2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

The 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 1 December 2019 at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[1] The race was the twenty first and final round of the 2019 Formula One World Championship and marked the eleventh running of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the eleventh time that the race was run as a World Championship event since the inaugural season in 1950.[2][3] This was also the first time that a race was held in December since the 1963 South African Grand Prix.[4] It was the final race for Toro Rosso, as the team was rebranded to AlphaTauri for the 2020 season.

2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Race 21 of 21 in the 2019 Formula One World Championship
← Previous race
Race details[1]
Date 1 December 2019 (2019-12-01)
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 mi)
Distance 55 laps, 305.355 km (189.738 mi)
Weather Clear
Pole position
Driver
Mercedes
Time 1:34.779
Fastest lap
Driver Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
Time 1:39.283 on lap 53 (lap record)
Podium
First
Mercedes
Second
Red Bull Racing-Honda
Third
Ferrari

Background

Championship standings before the race

Heading into the race weekend the top two places in the World Drivers' Championship had already been determined with Lewis Hamilton as champion ahead of team mate Valtteri Bottas. However third place was yet to be decided between Max Verstappen, 260 points and Charles Leclerc, 249 points, with Sebastian Vettel, 230 points, still able to overtake Leclerc for fourth place in the standings but too far behind Verstappen to take third. The top four places in the World Constructors Championship were decided with Mercedes in first ahead of Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren. Fifth place was still undecided with Renault eight points ahead of Toro Rosso.[5][6]

Entries
Further information: 2019 Formula One World Championship § Entries

The drivers and teams entered were the same as those for the previous race with no additional stand-in drivers for the race or practice.[7]

Practice

The first session saw the red flag come out twice. The first time when Daniel Ricciardo suffered an engine failure and a second time after Sebastian Vettel crashed his car at turn 19 in the closing minutes of the session, after which the session was not restarted. The session ended with Valtteri Bottas fastest followed by Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.[8] The second practice session saw one red flag after Bottas and Romain Grosjean collided at turn 11, Bottas would later receive a reprimand for the incident.[9] Bottas finished the session fastest ahead of Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.[10] The third practice session ran uninterrupted and ended with Verstappen fastest followed by Hamilton and Bottas.[11]

Qualifying

Qualifying classification
Pos. No. Driver Constructor Qualifying times Final
grid
Q1 Q2 Q3
1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:35.851 1:35.634 1:34.779 1
2 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:36.200 1:35.674 1:34.973 201
3 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda 1:36.390 1:36.275 1:35.139 2
4 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:36.478 1:35.543 1:35.219 3
5 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:36.963 1:35.786 1:35.339 4
6 23 Alexander Albon Red Bull Racing-Honda 1:36.102 1:36.718 1:35.682 5
7 4 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 1:37.545 1:36.764 1:36.436 6
8 3 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:37.106 1:36.785 1:36.456 7
9 55 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 1:37.358 1:36.308 1:36.459 8
10 27 Nico Hülkenberg Renault 1:37.506 1:36.859 1:36.710 9
11 11 Sergio Pérez Racing Point-BWT Mercedes 1:36.961 1:37.055 N/A 10
12 10 Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 1:37.198 1:37.089 N/A 11
13 18 Lance Stroll Racing Point-BWT Mercedes 1:37.528 1:37.103 N/A 12
14 26 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 1:37.683 1:37.141 N/A 13
15 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1:37.710 1:37.254 N/A 14
16 8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1:38.051 N/A N/A 15
17 99 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 1:38.114 N/A N/A 16
18 7 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 1:38.383 N/A N/A 17
19 63 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 1:38.717 N/A N/A 18
20 88 Robert Kubica Williams-Mercedes 1:39.236 N/A N/A 19
107% time: 1:42.561
Source:[12][13]
Notes
  • ^1 – Valtteri Bottas was required to start from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota for power unit components.[14][15]

Race

Prior to the race, it was announced that the fuel mass in Charles Leclerc's car as declared by Ferrari was "significantly different" to the amount measured by the FIA. It was decided that this would be investigated by the stewards after the race.[16]

The front-runners all maintained their positions into the first corner, with Lewis Hamilton leading from pole position. Further back down the grid, Lance Stroll collided with the rear of Pierre Gasly, causing Gasly to make contact with Sergio Pérez in front of him and resulting in Gasly losing his front wing. Gasly was forced to pit for a replacement which caused him to drop to the back of the grid, over a minute behind 19th place. The incident was not investigated by the stewards. Max Verstappen lost 2nd place to Leclerc on the straight between turns 7 and 8, meanwhile Valtteri Bottas had made up five places on the first lap after starting in last place.

On lap 4 it was announced that DRS was disabled for all cars due to a technical issue. It was later revealed that the system was deliberately disabled by the race director after a server crash caused communications with the cars to be disrupted, meaning that it could not be ensured that cars only used DRS in the permitted zones of the track.[17] Shortly after, Stroll complained of difficulties caused by damage from his first lap collision with Gasly. Stroll would later go on to retire from a brake problem after running near the back for most of the race. Lando Norris was the first driver to make a scheduled pit stop on lap 8. Ferrari brought both drivers in for pit stops on lap 12, with Sebastian Vettel suffering with a slow stop causing him to be stationary for nearly 7 seconds.

