What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
RaceFans has held polls on every F1 race since 2008 to find out which fans thought of each round of the season.
Join in the latest poll and give your verdict on the race: 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.
What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:
Rate the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix out of 10
- 10 (1%)
- 9 (0%)
- 8 (1%)
- 7 (2%)
- 6 (7%)
- 5 (12%)
- 4 (15%)
- 3 (22%)
- 2 (24%)
- 1 (16%)
Total Voters: 268
Loading ...1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’
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2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
- Mercedes also had MGU-K concerns over Russell’s car
- Ferrari hail “outstanding professional” Vettel after his final drive for team
- 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Star Performers
- Driver line-up confirmed for Yas Marina test, two teams won’t attend
- Paddock Diary: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Debates and polls
- Will Alonso win a world championship title with Aston Martin?
- How long should Red Bull give Ricciardo to prove he’s not lost his touch?
- Were stewards right to penalise Alonso over his driving before Russell’s crash?
- Are Williams right to bench Sargeant so Albon can race after crash?
- Is the FIA right to make ten seconds the new standard for penalties?
Jonathan (@jonny705)
13th December 2020, 14:51
5
BasCB (@bascb)
13th December 2020, 15:51
That seems quite high!
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
13th December 2020, 18:59
I went 5 too. It’s pretty much my default as I don’t really ever find F1 failing to entertain. I suppose my lower votes are races that have been unnecessarily manipulated such as Germany 2010. They always leave a bad taste.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
14th December 2020, 0:49
SC really, really ruined the race. Ended all strategy but above all it saved the soft starters. Danny ric on hards somehow saved it.
John H (@john-h)
13th December 2020, 14:53
We’ve been spoilt this season tbh. The tracks we’ve been to highlight how bad this one is and has been for years. Well done to Max.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
13th December 2020, 19:00
It’s a shame to finish the season on this note. If only last weekend was the finale! Oh well, not long til Melbourne (fingers crossed…)
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
14th December 2020, 9:55
I sincerely agree. We’ve had some absolutely brilliant races this year, primarily from tracks or configurations unknown to the teams. We clearly need more variety in terms of circuits, proper driving circuits with undulations and challenging runoffs. We also need less data for teams, to maximise the drivers ability to set up cars over the teams ability to process data.
Dean Franklin (@deanfranklin)
13th December 2020, 14:54
5. Bit of a snoozer, but Max was simply too strong.
Can’t help but thinking Russell would have taken the fight to Max today.
Signing him up for 2021 is a no brainer if you ask me.
GeeMac (@geemac)
13th December 2020, 15:02
To replace who exactly? The 7 time world champion or the guy who outqualified and beat the 7 time world champion in the race?
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
13th December 2020, 16:54
The guy who gets nowhere near his team mate year after year and got outgunned last weekend by Russell. You should really pay more attention
GeeMac (@geemac)
14th December 2020, 5:59
@tonymansell I saw that guy outqualify Russell and start closing the gap on the hard tyre before the safety car came out (he came out around 8 seconds behind and was 5 behind at the pitstop)…each to their own.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
14th December 2020, 10:31
@geemac
Yep and you are definitely on your own with that one
GeeMac (@geemac)
14th December 2020, 12:05
So you didn’t see Russell get outqualified last weekend? That’s very odd.
In respect of what was happening in the second stint, I appreciate there was a lot happening on track so you may not have been watching the gaps lap by lap…but Bottas was empirically quicker on the hards before the safety car and was chipping away at the gap consistently lap after lap. This is a fact, I have no doubt about this, watch the race again if you don’t believe me.
Jere (@jerejj)
13th December 2020, 14:54
Quite typical Abu Dhabi GP, although not the worst race ever.
bosyber (@bosyber)
13th December 2020, 16:39
Yeah @jerejj, just after the race I thought, pffff, let’s give it a 1 or something – but Gasly did some good stuff, and in the end it was maybe more that meh feeling because of the season we have had and because after that SC there really was realistically nothing much to fight over left, but still we can’t say drivers did a bad job, just at this track it didn’t typically amount to much, so I gave it a 5.
