The 2019 Formula 1 season finale took place at breath-taking Yas Marina Circuit, where the sun set and the millions of colorful lights lit up. For the entire turbo hybrid era Yas island has been Mercedes' playground, so the odds were on the Silver Arrows' side in terms of pole position. Ferrari were extremely strong in the first two sectors, but the third sector with the slow corners turned out extremely challenging for the Red Team. Surprisingly, the red-suited drivers had a differing tyre strategy in Q2. Both made their first attempts on the soft tyre, but at the end of the session Charles switched to the medium rubber. That compound was used by both Mercedes aces as well. Charles' pace on the yellow-walled medium rubber was staggering, and he robbed Hamilton of the top spot at the end of the second session.
However, the last decisive session saw extremely hungry Hamilton, who wasn't going for any less than his fifth pole at magical Yas Marina. The Briton took provisional pole under his belt, leaving Red Bull's Verstappen second by three tenths. Bottas was third, followed by the red duo of Charles and Sebastian. There was unexpected drama at the end of Q3. The Ferrari drivers were sent out extremely late, and with everyone slowing down massively in the last corners, Charles missed out on his last flyer! A mistake, which the Red Team couldn't have afforded! Both Mercedes drivers managed to improve their lap times in the end. However, a Mercedes front row was only symbolic, as Bottas had been given multiple grid penalties due to using new power unit elements. Therefore Red Bull's Verstappen was promoted on the front row alongside Hamilton. The second row was locked down by Ferrari, Charles having the upper hand on his teammate. Albon in the second Red Bull was fifth, accompanied by McLaren's Sainz.
As Sebastian was the only driver in the top four to start on the soft tyre, I expected him to take a rocket start. On the contrary, pole-setter Hamilton took an outstanding start, holding on to his lead. The most impressive red car belonged to Charles, who overtook Verstappen at the start, claiming P2. Bottas started to the race from the very back of the grid, making his way up wisely on the opening laps. Lap 9 saw the Finn among the top ten already.
Surprisingly, both Ferrari drivers pitted on lap 13 already, in spite of having started to the race on a different tyre. The team opted for a double pit stop, with both drivers switching to the white-walled hard Pirellis. Unfortunately Sebastian's pit stop was delayed, as the team had difficulties with attaching his rear-left tyre. This delay proved costly for the German, as he re-joined the track behind Renault's Hulkenberg and Mercedes' Bottas. Sebastian pushed hard to squeeze himself past the Finn, but Bottas was stubborn to keep Sebastian behind.
Towards the halfway point of the race, both Verstappen and race leader Hamilton made their pit stops. Their tyre strategy was identical to Ferrari, as the hard compound was also their choice for the second stint. Hamilton's lead was so secured, that the newly crowned world champion re-joined the track in the lead. Bottas was the last top driver to pit on lap 30, also for a fresh set of hard tyres.
Meanwhile, Verstappen in P3 was putting immense pressure on Charles, whose pace was quite mediocre. Usually it's bad news, if Verstappen is behind you, because he almost always finds a way to overtake. So was the case here; Verstappen attacked like a rattle snake and robbed Charles of the second place. Charles tried everything to snatch his position back at the next straight, but Max wasn't to be surprised.
The Red Team proved unable to make a one-stopper work for neither one of the drivers. Lap 39 saw another double pit stop by the Scuderia. The teammates opted for a different tyre choice, as Charles opted for the soft compound, whilst Sebastian switched to a fresh set of medium Pirellis. Charles re-joined just barely ahead of Albon and Bottas, but Sebastian dropped down to P6. It was disappointing to see, how tame the Ferrari duo's pace was. On the other hand, Bottas in his W10 was absolutely flying, and he was pushing hard to make a successful move on Red Bull's Albon. Bottas delivered, when it mattered, and snatched P4 from the Thai driver. After that the Finn's eyes were all on Charles in his SF90.
By the course of the race, Hamilton had built up a dominant lead. Verstappen in second was 15 seconds behind the storming Briton. The closest battles were between Bottas and Charles for P3 and between Sebastian and Albon for P5. As Ferrari's performance had proved so mediocre, it made my day to see Sebastian overtake Albon on the second last lap. Bottas had made it within striking distance from Charles in the end, but the laps simply ran out. Hamilton crossed the finish line as the race winner, leaving absolutely no questions about his supremacy this season. It is a revealing statistic detail, that Hamilton is the only driver to score points in every race this season! Verstappen finished the runner-up, and Charles completed the podium. Bottas made an impressive job by making his way from P20 to P4. Sebastian ended his season in P5, followed by Albon.
Due to Ferrari's missing pace in the last races, Verstappen finished third in the drivers' championship standings, leaving Charles fourth and Sebastian fifth. Off track Sebastian ended his season on a high, as his third child, a baby boy, was born on Thursday November 28th. Warmest congratulations to the Vettel family for a new family member! Now it's time to charge the batteries and rest before the dawn of the new season.
With passion for racing red,
Iina Huhmarniemi
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