Abu Dhabi GP 2019 – Race Report

Like most years, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (the final race of the season) was sadly under-whelming, despite the DRS activation systems malfunctioning at the very start of the race. Instead of a boring race run-down, I’ll make this a more reflective post talking about the season as a whole…

The Top-10:

1. Lewis Hamilton – Cracking over the 400 point-limit with his final season victory, Lewis is only one more championship away from matching Michael Schumacher. There is absolutely no-one on the same level of performance as him right now. Unlike most years, it didn’t even take Lewis too many races to start snatching victories, he’s been on his A-game from the very start. 2020 is probably going to be his year, but I still look forward to literally anyone giving him a challenge. At any rate: Well done, Lewis!
2. Max Verstappen – Only 3 race victories this season, the Dutchman unfortunately lost his focus midway through the season which must have cost him his chance to challenge Bottas for the second place in the championship. Max has come a long way this season as a driver, and though he’s still had a few childish hissy-fits, he’s a much more certain driver now than he ever was. If Red Bull can finally get its act together and stop swapping drivers around, maybe they can finally focus on giving Verstappen (and Albon) some race winning strategies next year.
3. Charles Leclerc – After a slow start to the season, Leclerc has definitely become the new Ferrari golden boy and I fully expect him to give Max and, potentially, Hamilton a run for their money next year. An over-all solid season, where he eventually left his 4-championship winning team mate in his shadow.
4. Valtteri Bottas – Easily, the most impressive rise from the back (grid-20) after penalties. Bottas drove the best he could under his current circumstances. Next year, Bottas will have to give it his all and challenge Lewis, otherwise he risks being an eternal number-2.
5. Sebastian Vettel – Vettel had some rotten luck in the race with his first pit-stop (back-to-back with Leclerc) being botched. It has not been an easy year for Vettel with him crumbling at several races. The Singapore race victory and two number-2 podiums showed that he still has fight left in him, but next year is gonna be a tough one for him.
6. Alexander Albon – Solid drive from the promoted driver. Albon lost an almost certain podium in the last race and his performances have been dynamite since his promotion from Toro Rosso midway through the season. Albon was nowhere near the Top-10 at the start of this season and he closes it off as 8th over-all in the standings. Not bad at all from a rookie.
7. Sergio Perez – An impressive rise from grid-10, despite a few close calls. Perez continues to be the only shining light in Racing Point’s arsenal. He finishes the season out at 10th in the rankings, but Perez can definitely be proud of what he’s done. The team was beat by Toro Rosso, but what can you expect when the second driver can’t score points to save his life.
8. Lando Norris – McLaren ended the season rather unspectacularly with Norris dropping two positions from the start, but the team is in the Top-4 with their first podium since 2014. Norris has yet to have accomplished this though, but the team seems set to try harder for top-3 results next year. Norris finishes the season 11th in the standings, just behind Perez.
9. Daniil Kvyat – A mixed year for Kvyat. After a decent beginning, Kvyat took a shock podium in Germany, one of only three drivers who are not at Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull to achieve one. Sadly, the end of Kvyat’s season has been full of bone-headed incidents and Kvyat really has to learn some self-control. He’s been given a second chance at the sport and for a while, he was doing fine. The Racing Russki really can’t afford to throw this opportunity away.
10. Carlos Sainz – Last race’s shock podium winner finishes the season as the Best of the Rest. Well done for Sainz who really is showing what McLaren can do, even if this race was a bit of a downer.

The Golden Pineapple Award: Daniel Ricciardo, Renault

Danny Ric takes home the final Pineapple of the season. The Australian can really thank his luck that he’s in the championship top-5 at all. For the first half of the season, he’s been driving incredibly recklessly and only his solid performance in the last few races have saved him. Danny boy has left me bemused this season, he’s simply not driving at his best at Renault. Next year, he needs to get his act together, especially now that he’ll have Ocon to contend with.

Drop-out count: 1

What would be the perfect end note for a boring Abu Dhabi race weekend, a single technical retirement. Lance Stroll has really lost his mojo this season. Sure, last year he drove for Williams which at least excused his poor results – but he has not really shown any fight this entire year. Stroll really needs to improve, otherwise Racing Point is seriously in trouble next year. Perez simply can’t carry the whole team.

Back of the Lot News:

A sad good bye from Nico Hülkenberg who leaves the sport, finishing behind his team-mate. Hülk has had a hell of a career and it really stings that for all his hard work, the fabled podium eluded him.

Equally, I’m just as disappointed in Alfa Romeo, who really dropped the ball big time at the end of the season. Räikkönen and Giovinazzi were in the Top-5 the previous race, but this round finished 13th and 16th. Räikkönen at least fought his way up but the team seems to really have lost the plot on car development. Giovinazzi has also sort of disappointed me. Midway through the season, he seemed to be getting better – but Räikkönen has scored most of the team’s points and barely kept them ahead of Haas. Not the sort of accolade any team wants.

And speaking of Haas, both cars finished back-to-back as 14th and 15th, Magnussen ahead of Grosjean. Haas concludes their fourth and absolutely worst season at 9th in the standings, ahead of only Williams. This lacklustre performance is truly baffling. Sure, the team had a rocky start last year as well, but then managed to finish in the Top-5, ahead of McLaren, Sauber and Force India (albeit after that team rebooted midway through the season). This year has been agonizingly bad, alongside the farce relating to their former title sponsor. I wouldn’t really want to see Haas go after 2020, but nothing they’ve done this year has really brought me any confidence in their skills.

Ditto for Williams as well. It doesn’t look like George Russell is going to have a fun time next year either. He was 17th, third-to-last, ahead of only two cars. One was Pierre Gasly, who was bumped off my Stroll early on. Needless to say, this poor performance was not Gasly’s fault, who despite having been demoted to Toro Rosso, has finished the season with a.) a number-2 podium and b.) in the top-10 of the championship.

Dead Last: Robert Kubica – The suffering is over. Poor Robert finishes the final race of the season as the final man on track. Good luck in the future and hopefully you will race in literally anything better than a Williams next year.