An imperious display from Max Verstappen saw him breeze to his second victory of 2020 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale, leading home the Mercedes duo of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton, who had no answer to the Red Bull’s pace around the Yas Marina Circuit.
With Mercedes having taken every pole and race win in Abu Dhabi since 2014, Verstappen reversed that trend with pole on Saturday, before converting it with a dominant performance under the floodlights, as he led home Bottas by 15 seconds, with Hamilton coming home just behind his teammate on his first race back since contracting Covid-19.
Verstappen’s teammate Alex Albon supported Red Bull’s cause by coming home P4, although having lacked the pace to really challenge the Mercedes in front of him. Meanwhile, in a fantastic evening for McLaren, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz finished P5 and P6 to claim third in the constructors’, leap-frogging Racing Point who scored just one point.
That was partly due to Sergio Perez retiring with a suspected transmission issue on Lap 10 of the race, an unfortunate end to the Racing Point career of last week’s race winner. Daniel Ricciardo came home seventh on his final outing for Renault, ahead of the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly, while behind Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll took the final points-paying position in P10 having been passed on the final lap, Ocon cementing Renault’s fifth in the constructors’.
Meanwhile, on his final race for Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel finished P14, behind teammate Charles Leclerc, while in what looks to be his last race in F1, Kevin Magnussen finished P18 for Haas. But as a dominant season for Mercedes draws to a close, it’s Verstappen with the advantage heading into the winter, after a fantastic race for the Dutchman - and at the end of a fast and furious 2020.
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