F1 GP Abu Dhabi, Verstappen blackens Mercedes. Ferrari, bad closing

Last day of classes in Abu Dhabi and standing on the benches to dance and have fun, Max Verstappen got on, the guy who this year was the only one who really bothered Mercedes. After yesterday’s pole position, the Dutchman also dictated the law in the race, taking the lead and not letting go until the checkered flag. The Black Arrows could only watch, with Valtteri Bottas second and Lewis Hamilton third. And also a little dull, probably not in perfect shape after the forced 10 days off, sick with Covid. Bad for the Ferraris, who finished laps in 13th and 14th place with Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel.

Perfect management

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Verstappen, second win of 2020, took a walk. On a track where overtaking is difficult, the Dutchman only had to start well from pole, victory was essentially built yesterday in qualifying.

Also because here, only unpredictable episodes like Safety Cars can rearrange the cards. The only exit, the one that allowed the elimination of Pérez’s Racing Point on lap 11, essentially served the leading group for tire changes, the only one foreseen in the strategies. Hard rubber and race management until lap 55 were the ingredients of Verstappen’s success.

Fight the virus

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Bottas never seemed to have the pace to upset Red Bull and Hamilton, third, did not sink the blow, as we have always been used to this year. Just a shock from the tire change, when on the radio he complained that he would have preferred to stay on the track extending the run. Who knows, maybe waiting for a second safety car to reverse the fate of a marked race. But at the end of the day, these days the seven-time world champion had said that it had been good for him to get back in the car after the fight against the virus. Let’s face it, no problem, in this race Lewis had nothing to prove.

Congratulations to McLaren

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Closing with a real applause from McLaren and a very sorry veil over Ferrari. The Woking team snatched third place in constructors’ position from Racing Point in the last GP, thanks to fifth and sixth places from Norris and Sainz behind Albon’s second Red Bull. A splendid career and a well-deserved position for a team that, under the leadership of the pragmatic Andreas Seidl, is once again among the great names in F1, the position it deserves. It is the same wish that we make to the Maranello team, which closed this race with the two red laps. Vettel leaves after 6 years “in which, however, I lived a beautiful adventure, with special moments that I will always carry with me”. Words from a Ferrari driver and a real person. Even before being 4 times champion.