F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Driver of the Day - Vote Now

Rui Santos · Dec 2, 2019

Michel Bélisle said:
Is the Red Bull such an inferior car compared to the Ferrari? Don't get me wrong, I admire Max Vestappen's talent but when he gets in a fight with Leclerc, I don't think that Leclerc has an overwhelmingly better car.

It's not the car! It's he hand kit that makes it look better!

Put Max in the Ferrari and you'll see

Dux · Dec 3, 2019

Rui Santos said:
It's not the car! It's he hand kit that makes it look better! Put Max in the Ferrari and you'll see

Rui my 2 cents

Ricciardo didn't make the Renault better or pulled of late braking maneuvers like he used to in Red Bull, simply he doesn't have the machine and confidence to do so. For the dull race we had on sunday with both Leclerc and Verstappen taking the max out of that car (even though RB had issues) i think either switch would made no difference. RB was simply better in race trim carrying the high loads of fuel through S3 far better.

Not to take anything from Max and all great drives he did all season long, but he is grown into that car and the confidence he has in it will be nothing compared if he suddenly switches to Ferrari (to imagine he does) so at least I cannot be certain of any case because he is not driving the Ferrari but if I'd have to chose, observing from what is happening I think that is very much unlikely.

Sasha Jednak · Dec 3, 2019

boomn said:
It is somewhat impressive that Bottas made it from last to 4th, but then again the team told him that their simulations showed he should finish in 5th based on project pace. Then Vettel had a very long pit stop with the wheel issue and Bottas was handed 4th. In other words Bottas basically achieved what was expected of him and, in my opinion, nothing really stellar above and beyond that

Wow, they have wrong simulation parameters in Merc obviously. After all that time they still don't have "Ferrari messed up strategy/pitstop" variable. That would probably show 3rd, and with DRS available that's what would of happen.

snyperal · Dec 3, 2019

Sasha Jednak said:
Wow, they have wrong simulation parameters in Merc obviously. After all that time they still don't have "Ferrari messed up strategy/pitstop" variable. That would probably show 3rd, and with DRS available that's what would of happen.

On the race start I told my mate bottas could get 3rd.... and yeah i think with drs that would've been possible, i predicted a Leclerc and Max collision though. I guess I was using 2018 max not 2019 max.

Antony Snook · Dec 3, 2019

I went with Lewis hes the champ and he still is pushing for wins. I thought that AMG Mercedes would be on its last legs by know, A Power unit lasts 4 events That is 200 miles Race and 100 in practice and qualifying so call it 300 miles. 300x4=1200miles. 4 engines a season that is 4800 miles.

As for the track its not good but its in the UAE so lots of gold and oil. People don't realize Oil makes rubber and you can make a list 1000 entry's long of uses for rubber. Making it the wealthiest part of the world based on natural resource. Take that Montecarlo.

Niko_1599 · Dec 3, 2019

Perez with an amazing overtake in the final lap to secure P10 in the standings.

GP20 · Dec 3, 2019

Can't say. I saw a lot of drivers strugling with their cars and trying to race. Kudos to all of them.

I wonder if the first laps without DRS were not the best in actions??

Enagee · Dec 3, 2019

The season is not quite over

Abu Dhabi Test times

Tuesday times

POS	DRIVER	CAR	TIME	GAP	LAPS
1	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1m37.124s	-	138
2	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1m37.991s	0.867s	136
3	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso/Honda	1m38.183s	1.059s	72
4	Sergio Perez	Racing Point/Mercedes	1m38.434s	1.310s	120
5	Romain Grosjean	Haas/Ferrari	1m39.526s	2.402s	146
6	Lando Norris	McLaren/Renault	1m39.741s	2.617s	125
7	Max Verstappen	Red Bull/Honda	1m39.926s	2.802s	153
8	Esteban Ocon	Renault	1m39.962s	2.838s	77
9	George Russell	Williams/Mercedes	1m40.368s	3.244s	87
10	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo/Ferrari	1m40.903s	3.779s	93
11	Sean Gelael	Toro Rosso/Honda	1m41.640s	4.516s	67
12	Roy Nissany	Williams/Mercedes	1m44.760s	7.636s	41

Ruttman98 · Dec 3, 2019

Judging from the time gap at the Abu Dhabi test, it appears the 2020 season may already be over for Williams.

PegaMixel · Dec 3, 2019

Russell down by 4 tenths on Verstappen in the RB. Yep, Williams sure is done for 2020.

In all seriousness though, these times are absolutely worthless as they're driving the same 2019 cars, but with the 2020 tires. Nothing to see here. Just some testing.