Not one I’ll remember in detail, but good they finished the season with a standard season last race?
And Verstappen had a fast, faultless (well weird that Q1 hand, and his flatspot etc. but neither his fault I don’t think), and good weekend, so cannot blame him for enjoying the way that went. Also, looking at that Vettel singing to his team, Magnussen’s interviews around the weekend, there’s still a lot of positives to take into the winter.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
14th December 2020, 0:51
Like you said after the sc the race died. The challenge of today was the strategy.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
13th December 2020, 14:55
This track is underserving of F1. I’m actually glad Hamilton keps sealing these past few titles early. Just thinking of how low key a championship decider would be here, with positions virtually not changing after 10 or 15 laps, actually makes me angry.
How they can then say that they care about the show and the fans, and we have the season finale at this piece of trash of a track, “only” because they just pay a lot more… they risk every year missing a Brazil 2008, which surely has to be what any kind of promoter wants for the sport they promote.
It’s been 11 years we’ve watched absolute borefests (except 2012), and nothing has even been attempted to solve the problem. It’s not the cars 100% fault, the layout is rubbish… it needs to change. Everyone, and I mean, everyone on social media said the same thing after lap 5: “this is so darn boring”.
This track grinds my gears more than any other. Because Paul Ricard is decades old and they ruined it, or other tracks that evolved and were ruined. But this was specifically built as a bad track, from a white piece of paper, spending 800 million dollars.
The only best thing about this track is when the checkered flag drops and you can move on with your sunday. Watching is a burden, every single year.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
13th December 2020, 14:56
I even had time to write this during the race and didn’t miss a thing…
GeeMac (@geemac)
13th December 2020, 15:05
This track is underserving of F1. I’m actually glad Hamilton keeps sealing these past few titles early. Just thinking of how low key a championship decider would be here, with positions virtually not changing after 10 or 15 laps, actually makes me angry.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
13th December 2020, 16:54
@geemac my point still stands. We didn’t know what to expect that year because it was only the second year running at Abu Dhabi. 11 years later, it’d make for an obvious result.
That 2010 definition at a place like Interlagos would’ve been bonkers.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
13th December 2020, 17:49
@geemac I’m not quite sure what point you are trying to make, as the 2010 finale showcased exactly what @fer-no65 said: it is a terrible track for racing where people can’t really overtake unless they have a huge advantage. That finale happened because nobody could overtake anyone all race. Not Alonso on Petrov, not Hamilton on Kubica, not Massa on Alguersari etc.
Gusmaia
13th December 2020, 16:37
Cant people in the internet for once do something nice and start a crowdfunding campaign so we can buy and destroy this track.
I wouldnt desire nothing bad on Abu Dhabi citizens, but I would support a communist uprising in that country if they promise to expropriate that complex.
albo94
13th December 2020, 20:43
I swear this is exactly what I think about this track. 2012 was the only decent race in 12 freaking editions!
ryanoceros (@ryanoceros)
14th December 2020, 0:08
Qualifying and the first few laps would probably decide the title. I wish they would put Interlagos last on the calendar again.
Nitin Patel (@nitin24)
13th December 2020, 14:55
What a anticlimactic way to end the season
Mouse_Nightshirt (@mouse_nightshirt)
13th December 2020, 14:56
2
Utter, total yawnathon. I had major hopes that having Max at the front would lead to some fun battles, alas no.
Every pass DRS aided sweep-by.
This track should have been dropped years ago, but money speaks.
w0o0dy
13th December 2020, 17:11
Max in front Will never lead to fun battles as he’s simply going to control the race. He’s that good.
Pedro (@)
13th December 2020, 14:58
1/10 boring!
Alex (@arobbo)
13th December 2020, 15:01
3/10 is probably generous but it wasn’t the worst race ever.
Sad for Perez, I hope today wasn’t his last race in F1.
Great job by Max but man was it pretty boring.
Patrick (@paeschli)
13th December 2020, 18:05
Curious which race you would say was even worse?
