F1 LIVE GP Abu Dhabi, Verstappen challenges Mercedes | Live from the GP

Click to update (55 laps)

Lap 6: the first 3 are with medium rubber, Albon and Norris with soft, Sianz medium, Kvyat, Stroll and Gasly soft, Ricciardo hard

Turn 5: Verstappen, Bottas, Hamilton, Norris, Albon, Sainz, Kvyat

Lap 4 – Leclerc attacks Vettel with Ricciardo in front of him

Lap 3 – Verstappen fast lap already trying to stretch

Lap 2 – Verstappen took 1 ”5 from Bottas. Raikkonen and Giovinazzi behind the two Ferraris. Perez is at the end

Round 1 – Forward! Verstappen immediately leads ahead of Bottas and Hamilton. Then Norris, Albon and Sainz. Vettel 12, Leclerc 13

– Cars lined up, ready for the reconnaissance lap.

The previous race

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Everything is ready in Abu Dhabi for the final round of the 2020 F1 World Cup. Max Verstappen takes off from pole at Red Bull in front of the two Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton.

In the second row also the McLaren of English Lando Norris. The Ferraris will start late: Charles Leclerc (penalized with three positions for the accident with Sergio Pérez in Sakhir) sprints 12th, Sebastian Vettel 13th. The start at 14.10, 55 laps.

13.50 – The photos of the grid

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Some images of the starting grid

1.30 p.m. – Pit lane open

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The pit lane is open. Cars line up

1:15 PM: Single Window Strategy

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The best strategy for the 55 laps of the Abu Dhabi GP is a stop, with a first run of 18 laps on medium tires, then 37 laps (or vice versa) on hard tires. The second alternative is always a stop – soft tires for 14 laps and then hard tires for 41 laps, but this strategy is a bit slower in terms of total race time. The two-stop option is slower, especially since race position is crucial at Yas Marina, where it is difficult to overtake and there is a difficult exit from the pit lane that lengthens the pit stop time even more. The best two-stop strategy would be two periods of 12 laps each on soft (one at the start and one at the end), as well as a central period of 31 laps on hard.

12.55 pm – Lewis awarded

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Lewis Hamilton awarded by Pirelli for 10 season pole positions.

12.35 – Vettel: “Many special memories”

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Sebastian Vettel, last at Ferrari, a few minutes before the start, spoke about his last race with the Prancing Horse and his emotions: “The race? As for the speed that we see, we were not the best, we hope that the correct strategy makes some points. The latest at Ferrari? Difficult to find the words in a few sentences, it was a bad ending to a fantastic period of my professional life. I will run with all my heart for the guys on the team, I thank the fans for the love they have given me. It has been a difficult year, but it has been a wonderful adventure, with so many special moments that remain and I will take them with me ”.

12.25 – Many greetings

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Weather from the last day of school for many. At McLaren we said goodbye to Carlos Sainz, at Haas we went through Grosjean and Magnussen.

12.10 pm – Ferrari: “Thank you Seb”

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Vettel, who will be replaced by Carlos Sainz next year, is in the last GP with Ferrari. El Cavallino wanted to pay tribute to Seb with a tweet of greeting and thanks. “Thank you Seb for always being yourself. Here is his last run with us. We will miss you but you will always be part of the Scuderia Ferrari family ”.

Seb balance

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Vettel, in six seasons with Ferrari, took home 14 victories, becoming the third most successful driver in team history after Michael Schumacher (with 72 wins) and Niki Lauda (with 15). Seb will compete this weekend in his 118th race with Ferrari, with which he also secured 12 pole positions, 14 fastest laps, 55 podiums and 1,400 points.

Final in December, it was worse

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There were two occasions when the World Cup ended even later than this season. In 1963, the South African GP was held on December 28, while the previous year had even reached December 29.

Yas Marina, difficult overtaking

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The Yas Marina circuit, built by Hermann Tilke, offers few overtaking possibilities, concentrated mainly in the chicane defined by turns 8 and 9, with the possibility of counter-advance at the exit crossing the paths, and at the end of turn 11, where braking may be excessively delayed. however, it does mean ending up long on a generally quite dusty escape route. There are two areas where the Drs can be operated: on the two main straights, after turns 7 and 10.

How many bulbs are there?

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121 floodlights illuminate the Yas Marina runway. The system adopts high-efficiency light bulbs, which consume 40% less energy.