DRS was eventually enabled on lap 18. Bottas passed Nico Hülkenberg on the same lap to clear the midfield after starting from the back. Robert Kubica and Antonio Giovinazzi both suffered floor damage after colliding during an overtake attempt by Giovinazzi. Verstappen pitted from 2nd on lap 25, followed by Hamilton a lap later who maintained the lead upon exiting the pits. Bottas was the last of the front-runners to pit on lap 29. No positions were gained or lost amongst the top six after the round of pit stops. On lap 32, Verstappen retook 2nd place from Leclerc going into turn 8, having lost the position on the first lap. The Ferrari drivers made a second round of pit stops on lap 38, with Leclerc maintaining 3rd and Vettel dropping from 4th to 6th. Bottas passed Alexander Albon for 4th place soon afterwards.

On lap 41, Carlos Sainz Jr. made a second pit stop from 9th place after he was concerned that his ageing tyres would cause him to be overtaken towards the end of the race, losing a points-scoring position and handing 6th place in the World Drivers' Championship to Gasly. Sainz exited the pits in 14th place. The final two laps saw multiple overtakes; Vettel passed Albon for 5th place, Lando Norris lost 7th place to Pérez, and Sainz successfully passed Hülkenberg to take 10th place and claim a point, securing 6th place in the championship. Hamilton crossed the line to win the race, taking his 11th victory of the season and the 84th of his career. Having also led every lap, taken pole position and recorded the fastest lap of the race, this marked Hamilton's sixth "grand slam", his last of which came at the 2017 British Grand Prix.[18]

Post-race, Ferrari were handed a €50,000 fine for the pre-race fuel infringement, although Leclerc was allowed to keep his 3rd-place finish.[19] In an interview, Gasly said he was "disgusted" by the collision with Stroll at the start of the race, as his car "clearly had the potential to keep sixth place [in the drivers' championship]".[20] Gasly ended the season in 7th place with 95 points, one short of Sainz's 96.

Race classification
Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 55 1:34:05.715 1 261
2 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda 55 +16.772 2 18
3 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 55 +43.435 3 15
4 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 55 +44.379 20 12
5 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 55 +1:04.357 4 10
6 23 Alexander Albon Red Bull Racing-Honda 55 +1:09.205 5 8
7 11 Sergio Pérez Racing Point-BWT Mercedes 54 +1 lap 10 6
8 4 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 54 +1 lap 6 4
9 26 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 54 +1 lap 13 2
10 55 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 54 +1 lap 8 1
11 3 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 54 +1 lap 7
12 27 Nico Hülkenberg Renault 54 +1 lap 9
13 7 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 54 +1 lap 17
14 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 54 +1 lap 14
15 8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 54 +1 lap 15
16 99 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 54 +1 lap 16
17 63 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 54 +1 lap 18
18 10 Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 53 +2 laps 11
19 88 Robert Kubica Williams-Mercedes 53 +2 laps 19
Ret 18 Lance Stroll Racing Point-BWT Mercedes 45 Brakes 12
Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1:39.283 (lap 53)
Source:[13][21][22]
Notes
  • ^1 – Includes one point for fastest lap.

Championship standings after the race
Note
  • Only the top five positions for each set of standings are shown
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References
  1. "Abu Dhabi – 2019 – Schedule". Formula1.com. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  2. "F1 Schedule 2019". formula1.com. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  3. "Grands Prix – Abu Dhabi". statsf1.com. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  4. Galloway, James (6 December 2018). "F1 2019 schedule: 21-race calendar and December finish". skysports.com. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  5. "Brazil 2019 – Championship". statsf1.com. 17 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  6. "2019 Formula One Sporting Regulations". fia.com. 12 March 2019. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  7. "2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Entry List". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  8. "FP1: Bottas heads Verstappen in opening Abu Dhabi session as Vettel crashes". formula1.com. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  9. "MUST-SEE: Bottas reprimanded for collision with Grosjean in FP2 in Abu Dhabi". formula1.com. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  10. "2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix FP2 report and highlights: Bottas fastest again, despite tangle with Grosjean". formula1.com. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  11. "2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix FP3 report and highlights: Verstappen narrowly fastest over Hamilton and Bottas". formula1.com. 30 November 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  12. "Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019 – Qualifying". formula1.com. 30 November 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  13. "Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019 – Starting Grid". formula1.com. 30 November 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  14. "Bottas to start Abu Dhabi season finale from back of the grid". Formula1.com. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  15. "Mercedes change Bottas' engine again in Abu Dhabi". Formula1.com. 30 November 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  16. "Ferrari's Leclerc facing post-race investigation in Abu Dhabi". formula1.com. 1 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  17. "Server crash caused DRS black-out during Abu Dhabi GP". racefans.net. 1 December 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  18. "Statistiques Pilotes - Divers - Grand chelem - HAMILTON Lewis". statsf1.com (in French). Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  19. "Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019: Ferrari handed big fine for Leclerc fuel discrepancy". formula1.com. 1 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  20. "Gasly "disgusted" by Stroll F1 clash that ruined his Abu Dhabi GP". autosport.com. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  21. "Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019 – Race Result". formula1.com. 1 December 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  22. "Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019 – Fastest Laps". formula1.com. 1 December 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  23. "Abu Dhabi 2019 – Championship". statsf1.com. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
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