For the first time this season, I didn't watch the race live on TV. I went to the cemetary to decorate the little Christmas tree at my son's grave. I also drove to our future home to hang some Christmas lights with my husband. We watched the race together after getting home.
I expected Sebastian to take a strong start on the soft tyres, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Pole-setter Hamilton held strongly on his lead, and Leclerc proved the Ferrari driver, who caught his rivals by surprise. The lightning-quick Monegasque made his way past Red Bull's Verstappen, claiming P2. Bottas, who had started to the race from the back of the grid, made his way up wisely, avoiding any contact in the first corners. By lap 9, the Finnish Mercedes ace had already made his way among the top ten.
Surprisingly, both Ferrari drivers pitted on lap 13 already, in spite of starting to the race on a different tyre. The Red Team made a double pit stop, with Charles pitting first for white-walled hard Pirellis. Unfortunately Sebastian's pit stop didn't go to plan, as the team had difficulties with attaching the rear-left tyre. Sebastian lost valuable seconds, until he was back on track on a fresh set of hard Pirellis as well. His track position left a lot to hope for, as he had re-joined the track behind Bottas, who was stuck behind Renault's Hulkenberg. Sebastian made a couple of bold moves on the Finn, but Valtteri defended his fifth place with ice-cool attitude.
Towards the halfway point of the race, Bottas was the fastest man on track. He was rapidly decreasing the gap to Charles. Meanwhile, Verstappen was called into the pits from P2. The Dutchman switched to the hard compound, aiming for a one-stop strategy. Mercedes reacted to Red Bull's strategy and called race leader Hamilton in. However, the Briton's top spot was so secured, that he re-joined the track in the lead. Charles was second and Verstappen third. Bottas in P4 was the only top six driver, who hadn't pitted yet. The Finn finally pitted on lap 30, also opting for hard Pirellis. He re-joined the track in P6. Red Bull's Albon was 13 seconds ahead of the Finn.
Meanwhile, Verstappen had closed the gap to Charles, and the aggressive Red Bull ace was putting immense pressure on the Monegasque. And when Max puts pressure on somebody, it usually leads to an overtaking move! This case was no exception. Max attacked Charles, stubbornly robbing him of the second place. Charles tried to take his place back at the next straight, but there was no way Max was going to let his position be taken back. This is what I really admire about Max Verstappen; he doesn't wait for chances to come to him, but he takes chances into his own hands! He is a driver, who doesn't hesitate to make things happen on track.
Bottas was also on flames. He was two seconds faster per lap than any of his rivals! Valtteri clocked an outstanding new track record, constantly decreasing the gap to Albon. The Thai driver was only three seconds ahead of the Finn. Meanwhile, Ferrari were unable to make a one-stopper work. Lap 39 saw another double stop for the Ferrari teammates. Charles switched to the red-walled soft compound, whilst Sebastian opted for the medium rubber. Charles re-joined the track just barely ahead of Albon and Bottas. Sebastian, on the other hand, dropped down to P6. It was eye-catching, how tame the Ferrari duo's pace was. But Bottas continued his impressive performance. He made a classy overtaking move on Albon, claiming P4. Next target was set, and it was Charles in his SF90.
Hamilton had an absolutely dominant lead in the race. The gap to Verstappen had increased into almost 15 seconds. The most interesting battles were between Bottas and Charles for P3 and between Sebastian and Albon for P5. Because of Ferrari's toothless performance it made my day to see Sebastian overtake Albon for P5 on the second last lap! Bottas made it in the striking distance from Charles, but the laps simply ran out.
Hamilton left absolutely no questions about his masterclass performance. He was truly in a class of his own; the dominant victory at the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP definitely underlined his sixth world championship. A revealing statistic detail tells, that the Briton is the only driver to score points in every race of the 2019 season. Verstappen finished second, and Charles completed the podium. Initially there was a threat, that Charles was to be excluded from the results due to a fuel infringement, but no such penalty was given in the end. Bottas made a spectacular job by making his way from P20 to P4. Sebastian finished the race fifth, leaving Albon sixth. Racing Point's Perez was the "best of the rest", finishing 7th.
Due to Ferrari's missing pace, Verstappen finished third in the drivers' championship standings, leaving Charles fourth and Sebastian fifth. I'm confident, that Verstappen will be a serious championship contender next season. He stands so brightly out of the crowd thanks to his amazing driving skills and one-of-a-kind attitude!
So the 2019 season is all wrapped up now. I'm so grateful for this season, although it hasn't brought the success I was hoping for in terms of my favorite red-suited driver. But Formula 1 has brought so much joy and light into my life in this most difficult and hardest year of my life. In my darkest days Formula 1 has represented continuity in my life. Even in the pitch-black moments of despair, there has always been the next race to write about! Thank you Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen and Kimi Räikkönen for driving in this series! Thank you for being people, whom I can look up to and admire!