I gave it a 1/10, the lowest rating I’ve ever given, because I simply couldn’t remember a more boring race. Safety car killed the little strategy that might have spiced up this race.
Alex (@arobbo)
13th December 2020, 19:59
France 2019, but then again I did say I was generous since atleast a Merc wasn’t the winner today.
GoldenGaeTea (@retroka)
13th December 2020, 15:09
3. The first half was average but enjoyable, the second one was terrifying. Sadly Perez didn’t finish his last RP/Force India race.
Dave
13th December 2020, 15:11
Yas Marina is a specialist in failure.
OnTheOtherHand (@robcacox)
13th December 2020, 15:15
This was Mercedes protecting 2nd place for Bottas.
David BR (@david-br)
13th December 2020, 16:27
@robcacox Exactly. Led to a solid 3 for me in terms of race rating given nothing was happening anywhere else either. I even wonder whether Russell wasn’t nudged out of this race for that reason too. It would be too much to ask him to race but keep behind Bottas to ensure 2nd place in the race and championship. Hamilton kept back after another poor Bottas start and didn’t complain too much at the double pit stop that simply ensured they finished in start order.
OnTheOtherHand (@robcacox)
13th December 2020, 18:25
It was plain from the start what was happening, surprised it was not picked up it the commentary!!!
Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
13th December 2020, 15:18
Generous 4 – first part was OK – second part . . . I had to do a little painting (in the same room as the TV) and have to admit I was keeping an eye on it for a second coat.
ryanoceros (@ryanoceros)
14th December 2020, 0:10
You should have live-streamed it so we had something to keep us entertained.
GoldenGaeTea (@retroka)
13th December 2020, 15:24
3. First half was average with some tyre tactic battle. However nobody went to second pit-stop and it became a terrfying, boring driving.
GoldenGaeTea (@retroka)
13th December 2020, 18:15
Btw, the 2017 Abu Dhabi GP was so much worse than this race. Some fans really don’t know what is a really bad race(2018 Canada, 2015 Australia, 2017 and 2014 Russian, 2011 and 2008 Europe, ect.).
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
13th December 2020, 19:08
Ah yes Australia 2015… when an absurd percentage of the grid pulled out before the race or failed on the warm up lap. That was a hugely disappointing race.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
13th December 2020, 15:31
I’m surprised, I found this race very interesting and followed much more closely than usual, even for example the battles between mclaren and force india for the championship, the battles to get into the points for ferrari, so I gave it 8 and I noticed we’re a real minority, 2% for 8 and 2% for 10, the rest all voted 1-6 with prevalent opinions being 1 and 2!
I just don’t like mercedes and I think red bull and verstappen deserved another win on merit, obviously not much happened in the first 4 places, with a good race from albon.
slowmo (@slowmo)
13th December 2020, 18:54
If you base your score solely on who wins each week you must be in the minority often.
Bob C.
13th December 2020, 15:44
To misquote Niki Lauda: I got tired of watching cars driving around in circles. Past lap 20 at least I found time to scoop up some laundry, put it in the washing machine and do some other useful stuff, casting the odd glance at the TV passing through the living room. I didn’t get the impression that much happened between glances.
Bulgarian (@bulgarian)
13th December 2020, 15:46
Sorry, only 4/10.
BasCB (@bascb)
13th December 2020, 15:56
Yeah, that’s my rating too @bulgarian.
We did get another really solid Saturday with Max and Bottas and Hamilton being so close. And we got a superb lap from Norris too.
The race, really any hope for excitement groaned to a halt as we saw Perez telling his team he was out. And then the best parts were Vettel singing on the radio to his team (nope, not on the world feed) – that was such a lovely one, Ricciardo stealing that FLAP (nah, off course they did not show that one), Ocon passing Stroll in the end (nope, not shown either) and McLaren congratulating and thanking their Sainz and their team for the great work together.
And another one was hearing the great quality of what Perez had to say after the race (Telling how saving the team was one of the most important things he’s done, how he told everyone to cheer up after all the setbacks they had this year when he lost out on the podium in Bahrain etc.).
slowmo (@slowmo)
13th December 2020, 18:56
I gave it a 3 and that was because qualifying averaged the score upwards. Awful race, possibly made worse due to a cheesy safety car again.
