The 2019 Formula 1 season is inevitably coming to an end. The season finale takes place at breath-taking Yas Marina Circuit. Putting the season-ending F1 weekend aside, this was an utterly unique weekend for Sebastian, whose third child was born on Thursday. Warmest congratulations for Sebastian for a new-born baby boy! In addition to this wonderful family news, Sebastian stood out of the crowd in another way. In the first free practice session he made a mistake, ending up into the wall. Sebastian was very angry at himself, and he enumerated a handful of Finnish swearing words! I can't help wondering, how flawlessly Sebastian pronounces Finnish! I burst into laughs when I heard Sebastian's outburst!
Mercedes have absolutely owned the Yas Marina Circuit since the beginning of the turbo hybrid era. So the odds were definitely on the Silver Arrows' side, in terms of pole position. Hamilton went fastest on his first run, but Red Bull's Verstappen was only a tenth down. Ferrari were also in the mix, as Charles was third fastest. Sebastian made a rookie-like mistake and spun on the start straight, which ruined his first attempt. Luckily the German managed to put together a competitive lap on his second flyer, which made him jump fifth in the charts. However, there was half a second separating the red-suited teammates in favor of Charles. Ferrari showed great performance on the first and second sector, but the third sector with slow corners was very challenging for the Red Team. Meanwhile, Bottas had jumped third. Towards the end of the first session, both Mercedes aces managed to improve their lap times, with the newly crowned world champion having the upper hand. In the midfield it was extremely tight. Kimi was under the threat of being knocked out already in Q1. The Iceman made it 14th on his final run, but as his teammate and a couple of others managed to improve, the Finn was out of Q2 in the end! It was an extremely poor qualifying for Alfa Romeo Racing, as Giovinazzi qualified 17th and Kimi 18th! What a disappointing way to end the season!
Q2 came down to the tyre strategy again. It was a bit surprising to see, that both Ferraris came out on the soft compound. Hamilton, alongside the Red Bull duo and Haas' Magnussen, opted for the yellow-walled medium compound. Once again, Hamilton made it on the top of the time sheets in spite of the tyre choice. Charles was second, only 63 thousandths of a second off the Briton's benchmark, and Sebastian was third. Bottas came out on a fresh set of mediums as well, jumping second. In spite of the Red Team's plan to use the soft compound in Q2, Charles switched to the medium rubber at the end of the session. And what a lap he put together, robbing Hamilton of the top spot. The pecking order of the midfield was quite straight forward today; in addition to the three big teams, both McLaren and both Renault drivers made it among the top ten.
In spite of having clinched the world championship already, Hamilton was hungry to take his fifth pole at Yas Marina. He grabbed provisional pole firmly in his hands, as Verstappen in second was three tenths off the pace already. Bottas was third after his first run, followed by the Ferrari duo of Charles and Sebastian. Albon was sixth, having proved unable to match his teammate's pace. The decisive session saw drama in terms of the Ferrari drivers. They were sent out so late, with all the drivers slowing down massively in the last corner, so Charles missed out on his last flyer! A mistake, that the Red Team couldn't have afforded! Hamilton managed to improve his lap time, as did his teammate. However, a Mercedes front row was only symbolic, as Bottas had been given multiple grid penalties due to using new power unit elements. Due to the Finn's penalty, Verstappen is promoted on the front row. The second row is locked down by the Ferrari duo, with Albon fifth and McLaren's Norris 6th. Renault's Ricciardo, McLaren's Sainz, Renault's Hulkenberg and Racing Point's Perez round out the top ten.
I don't know, whether the volatile situation between the Ferrari teammates due to the crash in Brazil has been successfully cleared out. However, tomorrow's starting grid contains all ingredients for another explosion. Charles in P3 will start to the race on the medium compound, whilst teammate Sebastian will start on the soft rubber, which possibly offers an advantage at the start… I really hope, that the Red Team will end the season on a high! And by the way, I would love to hear Sebastian celebrate his win on the team radio in Finnish! Maybe with some nicer words than those used on Friday! :D Go Sebastian!
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