F1 Talk: Abu Dhabi a Perfect Metaphor for Hamilton’s Season

In a season where he was untouchable, the 2019 Abu Dhabi GP was the perfect metaphor for Lewis Hamilton’s 2019 Formula 1 championship campaign with a sublime race from the Mercedes driver.

The Brit lead from lights out to the chequered flag by a staggering margin of over 16 seconds from second-placed man Max Verstappen. He led every lap after he managed his tyres to perfection, making his one and only pitstop later than his rivals as well as being the fastest man on circuit.

Behind Hamilton, it was the fight between the next generation that occupied the action over the last two podium places. Verstappen managed to regain second after Ferrari pitted Charles Leclerc on lap 12 and were forced to pit again later in the race and finished a rather lowly third. But he managed to claim his first podium finish since a third-placed finish at the Russian GP which was his tenth visit to the rostrum during his maiden season with the scuderia.

There was a risk that Leclerc may have been thrown out of the results entirely as prior to the race, the FIA discovered that the amount of fuel Ferrari said was in the car was different from the amount when it was checked. But after a post-race investigation, Ferrari were fined 50,000 euros for what had been a 4.88 kg discrepancy and the result stood.

Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas rounded off 2019 with a fine charging drive from twentieth and last place on the grid following an engine change which meant he started from the back despite being second fastest during qualifying.

The Finn struggled to make much progress in the early stages despite a trimmed-out Mercedes car and a brand new power unit. But he had a clear strategy to stay out long in the first stint which allowed him to jump most of the midfield while they made their pitstops.

Then he moved up to fifth place after Vettel pitted for a second time and was then right on the heels of Alex Albon. He passed the Red Bull driver at the second time of asking with a much faster car around the Yas Marina circuit. Bottas managed to get within a couple of seconds of Leclerc by the end of the race, but never seriously looked like overtaking the Monegasque racer.

Battle for Sixth Runs to the Final Lap

While the big boys were racing over pride, there was a championship position at stake between Carlos Sainz Jr and Pierre Gasly. The pair started the weekend on 95 points a piece after they both secured their debut podium finishes at the Brazilian GP last time out.

Starting ninth and eleventh on the grid, it was all to play for. But it was not long before Gasly was punted at the first corner by Lancer Stroll in the Racing Point which pitted him into Stroll’s team-mate Sergio Perez. That meant that Gasly’s front wing was damaged, and with no safety car, the Frenchman’s race was toast as well, finishing 2 laps behind the leaders.

As for Sainz Jr, he was engaged in a fierce battle over the last points-paying positions with his team-mate Lando Norris and the two Renaults of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg in his last F1 race. But with different strategies among other midfield runners put Sainz’s points-paying prospects in doubt.

So roughly ten laps before the end, McLaren pitted the Spaniard for new rubber. However, he looked like he would fall short until the last lap, where he overtook Ricciardo to claim that final points-paying position and therefore sixth-place in the drivers championship after a superb season from the Spanish samurai. He drove one of the most consistent campaigns and was well-clear of the next driver not to drive a Red Bull this year.

What next for Mercedes

In an eventful Formula 1 season, the paddock of teams and drivers have now completed another hectic 21-race calendar across five continents since March. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes may be World Champions yet again, but look below the surface and this was a great season of F1 with some crazy and unpredictable races along the way.

That being said, Mercedes had appeared to have wrapped up the championship by Barcelona. A lot will be said about the collapse of Ferrari’s potential post the pre-season, but once again the German manufacturer proved that they are still the dominant force in the sport.

Hamilton called the teams 2019 performance a 6/10 after Abu Dhabi and while that might sound harsh, the closing of the gap to Ferrari and Red Bull have caused obvious troubles and even at Singapore, Bottas was forced to move aside for Hamilton as to maximise his points. The 1-2 domination from Mercedes pre-June seems a world away from Abu Dhabi, but even after the resurgance of Ferrari at the high speed circuits and Red Bull’s Brazilian brilliance, Hamilton ended the season how he spent most of it. At the top.

Now the travelling circus takes a well-earned break with the 2020 Australian GP on March 15.