Max Verstappen claimed his second win of the season in an impressive drive from lights out to chequered flag to beat Mercedes duo Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Dutchman converted victory after starting on pole, in what was a commanding drive by the 23-year-old, as he beat Bottas by over 15 seconds at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Verstappen’s last win came rather fortuitously at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, after Mercedes suffered tyre issues, but this win was purely on merit as Red Bull looked to have the pure pace on Mercedes all weekend.
This was the Red Bull driver’s 10th career victory and the third non-Mercedes powered win of the entire 2020 season.
Both Mercedes drivers had supposedly turned down their engines after discovering an MGU-K issue prior to the race.
And seven-time world champion Hamilton admitted after the race that he is still suffering from the after-effects of Covid-19, having missed last week’s Sakhir Grand Prix.
Alexander Albon chased down the Brit in the closing stages of the race, finishing only 1.5s off third for Red Bull. Albon’s future in the sport is still unknown as Sergio Perez continues to be linked with his seat.
McLaren secured third in the constructor’s championship as Lando Norris secured fifth with team-mate Carlos Sainz just behind and this result will provide the Woking-based team with further finances for their 2021 car.
The sensational result was good enough to jump above Racing Point as Lance Stroll only managed 10th while Perez suffered an early power unit issue, which forced the Mexican to retire.
Daniel Ricciardo was able to perform a perfect alternative strategy to place his Renault into seventh position. This was the Australian’s last race with Renault before he makes the switch to McLaren for 2021.
Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly took a solid eighth place from fellow Frenchman Esteban Ocon. Ocon, in the second Renault car, performed a last-lap overtake on Canadian Stroll to claim ninth.
Outside of the points Daniil Kvyat failed to convert his good qualifying position of seventh place into a top-10 finish come race day. The Russian fell behind his team-mate Gasly in the opening stages of the race and never recovered. He still has no seat for next season with the second AlphaTauri seat up for grabs.
Sebastian Vettel ended his time at Ferrari in lowly 14th – behind his team-mate Charles Leclerc who finished 13th. It ends a six-year relationship between Vettel and the Italian outfit – next year he will be racing for Aston Martin as Perez’s replacement.
Formula 1 will get back underway in 79 days’ time when the teams go to Barcelona for pre-season testing ahead of the 2021 season which begins on March 21 at the Australian Grand Prix.
By Cameron Anderson-Jones
