2020

The 2020 Formula 1 season concluded on Sunday in Abu Dhabi with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen besting the Mercedes team to take his second win of the season. All eyes are now on the Austrian team, which is yet to confirm their driver lineup for the 2021 campaign. Verstappen’s father Jos remained coy when questioned about his son’s next teammate. Alex Albon partnered with Verstappen in 2020 and did not give a good account of himself as he struggled to match the pace set by the Dutchman. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner made it clear that a decision will only be made after the end of the season as the organization was keen to give Albon every opportunity to stake a claim for the seat. The British-Thai driver failed to leave a lasting impression, and recent reports suggest that Sergio Perez, who was let go by Racing Point, is in line to replace him. Red Bull has played their cards close to the chest, but they are expected to make an announcement in the coming days. Jos, an integral member of the Red Bull crew, admitted that he is also in the dark about his son’s next teammate. “No, I really don’t know. I haven’t heard anything yet. Otherwise, I would have known,” Jos said, as quoted on GP Blog. “Let’s wait and see where he stands in relation to Max and Albon next year. I don’t know how good Perez is.” Meanwhile, Mercedes suffered a demoralizing defeat at the hands of Red Bull in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. They had no answer to Verstappen’s pace with Valtteri Bottas finishing over 10 seconds behind in second place. Chief trackside engineer Andrew Shovlin was lost for words in explaining the blunder that they committed during the race’s weekend stretch. “The surprise came from the fact that on Friday we looked all right,” Shovlin stated via ESPN. “We did our own program on the 2021 tires, and we were keen to focus a fair chunk of our effort on that. “If we were struggling [for performance] on Friday, then we might have said that we’d spent too much time on those tires, but we weren’t and we were very quick,” he continued. “So to be honest, on Friday night, we were fairly relaxed where we stood and the surprise was on Saturday morning when we hit the track and we were slow.”

Red Bull Racing has closed the 2020 Formula 1 season in style. Not only was Max Verstappen the fastest of the whole weekend, but the Red Bull pit stop team was also the fastest in Abu Dhabi. If there is one part in which Red Bull excels, it is the pit stops. Ever since Red Bull entered F1 they have been strong in the pitlane, as seen by their several awards. The DHL Fastest Pitstop Award will once again go to Red Bull Racing in 2020, after they dominated once again. In Abu Dhabi, Red Bull was once again the fastest, with a pit stop of 2.36s for Max Verstappen. Alexander Albon also had a quick stop, 2.62s. Red Bull have been so good at changing tyres this season, they ended with more than double the points of second-placed Williams.

Lewis Hamilton is keen for new contract talks with Mercedes to be wrapped up by Christmas after his positive Covid-19 test delayed proceedings. The seven-time world champion secured his most recent title at the Turkish Grand Prix in November to equal Michael Schumacher’s record, while he broke the German’s record for most Grand Prix wins the race before his Istanbul success by notching up his 92nd race win in Portugal. Six of those titles and 74 of those wins have come with Mercedes after his move there from McLaren in 2013 and Hamilton insisted he wanted to strike a deal very soon that would allow him to race for the Northamptonshire-based team. ‘Hopefully over the next couple of weeks,’ Hamilton said when asked about when a deal would be confirmed. ‘We would love to get it done before Christmas. ‘I plan to be here next year. I want to be here next year. We, as a team, have more to do together and more to achieve both in the sport but even more outside the sport.’ Mercedes have already put Valtteri Bottas and Hamilton down as their drivers for next year on the FIA entry list and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said talks between the team and Hamilton should be a formality and had only stopped because Hamilton had contracted the virus, which caused him to miss the second of back-to-back Bahrain Grands Prix earlier this month. ‘We will have this conversation,’ Wolff said. ‘We were delayed. We always said we would do it after the title was won, and then the virus delayed us for another 10 days, two weeks. Now we just have to sit down, maybe virtually, maybe live.’ The biggest potential sticking point in negotiations could be Hamilton’s pay, with the Briton currently making a whopping £35million a year and seeking a pay rise to £40m per year. As the highest-earning driver in the sport, he therefore stands to be hardest hit if plans by the Formula One Commission (FAC) to introduce a salary cap come to fruition. That would mean every team’s two drivers would share a salary pot of £22m a year, and could come into effect as early as 2023. Consequently, the 35-year-old may now feel under pressure to secure a long new contract now before the new restrictions come in. The FAC is responsible for approving any changes to F1’s sporting and technical regulations before these changes are then ratified by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council. In response, Hamilton called on the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), the equivalent of a drivers’ trade union, to work closely with the sport’s authorities to resolve the issue.

