Race 2019 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Full Race Replay
Race 2019 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Full Race Replay
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Race Info
Date 1 December 2019
Official name Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019
Location Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.554 km (3.451 miles)
Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019 What to Watch
Lewis Hamilton put himself in a prime position to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a strong effort at Yas Marina, ending his nine-race pole position drought.
Naturally, the biggest danger to Hamilton's ability to convert pole position into victory has been eliminated with teammate Valtteri Bottas qualifying second by starting last due to a power unit penalty, and neither Red Bull Racing nor Ferrari are likely to contend in race conditions.
Max Verstappen (P3 classification) and Charles Leclerc (P4 classification) were 0.36 and 0.44 seconds behind the leader after qualifying, which was undoubtedly the case.
Despite Leclerc's failure to finish his last qualifying lap due to a Ferrari timing error, Verstappen said he had nothing left to offer. He was already ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel, indicating there wouldn't have been much more to come.
The season as a whole can be conveniently summarized by the final qualification order: Red Bull Racing is almost within striking reach, Mercedes is in the lead, and Ferrari is stumbling to a confusingly far third.
Given the unabated rumors that Ferrari's power advantage was eliminated by a series of FIA technical guidelines in November, the team's half-second disadvantage is intriguing.
Yas Marina ought to have given the team an opportunity to allay the skepticism, at least in the first two power-sensitive sectors, but Mattia Binotto maintains that his car's lack of straight-line performance is mostly due to aero experiments to increase downforce and partially to the profile of the previous few circuits.
Although Ferrari was just slightly ahead of Mercedes in the first and second sectors, by 0.121 and 0.073, respectively, it was the fastest car in those first two. In the last sector, the red cars were dominated by both Red Bull Racing and Mercedes drivers, with Hamilton surpassing Leclerc by an enormous 0.636 seconds.
It is not surprising that Ferrari is slow in the winding last sector, but it is remarkable that it has such little advantage in the second sector, which is flat for about 2.2 kilometers and only has five real corners.
Ferrari's apparent lack of power is unlikely to be confirmed in any way because this is the final race, but it surely adds some spice for 2020.
Verstappen in second place or, less likely, one of the Ferrari drivers lagging behind him will have very few opportunities to pass Hamilton if he crosses the finish line cleanly.
While statistics from the season indicates the team won't have anything to worry from the hard tire, which is anticipated to form the backbone of a near-certain one-stop strategy at the unabrasive Yas Marina Circuit, the Mercedes car appeared content on both the soft and the medium tire during Friday's practice.
At a track where passing is challenging, the undercut is the main opportunity to pass. Pirelli estimates that the medium tire, which is the starting compound for all of the front-runners except Vettel, is good for up to 18 laps during the first part of the race, but the pit window will be wide because of the lack of degradation.
If anyone is close enough to pull the undercut trigger on Hamilton, it will be interesting to see who has the greatest confidence in their ability to run the admittedly extremely durable hard tires to the end on a lengthy final stint.
However, Ferrari's strategy division presents an intriguing point of differentiation, according to Sebastian Vettel. In contrast to Leclerc's medium-hard approach, Vettel is on the supposedly faster soft-hard strategy. Although it will come from the dirt side of the track, it will provide the German a helpful boost in grip right from the line. However, he would be in the best position to attempt the undercut if he could use the opening few laps to close the gap with Hamilton before the soft starts to lose speed.
Ferrari was the only one of the three leaders to put in any effort with the hard tire, but over the course of six laps, its performance was excellent and actually on par with Mercedes's on the medium tire. Since everyone else is following the same plan, this is Ferrari's greatest chance to win an implausible race.
In what has turned into a private midfield duel, the drivers from Renault and McLaren will all start on softs farther down the order. However, despite Toro Rosso's dismal grid positions of 11th and 13th, Renault will be wary of the Italian team.