2020 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race results

Hamilton was returning to the sport after missing the previous weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain after testing positive for COVID-19.

From his first pole position of 2020, Verstappen aced the start to lead Bottas – who had a big slide on the exit of the first corner – and Hamilton. Verstappen quickly pulled clear of DRS range, while his teammate Alex Albon hounded Lando Norris’s McLaren for fourth.

Albon moved ahead on Lap 6, but was already 5s shy of third-placed Hamilton. Last weekend’s winner Sergio Perez was the race’s first (and only) retirement with an oil pressure problem within his Racing Point, which caused a virtual safety car under which all of the frontrunners pitted. A full safety car was then required as Perez’s car appeared to be jammed in gear.

Neither Ferrari nor Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) took the opportunity to pit, so Ricciardo – who started on the hard tyres – jumped to fifth but would have to pay with a pitstop with 15 laps to go. That dropped him behind both McLarens of Norris and Carlos Sainz, but just ahead of Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri.

Sainz will be investigated after the race for backing up the pack in the pitlane when McLaren double-stacked its cars under the VSC. Regardless of a likely 5s time penalty, that was enough for McLaren to take third place in the 2020 constructors' championship.

Verstappen stroked to a straightforward victory, well clear of the Mercedes, with Albon fourth ahead of Norris, Sainz, Ricciardo (who took fastest lap) and Gasly. Lance Stroll (Racing Point) lost ninth place to Esteban Ocon (Renault) on the final lap.

F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race results

Cla	Driver		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Pits	Points
1	Max Verstappen		Red Bull	Honda	55		1	25
2	Valtteri Bottas		Mercedes	Mercedes	55	15.976	1	18
3	Lewis Hamilton		Mercedes	Mercedes	55	18.415	1	15
4	Alex Albon		Red Bull	Honda	55	19.987	1	12
5	Lando Norris		McLaren	Renault	55	1'00.729	1	10
6	Carlos Sainz Jr.		McLaren	Renault	55	1'05.662	1	8
7	Daniel Ricciardo		Renault	Renault	55	1'13.748	1	7
8	Pierre Gasly		AlphaTauri	Honda	55	1'29.718	1	4
9	Esteban Ocon		Renault	Renault	55	1'41.069	1	2
10	Lance Stroll		Racing Point	Mercedes	55	1'42.738	1	1
11	Daniil Kvyat		AlphaTauri	Honda	54	1 lap	1
12	Kimi Raikkonen		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	54	1 lap	1
13	Charles Leclerc		Ferrari	Ferrari	54	1 lap	1
14	Sebastian Vettel		Ferrari	Ferrari	54	1 lap	1
15	George Russell		Williams	Mercedes	54	1 lap	1
16	Antonio Giovinazzi		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	54	1 lap	1
17	Nicholas Latifi		Williams	Mercedes	54	1 lap	2
18	Kevin Magnussen		Haas	Ferrari	54	1 lap	2
19	Pietro Fittipaldi		Haas	Ferrari	53	2 laps	3
	Sergio Perez		Racing Point	Mercedes	8
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F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix fastest laps

Cla	Driver		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Daniel Ricciardo		Renault	Renault	55	1'40.926			198.109
2	Max Verstappen		Red Bull	Honda	14	1'40.958	0.032	0.032	198.046
3	Valtteri Bottas		Mercedes	Mercedes	40	1'41.131	0.205	0.173	197.707
4	Alex Albon		Red Bull	Honda	42	1'41.227	0.301	0.096	197.520
5	Lewis Hamilton		Mercedes	Mercedes	37	1'41.420	0.494	0.193	197.144
6	Sebastian Vettel		Ferrari	Ferrari	37	1'41.475	0.549	0.055	197.037
7	Antonio Giovinazzi		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	29	1'41.675	0.749	0.200	196.650
8	Pietro Fittipaldi		Haas	Ferrari	50	1'41.707	0.781	0.032	196.588
9	Lance Stroll		Racing Point	Mercedes	41	1'41.866	0.940	0.159	196.281
10	Charles Leclerc		Ferrari	Ferrari	24	1'41.908	0.982	0.042	196.200
11	Carlos Sainz Jr.		McLaren	Renault	48	1'41.947	1.021	0.039	196.125
12	Lando Norris		McLaren	Renault	53	1'41.964	1.038	0.017	196.092
13	Kevin Magnussen		Haas	Ferrari	50	1'41.999	1.073	0.035	196.025
14	Kimi Raikkonen		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	53	1'42.148	1.222	0.149	195.739
15	Pierre Gasly		AlphaTauri	Honda	53	1'42.474	1.548	0.326	195.116
16	Nicholas Latifi		Williams	Mercedes	49	1'42.497	1.571	0.023	195.073
17	Daniil Kvyat		AlphaTauri	Honda	47	1'42.704	1.778	0.207	194.679
18	Esteban Ocon		Renault	Renault	47	1'42.894	1.968	0.190	194.320
19	Sergio Perez		Racing Point	Mercedes	6	1'43.263	2.337	0.369	193.625
20	George Russell		Williams	Mercedes	54	1'43.328	2.402	0.065	193.504
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F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tyre history

Cla	Driver		Chassis	Engine	1		2		3		4
1	Max Verstappen		Red Bull	Honda	M	13	H	45
2	Valtteri Bottas		Mercedes	Mercedes	M	13	H	45
3	Lewis Hamilton		Mercedes	Mercedes	M	13	H	45
4	Alex Albon		Red Bull	Honda	S	13	H	45
5	Lando Norris		McLaren	Renault	S	13	H	45
6	Carlos Sainz Jr.		McLaren	Renault	M	13	H	45
7	Daniel Ricciardo		Renault	Renault	H	39	M	16
8	Pierre Gasly		AlphaTauri	Honda	S	13	H	45
9	Esteban Ocon		Renault	Renault	M	10	H	45
10	Lance Stroll		Racing Point	Mercedes	S	13	H	45
11	Daniil Kvyat		AlphaTauri	Honda	S	13	H	44
12	Kimi Raikkonen		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	M	10	H	44
13	Charles Leclerc		Ferrari	Ferrari	M	25	H	32
14	Sebastian Vettel		Ferrari	Ferrari	H	35	M	19
15	George Russell		Williams	Mercedes	M	10	H	44
16	Antonio Giovinazzi		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	M	27	H	27
17	Nicholas Latifi		Williams	Mercedes	M	11	H	24	M	19
18	Kevin Magnussen		Haas	Ferrari	H	31	M	16	M	7
19	Pietro Fittipaldi		Haas	Ferrari	M	10	H	24	M	14	S	8
	Sergio Perez		Racing Point	Mercedes	H	8
View full results

F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as it happened