Sebastian Vettel says he will “treasure” his final day as a Ferrari race driver after an emotional Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The four-time world champion was given a guard of honour out of his garage on the way to the grid and presented with a trophy post-race to commemorate his 14 wins for the Scuderia. And reflecting on the day, and his time at Ferrari, Vettel insisted he will only look back with happiness. “There’s many reasons why, you can argue, why we did not succeed and finish the mission we set out to achieve but what you keep ultimately is the memories and the passion I shared with so many people along the way,” Vettel said. “I have no regrets looking back. Certainly, there have been mistakes, there have been highs and lows. “I’m not normally the most emotional guy, today is a different day, a day I will remember not for finishing 14th but for what it means in the big picture. “It is a day I will treasure. It is a goodbye to many friends and in a way, I fell in love with, in the last years, so those I will miss. “I’m sure I won’t lose those completely, we have a saying in German, you always see each other twice in life, I think time will tell.” After the race, Vettel and teammate Charles Leclerc completed a helmet swap, with Seb calling the Monegasque the “most talented driver I came across in 15 years of F1” in a message. And in a year where Ferrari has languished in the midfield, he voiced his wish to see Leclerc back fighting at the front of the grid. “I’ve learned so much from this team, they have given me so much,” Vettel said. “I’m very grateful for that, it’s beyond titles and victories, for sure that’s what we were after, in the end, we didn’t get it.” “It doesn’t change anything, I wish this team well, I wish the guys well. Charles is a young, fresh hope of this team and I hope he gets the car he deserves in the next years.” Vettel, though, handed his over with a personalised message for Leclerc and had some seriously high praise for him. “To Charles, you are the most talented driver I came across in 15 years of F1,” Vettel wrote. “Don’t waste it. But be sure whatever you do to be happy and smile. Thanks for everything!” As for Leclerc, he also paid tribute to Vettel and voiced optimism for the future. “It has been a difficult season for us and it’s a shame to end it like this,” he said after finishing 13th at the Abu Dhabi GP. “All the same, we have made some progress over the past few races, and hopefully we can continue doing so over the winter to come back stronger next year. “I want to thank Seb for everything he has given to the team. He is an amazing person and a fantastic driver. He pushed me to perform better and to improve.” “It’s been great to have him on the other side of the garage for the past two years and I wish him all the best for the future. “I am also happy that Carlos [Sainz] is joining the team next year. He is very quick, solid and consistent as a driver. It’s going to be a big challenge for me and I’m already looking forward to it.”

Rumors about a switch Red Bull Racing for Sergio Perez are getting stronger. Not only Movistar but also Sky Sports reported on Sunday that negotiations between the Mexican and the Milton Keynes-based racing team have started. “We are expecting an announcement maybe in the next coming week that Sergio Perez has joined the team,” Kravitz said in Ted’s Notebook after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Sky Sports presenter’s expectation is that Alexander Albon will stay with the Austrian racing team as a test and reserve driver. Dietrich Mateschitz is said to have argued internally for a contract extension from Albon. Red Bull is half-owned by a British-Thai family and since the roots of the 24-year-old driver are from Thailand, the owner of Red Bull would’ve liked Albon to get an extra chance. “It does look like Christian Horner and Helmut Marko have managed to convince Dietrich Mateschitz, who wanted to keep the faith with Alex Albon, to sign Perez. It seems like there is nothing to lose [signing Perez]. They may as well see how it goes [with him] and if he can’t do the job that they want him to do then they’ve Alex in reserve. That seems to be the elegant solution Red Bull has gone with,” Kravitz concludes.

