The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2018 was the 21st round of the 2018 F1 season, and took place at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on November 25th.
Lewis Hamilton won the race from the pole, followed by Sebastian Vettel, and Max Verstappen completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 18 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 15-18: 4 stops
The fastest pit stop was Max Verstappen's, stopping the clock at 21.057 seconds during his pit stop on lap 17, while the slowest one was was Brendon Hartley's, who stopped the clock at 41.012 seconds, 19.955 seconds slower than Verstappen, during his pit stop on lap 1.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
We saw a variety of options in terms of pit stop strategies during this race, however most drivers chose a 1 stop. Only Valtteri Bottas decided to try something different with a 2 stops strategy.
The race winner, Lewis Hamilton, was on a 1 stop strategy.
1 stop
-
4Brendon Hartley
-
-Lewis Hamilton
-
2Romain Grosjean
-
1Charles Leclerc
-
1Sebastian Vettel
-
3Max Verstappen
-
8Esteban Ocon
-
6Sergio Pérez
-
4Fernando Alonso
-
1Pierre Gasly
-
1Daniel Ricciardo
-
4Stoffel Vandoorne
-
4Sergey Sirotkin
-
5Carlos Sainz
-
7Lance Stroll
-
3Kevin Magnussen
2 stops
-
3Valtteri Bottas
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy gained 2.93 positions on average, while those on a 2 stops strategy lost an average of 3 positions.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 1 stop strategy was the best option.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Yas Marina Circuit, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There were some incidents during the race, with 5 drivers who didn't manage to cross the finish line.
These included, Pierre Gasly, and Esteban Ocon, both suffered an engine malfunction, Marcus Ericsson, and Kimi Räikkönen, both suffered a power loss, and Nico Hülkenberg, who retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars on lap 0.
Engine
-
Pierre GaslyLap 46
-
Esteban OconLap 44
Power loss
-
Marcus EricssonLap 24
-
Kimi RäikkönenLap 6
Collision
-
Nico HülkenbergLap 0
Qualifying
Lewis Hamilton managed to get the pole position by 0.162 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:34.794. Valtteri Bottas was right behind him, helping Mercedes score a one-two and monopolize the first line of the grid.
The second line fo the grid was dominated by Ferrari, with Sebastian Vettel in third position, and Kimi Räikkönen in fourth.
But the team pairings didn't stop there, as the two Red Bulls were right behind them, with Daniel Ricciardo in fith position, and Max Verstappen in sixth.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and 14 out of the 15 drivers that took place in Q2 were able to improve their times.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that all of the drivers that took place in Q3 managed to improve their times in this last session.