HOW MAX TURNED THE TABLES ON MERCEDES
To hear that Red Bull has defeated the mighty Mercedes squad suggests a Formula 1 race of great excitement has taken place. It calls to mind Max Verstappen’s brilliant win in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix back in the summer, where the Dutchman executed an excellent mix of strategy and wheel-to-wheel superiority to take down two overall faster cars, winning with style and panache. But the 2020 Abu Dhabi GP was an altogether different affair.
The race was turgid and lifeless, although this does not detract from Verstappen’s and Red Bull’s brilliance. They simply dominated the event in a way that was all very Mercedes-esque, winning from pole and leading every lap.
The previous five F1 races at the Yas Marina track had been won from pole, and qualifying was again a key factor in Verstappen’s victory. The circuit layout has never created mass overtaking – something Fernando Alonso, in the Abu Dhabi track ‘biosphere’ to perform a series of demonstration runs with his 2005 title-winning Renault R25 last weekend, would no doubt remember as he got reacquainted with the squad that cost him the 2010 world title at this venue, where he was unable to pass Vitaly Petrov. So, by topping qualifying, Red Bull had stolen an early march.
But there was still plenty of reason to expect a Mercedes fightback given the W11’s pace pedigree and the lengthy, 21-turn track having the kind of varied layout where the team traditionally excels. Plus, Alex Albon had qualified the second RB16 in fifth, which increased Mercedes’ chances of taking down Verstappen