Formula 1 paddock rumours seem to have confirmed our source in Formula 1 – Perez will be joining Red Bull sooner rather than later. The Mexican has impressed the Red Bull Racing bosses, most notably Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, and it is they who has persuaded Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz to not stay with Alex Albon, his preferred option. Rather, both Horner and Marko wish to sideline Albon in favour of first time race winner (during the Sakhir GP) Sergio Perez. Mateschitz knows that the part-owned Red Bull brand whose origins are based out in the far east, has a strong desire to succeed with Albon who runs under a Thai flag, so rumour has it there could be a dual role, and a sharing of the Red Bull seat for 2021. It is TJ13’s understanding that this is incorrect, and Perez will get the full race seat beside Verstappen. Albon will therefore be retained as reserve driver. This announcement is expected today or tomorrow.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen dominated the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, winning ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton as Formula 1’s 2020 season ended with a straightforward race. At the start, the top three appeared to launch equally well, with Verstappen moving to the middle of the track from pole to ward off any threat of attack from the Mercedes cars behind, scampering clear as Bottas had a slight slide exiting the first corner. The race quickly settled down, with the top three running as they lined up on the grid, as Verstappen quickly pulled a healthy gap to the following Black Arrows. By the start of lap four of 55, Verstappen’s lead was 2.2s, as he and Bottas were able to run in the mid 1m42s, while Hamilton dropped back – lapping in the 1m43s. Verstappen edged his lead up to three seconds over the next five laps, but had to surrender that when the race was neutralised – first with a virtual safety car, then a full safety car – after Sergio Perez retired with what appeared to be a transmission problem exiting Turn 19 on lap nine. The Racing Point driver, who had been working his way up from P19 on the grid following his pre-race penalty for taking a fresh power unit, pulled over to the side of the track just past the left-hander under the W Hotel in the third sector after losing drive. The top three immediately pitted – then under the VSC – to switch their mediums for hards, with the situation upgraded to a full safety car as the Racing Point could not be quickly moved out of harms way. That meant Verstappen’s lead was erased, but he quickly set about re-establishing it after acing the restart at the beginning of lap 14 – pulling away by 1.4s in the ensuing tour. The leaders were then able to run in the 1m41s as they ran clear of Alex Albon, who had passed McLaren’s Lando Norris shortly before Perez retired, with Hamilton again falling a chunk behind Bottas in third. Verstappen kept increasing his advantage, despite concerns about making his hard tyres last to the finish, during the next phase of the race, where he was regularly able to lap in the low 1m41s while the Mercedes drivers swung between the mid-high 1m41s. By lap 35, Verstappen’s advantage had reached eight seconds, as he committed to controlling the careful way he treated his front and rear tyres to maintain the balance he was enjoying. Although the gap between the top two then ebbed and flowed fractionally between Verstappen and Bottas as they negotiated backmarkers, with the leader concerned about vibrations he was feeling as his tyres wore further with just over 10 laps to go, but the Red Bull driver never looked under major threat. He came home to win by 15.9s after staying in the 1m41s in the final stages as the Mercedes regularly fell back to the 1m42s, with Hamilton finishing 2.4s behind Bottas on his return following his COVID-19-enforced absence after the Bahrain GP. The world champion had closed in on his teammate during the closing phase of the race, but never looking like he’d be able to get close enough to make a pass and indeed fell back away in the final laps. Albon finished 1.5s behind Hamilton, closing in suddenly as the laps ticked down to the flag, with Norris leading home his teammate Carlos Sainz in fifth and sixth. The result secures P3 in the constructors’ championship for McLaren, although Sainz faces a post-race investigation for possibly going too slowly in the pitlane during the VSC when running in front of Lance Stroll, before he arrived for the second part of McLaren’s double-stack stop. Daniel Ricciardo rose from 11th on the grid to finish seventh, not stopping under the VSC to leap up the order and then running long on the hards he had started the race on. In his final race for Renault, Ricciardo was able to produce strong pace as his long opening stint wore on, but after he’d pitted to take the mediums with 16 laps left the tyre advantage he had was not significant enough for him to close in on the driver he will replace at McLaren 2021. Ricciardo set the fastest lap on the race on the last lap – a 1m40.926s. Pierre Gasly took eighth, putting a firm pass at Turn 11 on Stroll’s remaining Racing Point just past half-distance, with Esteban Ocon getting ahead late on to steal ninth. Stroll therefore rounded out the top 10 ahead of Daniil Kvyat.Charles Leclerc finished 13th ahead of Sebastian Vettel in the four-time world champion’s final race for Ferrari, with the duo also not stopping under the VSC to climb up the order before they fell back struggling for grip compared to those that had come in earlier.

