The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2020 was the 17th round of the 2020 F1 season, and took place at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on December 13th.
Max Verstappen won the race from the pole, followed by Valtteri Bottas, and Lewis Hamilton completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 23 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 10-11: 14 stops
The fastest pit stop was Max Verstappen's, stopping the clock at 21.289 seconds during his pit stop on lap 10, while the slowest one was was Pietro Fittipaldi's, who stopped the clock at 28.501 seconds, 7.212 seconds slower than Verstappen, during his pit stop on lap 34.
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 2 drivers tried a 2 stops, and 1 driver tried a 3 stops.
The race winner, Max Verstappen, was on a 1 stop strategy.
1 stop
-
-Lewis Hamilton
-
3Kimi Räikkönen
-
-Valtteri Bottas
-
4Daniil Kvyat
-
-Max Verstappen
-
-Carlos Sainz
-
1Esteban Ocon
-
2Lance Stroll
-
1Pierre Gasly
-
1Lando Norris
-
1George Russell
-
1Alexander Albon
-
1Charles Leclerc
-
2Antonio Giovinazzi
-
1Sebastian Vettel
-
4Daniel Ricciardo
2 stops
-
1Nicholas Latifi
-
2Kevin Magnussen
3 stops
-
2Pietro Fittipaldi
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy didn't gain or lose any positions on average, the ones on a 2 stops strategy gained 1.5 positions on average, while those on a 3 stops strategy lost an average of 2 positions.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 2 stops strategy was the best option, even if Max Verstappen managed to win the race making 1 stop.
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 race went on mostly with no incidents. Only 1 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, .
Transmission
-
Sergio PérezLap 8
Qualifying
Max Verstappen managed to get the pole position by 0.025 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:35.246. Right next to him, completing the first line of the grid, was Valtteri Bottas.
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 12 out of the 14 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 9 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.