Everything went according to plan in the last race of the 2023 Formula One season. At Yas Marina, due to excessive tire degradation observed from Friday to Saturday, teams and drivers decided to use only Mediums (C4) and Hards (C3). Sainz was the only one to use Softs (C5) towards the end of the race, but due to an issue, he couldn’t even complete a lap on that compound, returning to the pits and marking his retirement.
Race Strategy Recap – Abu Dhabi GP – 58 laps
There’s really very little to say today regarding race tactics. Pirelli had recommended a single pit stop, but considering the issues reported by drivers in managing the tires, we had suggested that a two-stop strategy would be the better approach to conclude today’s event. The strategy we expected to be predominant was the M-H-H (read here), and that’s how it turned out: Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell, Perez, Norris, Piastri, Alonso, Hamilton, Stroll (H-H-M), Ricciardo, Gasly, Albon, Hulkenberg, Sargeant, and Magnussen concluded the race relying on this strategy.
We expected (this writer, in particular) that Mercedes or McLaren would attempt the single stop, but it was AlphaTauri that surprised us, finishing in 8th place with Tsunoda using the M-H strategy. Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas also followed the same strategy but did not score points. As mentioned, Carlos Sainz attempted the Hard-Hard-Soft route, retiring towards the end, while Zhou finished 17th using the M-H-M strategy.
Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc Flawless
No mistakes today for the world champion Max Verstappen and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. Everything seems effortless for the Dutchman. At the start of the race, he couldn’t escape on Medium tires, but once the Hards were mounted, there was no competition for the other competitors. He finished the race in complete management, patiently waiting for the right moment to change the tires.
A slightly more complex race for Charles Leclerc. It’s challenging to find a moment when Charles appeared genuinely in trouble, but for him and the Ferrari pit wall, the situation was more challenging to manage than the season leader. The undercut was quite potent here at Yas Marina. Waiting one lap too many to change tires could have made a significant difference. Yet, despite the tight margins between Charles, Russell, and Perez, the Monegasque driver was never intimidated. He waited, observed, and always found the right moment to change tires, even if he almost always did it after his competitors. An impeccable race.
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The only one to deviate from the plan is Sergio Perez, who, during the second pit stop, decided to go to the pits much later than Charles and George. Perhaps in the minds of the Mexican and Red Bull, there was a desire to go all the way with a single stop in an attempt to secure a one-two finish. The feeling is that they realized too late that the path was impassable, and the pit stop made on the 42nd lap didn’t allow him to reach the podium. He finished in P4, also due to the evaluation error made during the overtake on Norris. Without that hiccup, the Mexican might have reached the podium. It’s challenging to say if he would have overtaken Charles Leclerc (the Monegasque let him pass in the end with the hope that he could take points away from Mercedes in the constructors’ battle, but it didn’t happen; the 5-second penalty pushed him from P2 to P4, and Russell finished third).
Carlos Sainz’s Race Ruined by Pace and Pit Wall
A difficult weekend for Carlos Sainz in Abu Dhabi. Since the incident during FP2, he seems not to have recovered. He never had pace, and the team’s choices did not help him either. It’s challenging to say if he could have reached the top ten. Certainly, with Ferrari’s chosen strategy, bringing him back on the penultimate lap to switch to Softs while occupying the ninth position, it would have been impossible even for Max Verstappen to finish in the points.
The pace was not there, and the driver and the Maranello team will analyze in due course the reasons for this mini-disaster that cost the Spaniard the opportunity to fight for the fourth position in the drivers’ championship and protect himself in the final comparison with teammate Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque finishes second and fifth in the drivers’ championship. The Spaniard retires and slips to P7, even behind Lando Norris.