A Red Bull 2021 Formula 1 contract for Sergio Perez is very likely to come true according to a source within the Abu Dhabi paddock, which would see the Mexican partner Dutch driver Max Verstappen. Helmut Marko and Christian Horner have been negotiating with the Mexican in a more active way since the last F1 Grand Prix in Sakhir. “We are waiting for this last race to take place,” explains the Red Bull motorsport consultant at Yas Marina. “Alex Albon’s last race in Bahrain wasn’t great, but we don’t want to jump to conclusions right away. The decision will be made in a few days”. Marko admits that Perez, who recently won in Bahrain but lost his Racing Point seat to Sebastian Vettel, is on the “radar” for Red Bull as Max Verstappen’s new team-mate. “Perez has been on our radar for the whole second half of the season actually,” he admits. “I’m flying to England on Monday, and there will be a decision by Christmas at the latest”.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has confirmed their engines are using less power at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix due to reliability concerns. In the 16 races prior to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, every pole position was powered by a Mercedes engine. Lewis Hamilton added another 11 poles to his mighty record, Valtteri Bottas picked up four P1 starting positions and even Racing Point’s Lance Stroll got in on the act with a shock pole in wet conditions at the Turkish Grand Prix. But that particular streak came to an end in qualifying at the Yas Marina circuit as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen came out on top in a thrilling Q3 session, pipping Bottas to pole by just 0.025s with Hamilton only 0.086s away from P1 himself. After the session, Wolff confirmed that Mercedes have had to turn the wick down on their engines slightly due to concerns over the MGU-K element of the engine. The Mercedes-powered Racing Point of Sergio Perez went up in flames at the Bahrain Grand Prix, which saw a podium position slip from his grasp, and fellow customer team Williams have also experienced MGU-K related problems during Friday practice in Abu Dhabi when smoke started to appear from George Russell’s car. As a result, Mercedes have been forced to act in order to try and get through the final race of the 2020 season. “We took a little bit of power, a little bit of performance out of all the Mercedes engines,” Wolff told Motorsport-Total.com. “We have a gremlin in there. The damage to the MGU-K occurred below the mileage it is normally supposed to last. And we do not yet understand exactly why.”

Bernie Ecclestone says the problem with the struggling Ferrari team at the moment “is the Italians”. The Maranello team has notably struggled in 2020, and now at the last race of the season boss Mattia Binotto has returned to Italy feeling unwell at the very same time that president Louis Camilleri has suddenly resigned. “No offense, but I have always believe that the problem is the Italians,” former F1 chief executive Ecclestone told La Stampa newspaper. “They all want to lead and they all have their own ideas. I’m not saying they can’t be there, but they must also draw in the Germans, the French, the English – people who think differently,” the 90-year-old added. Ecclestone said it reminds him of 1993, when he had to convince Ferrari to take on Frenchman Jean Todt – who went on to lead the team through the ultra-successful Michael Schumacher era. “What happened with Jean Todt was emblematic,” he said. “The Italians did not want him. I convinced them to take him, and then things went the right way. “Binotto on the other hand in a very uncomfortable position,” Ecclestone explained. “I don’t know if he ever really wanted to be team principal. He is an engineer and has always dealt with technical matters. “What is needed in Maranello is a good manager who puts the right people in the right places. Three years ago I thought that Flavio (Briatore) would be the ideal man – he has good ideas, he knows how to choose people and he is not a politician. “But today, he is too busy with his companies,” Ecclestone said.