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Lewis Hamilton drew the curtain of the World Cup with a crushing victory in Abu Dhabi, where only the Ferrari, the Red Bull and Valtteri Bottas, his partner in Mercedes, finished on their same lap and avoided the dishonor of dubbing. This way of closing the course, with his eleventh victory in 21 races, predicts nothing good for 2020, where Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, accompanying on the Yas Marina podium, will need a better material to put him in some trouble.

"This car is a work of art," he managed to proclaim the hexacampeón of the world at the finish line, with the smell of burnt rubber after the traditional pirouettes of each end of the year. Verstappen and Leclerc, the aspirants to the throne, could never compete with King Lewis . Not in Abu Dhabi, nor throughout the season. "It was a master class. It seems you didn't even break a sweat," Peter Bonnington commented on the radio. "I assure you, I'm sweating," the Briton smiled.

The insulting superiority allowed Hamilton not only to dominate at will, but also to launch the ordago for the Grand Slam. After crossing the equator of the race, with the hard tires, the fast lap had been pointed out (1: 41.070), but two turns of the checkered flag also gave the circuit record luxury (1: 39.283), a second faster than Sebastian Vettel in 2009.

Without DRS for 18 laps

Mercedes could afford those excesses even with Bottas, relegated to the last place on the grid. The Finn did not even seem to miss the DRS, banned during the first 18 laps, in his comeback to the head. Over there he came across Vettel, exasperated for lack of incentives, and over there he launched into the Alexander Albon approach. The fourth place was its ceiling, given the good pace of Leclerc and Verstappen.

Charles and Max, after dazzling us in Austria, Silverstone or Germany, returned to give away one of Sunday's images. The Dutchman's pass on lap 32, with a lot of aggressiveness on the inside, but without bad arts, is another chapter of this exciting rivalry, with so much future ahead.

In search of the podiums of 2020 we must also include Carlos Sainz, who rounded his sixth World Cup position after an agonizing fight with Nico Hulkenberg, who he passed in the last lap. Last Sunday was the best summary to this year almost perfect for Spanish. As patient as he was aggressive, Carlos combined his best virtues in a career where he initially touched with Lando Norris, his garage partner.

Sainz, with the MCL-34, during the Abu Dhabi GP.

The double incident against Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll in the first corner had also completely undermined Pierre Gasly, forced to immediately change the front wing of his Toro Rosso. With the French relegated to the last position, the only mission for Sainz thereafter was to control Albon from afar, with 11 points less in the table. And incidentally add one with which to break with Gasly the tie at 95.

Nothing was too simple in Yas Marina, it had only taken nine laps to go through the pits to change their wheels, damaged by a slow braking. Four turns later Sainz entered, already engaged with Daniel Ricciardo, who endorsed an 'undercut' before entering the melee. There we had the Renault, others of the great defeated of 2019.

Five seconds against Hulkenberg

In spite of everything, Hulkenberg was not going to lack enthusiasm on his farewell Sunday. With the newly changed tires, he surpassed Carlos with apparent ease. In that yellow-orange train, Renault and McLaren beat the copper all Sunday, with Norris ahead and Sainz more relegated than convenient.

The second stop of Madrid, on lap 41, forced a comeback print. Neither Kevin Magnussen (Haas), passed at the end of the straight, nor Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) would be too inconvenient. Another singing was Hulkenberg, with five seconds of margin and determined to win his farewell point. The German defended himself as a belly cat up to the last meters. The television production prevented us from enjoying it, but according to Sainz himself, the maneuver resembled the one he did in Interlagos before Sergio Pérez.

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  • sports
  • Formula 1
  • Sergio Perez
  • Max Verstappen
  • Nico Hulkenberg
  • Bull Rosso
  • Valtteri Bottas
  • Daniel Ricciardo
  • Lewis Hamilton
  • Kevin Magnussen
  • Kimi raikkonen

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