F1 News
Ratings after Abu Dhabi: A 10 for Verstappen, but plenty of unsatisfactory marks
The 2020 Formula 1 season is now over after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Verstappen managed to win the last race and made a very strong impression all weekend. The Dutchman also gets a nice score from GPblog, but there are drivers who did not drive well.
Max Verstappen: 10
Max Verstappen was the strongest driver all weekend in Abu Dhabi. Only his fastest lap was taken by Daniel Ricciardo, but otherwise, the Dutchman was a winner in every department. Red Bull Racing will be hoping to continue this trend in 2021.
With a still-recovering teammate, Bottas took the lead at Mercedes, but could not prevent Verstappen from taking the victory. Could a fit Hamilton have challenged more? Probably…
Lewis Hamilton concludes his excellent season in 2020 with a pass. The Brit still seemed to be suffering from the coronavirus that ravaged him last week, so staying so close to Bottas is actually an achievement in itself.
Alexander Albon again failed to qualify in fourth place, leaving him behind the top three in the first laps. As a result, he could never really attack the Mercedes duo.
Lando Norris: 10
Lando Norris drove a perfect weekend in Abu Dhabi. In qualifying, he made sure that he was ahead of Carlos and Albon. A great result, with which he helps his team to P3.
Carlos Sainz: 8
Carlos Sainz has again proven his worth for McLaren this season. He may not be the fastest driver in one lap, but he always brings the points home and thus played an important role for the team in 2020.
Daniel Ricciardo: 9
Daniel Ricciardo took the fastest lap in the last lap from Max Verstappen, who would otherwise have achieved a Grand Slam. Ricciardo concluded a strong period at Renault in style and can prepare for a nice step to McLaren.
Pierre Gasly: ​​8.5
Gasly was beaten by Kvyat in qualifying, but fought his way to a good eighth place in the race, leaving Ocon and Stroll behind.
Esteban Ocon: 8
Ocon finally won another game against his teammate in qualifying and also scored some points. After joy on Saturday, however, he must have been disappointed to let his teammate go ahead.
Lance Stroll: 5
Lance Stroll showed in Abu Dhabi that Racing Point made a mistake. Precisely because of Stroll, McLaren is now third among the constructors. He made an error after error. If Perez had not dropped out, he probably could have saved the day.
Daniil Kvyat: 6.5
Kvyat still scored on Sunday. Part strategy, but also partly the difference between Gasly and the Russian.
Kimi Raikkonen will be happy that the 2020 F1 season is over, after another hopeless race outside the points.
Charles Leclerc drove another strong weekend, but on Sunday it never worked out for Ferrari.
Despite a penalty for his teammate, Sebastian Vettel was unable to finish ahead of him in the race. Hopefully, he will rediscover himself at Aston Martin in 2021.
Russell must have been quite disappointed that he had to return to Williams, but he did not show that on the track, where he dominated his teammate again.
Antonio Giovinazzi concludes a season in which he has taken small steps with a lesser performance. Things really have to improve in 2021 if he doesn't want to lose his place to Robert Shwartzman.
Latifi was again beaten by Russell and made a bizarre blunder on the straight in qualifying. A lot of money still doesn't make you a good driver ...
Kevin Magnussen: 5.5
Magnussen's farewell was not as great as he might have hoped. He beat Fittipaldi, but on Saturday you would have expected a bigger gap between the two drivers.
Pietro Fittipaldi: 5
Fittipaldi has kept his car on the track in two races, but that's all that can be said. A lap behind your teammate is very bad, especially in Abu Dhabi.
Sergio Perez: 6
Unfortunately, Sergio was unable to drive a great catch-up race for the second time in a row. It is hoped for Perez that he will get his place at Red Bull Racing because Perez does not deserve such an end.
This article was written and originally published by Tim on the Dutch edition of GPblog.com.