That’s a wrap on F1 2019.
Lewis Hamilton finished the year at the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the fashion he has spent much of it – leading from the front. And in the most emphatic fashion so far this season, as he took his only ‘grand chelem’ – achieved by claiming pole, the win, the fastest lap and leading every lap – of the year.
That is the his sixth grand slam, moving him beyond Alberto Ascari and Michael Schumacher to outright second on the all-time list, two behind the late, great Jim Clark. Yet another record for Hamilton to set his sights on.
The race itself was sadly a fairly standard Abu Dhabi affair – a pretty dull race with the action limited mostly to Valtteri Bottas’s fight through the field from the back of the grid. The Finn’s job was also made slightly harder by the bizarre lack of DRS for 18 laps, apparently caused by a ‘data server crash’.
As Martin Brundle had feared may be the case, Hamilton ‘checked out’ at the front of the field, controlling his pace and keeping a comfortable lead throughout. He showed just how much pace he had to spare by setting the fastest lap of the race on reasonably old hard tyres when many behind had pitted for new, softer ones in the final few laps.
The fight for the other podium positions was slightly spicier. Charles Leclerc passed Max Verstappen on the first lap as the Red Bull seemed to initially struggle heating its tyres. But Verstappen ran 13 laps longer and comfortably passed the Ferrari, having rejoined just four seconds back on far fresher tyres, despite nursing a subtle engine issue throughout the race. Leclerc then switched to a two-stop strategy and just about managed to hold off the closing Bottas in the closing laps. Leclerc had spent the entire race aware that he could well be disqualified for a technical infringement from Ferrari before the race but, after a post-race investigation, the team were fined €50,000 and his third place stood.
It was another amateur-ish mistake from F1’s most experienced team – simply a case of the amount of fuel Ferrari had said was in Leclerc’s car being significantly different from the actual amount once it had been checked by the FIA. If they are to put together a real title challenge in 2020, Ferrari will have to iron out these basic operational failings…as well as the rather larger ones such as strategy and their drivers crashing into each other…
Sebastian Vettel came home a fairly underwhelming fifth, followed by the other Red Bull of Alexander Albon, the Anglo-Thai finishing a disappointing 52.5 seconds behind his teammate. Whilst, overall, Albon has done a solid job in what has undeniably been a big ask of a rookie driver, that is similar to the gaps we were seeing between Verstappen and Pierre Gasly before his demotion. With a proper preparation for next year, Albon will surely have better foundations to build on for 2020 but he will have to be consistently and markedly closer to the superstar on the other side of the garage to cement his place in both the team and the sport for the future.
Sergio Pérez claimed ‘best of the rest’ thanks to some trademark tyre conservation and a good strategy, nicking seventh from Lando Norris on the last lap with what he described as “one of the best moves in my career”.
Sainz Leaves it Late to Snatch Sixth
Another move on the last lap – this time with a McLaren being the overtaker rather than the overtaken – brought Carlos Sainz the single point he required to seal sixth in the Drivers’ Championship, with the Spaniard clearly ecstatic with the manner in which he claimed it.
Sainz absolutely deserves that sixth place. Whilst it has obviously been made possible by two drivers getting half a season each in the second Red Bull, the level of consistency achieved by the Spaniard has been excellent and he nearly broke the 100-point barrier despite a fair share of bad luck. He lost a haul of points in Bahrain through a coming together with Verstappen and more via a botched pit-stop in Italy.
Surely Red Bull are looking somewhat longingly at Sainz now as they struggle to find a driver worthy of their second seat. Verstappen and Sainz were very evenly matched as teammates in their rookie years and it seems that, in the last 12 months certainly, Sainz has pushed onto another level and is relishing his role as team leader at McLaren.
Tension between their respective fathers supposedly played a part in Sainz not being considered for the Red Bull drive when Daniel Ricciardo dropped the bomb that he was leaving for Renault last year. But you have to wonder, with a Verstappen-Sainz pairing, would Red Bull have been able to truly challenge Ferrari for seconds in the Constructors’ Championship this year?
Verstappen Claims the Other ‘Best of the Rest’
Whilst, at times, Ferrari and Red Bull have looked very fast – the Ferrari particularly in qualifying and the Red Bull particularly at altitude – over the course of the season, the Mercedes team has been somewhat in a class of one.
With his second place in Abu Dhabi – and a helping hand from the Ferrari clash last weekend – Verstappen claimed third in the championship and what is effectively ‘best of the rest’ beyond the Silver Arrows. It is another deserved unofficial crown, as Verstappen has surely stood out, alongside Hamilton, as the star of the field this year.
Where, in past seasons, he had shown unquestionable raw speed but flashes of immaturity and rashness, this year has been nearly devoid of those flies in the ointment. There were perhaps a couple of overambitious moves but that comes with the territory when you are a bold driver like Verstappen.
If Red Bull can actually start a season competitively for once next year, and Verstappen can keep his head once faced with a real title battle, 2020 could even be a case of him going for ‘best of the best’.
But the final word must go to Hamilton.
Having been challenged more consistently by the other teams since the summer break, the world champion’s superlative performance at the Yas Marina Circuit was a pointed reminder to the prentenders to his throne that he is still very much the king.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 60 Seconds
Answering the Burning Questions
Who can go into the winter break on a high? Certainly Hamilton. But Verstappen and Leclerc will be pretty content too.
How will relations be between the two Ferrari drivers and within the team? There was a hint of tension with Leclerc missing his final qualifying lap and seeming to blame Vettel but really it was the team’s fault. That was followed by another silly error from the team on race day… Will any heads roll over the winter break?
Who will claim third in the Drivers’ Championship? Verstappen, pretty comfortably in the end.
Can Hülkenberg get a podium in possibly his last ever race?? Of course not. A token Driver of the Day award though!
