Ferrari, 131
- AlphaTauri, 107
- Alfa Romeo, 8
- Haas,3
- Williams, 0
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