Pinak Ghosh (@pinakghosh)
13th December 2020, 15:50
5/10
Dead like a Dodo
One lesson to take is Mercedes have a very powerful MGU-K apprently.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
13th December 2020, 15:50
It wasn’t a great race to finish the season, but overall 2020 has been fantastic. The best season since 2012, and maybe the rule change being delayed for a year isn’t such as bad thing. I hope 2021 will be as good as this season.
GoldenGaeTea (@retroka)
13th December 2020, 16:06
Maybe the Mercedes dominance was huge but this season was dramatic and it had lot of questions.
Neil (@neilosjames)
13th December 2020, 15:53
3/10.
I don’t know if, from an entirely objective viewpoint, it was that bad, or if having to watch racing on a circuit I find so unappealing and dismal (the Sochi Effect) made it feel worse than it was, but… I’m glad I had other stuff to occupy my mind throughout.
What a disappointing way to end a season. Although, is a bad race at Abu Dhabi still a disappointment if you expected it to happen?
Cristian Ingles (@doctorlovesexy)
13th December 2020, 16:03
A 3 for me.
Yas Marina could be a very good circuit with 3 changes in the layout. :
1- Remove the turn 5-6 chicane and you hace a overtaking zone in the first hairpin after the fast esses.
2- Remove the triple chicane (turns 11-12-13)after the second straight and make a camber corner like San Donato in Mugello or Tarzan in Zandvoort
3-Scrap completely the last sector under the hotel and go directly from the actual turns 11-12-13 to the last corner.
Something like this:
Cristian Ingles (@doctorlovesexy)
13th December 2020, 16:04
Like this https://imgur.com/Pm64j1O
melanos
13th December 2020, 16:34
looks not too bad
Peppe (@turbopeppino)
13th December 2020, 16:53
That’s bang on the money!
Ivan (@wpinrui)
13th December 2020, 17:33
Fantastic!
ryanoceros (@ryanoceros)
14th December 2020, 0:11
Looks like Hockenheim slightly rearranged.
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
13th December 2020, 16:06
1.
A real crap. The worst race of the year. It’s not even worth talking about.
Broke84 (@broke84)
13th December 2020, 16:19
1 for me. Utterly boring and the only action was DRS where 2nd drs zone allows for drivers to not bother fightibg in the 1st.
Bryan (@ruz234014)
13th December 2020, 16:28
1. Worst track on the calendar and a terrible way to end each season.
Sumedh
13th December 2020, 16:41
Horrible race. After spending 800 million dollars, have they not got any other layout which we can try out at least once.
Noddy
13th December 2020, 16:44
Easily the most boring race of the season.
Peppe (@turbopeppino)
13th December 2020, 16:46
The day they will finally drop this sorry excuse for a racetrack it won’t be a day too early. With all the money they’ve got, how come nobody on the board has ever thought about an overhaul of at least the last sector?
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
13th December 2020, 17:04
1/10. One of the worst races I have ever watched. Other than a few short battles in the midfield, nothing else happened.
Yas Marina is garbage.
Mark (@inkpen99)
13th December 2020, 17:14
2/10 – & that was for Verstappen. Now, if they’d brought LH in on lap 45 for a new set of Mediums (assuming they managed to put one on each corner) and he then set about Albon, Bottas, then possibly Verstappen, that might have been a race instead of a bore-fest. Very sad end to a season which has had much great racing, but not at Abu Dhabi.
melanos
13th December 2020, 17:39
Awfully boring, gets a 2. Without the Perez mech failure it could have been a 4 or 5. Checo’s progression (up to fourth or fifth?) might have been interesting. Worse yet, the VSC came at the opening of the pitstop window for soft tyres. Pretty much everybody pitted and interesting upcoming strategic battles between drivers on softs and mediums were ruined (Sainz got unlucky once again with this one). Ferrari, as per tradition, ruined their race by staying out and collected a single point. However, Dan Ric made the most of staying out on hards and gaining positions.
us-brian (@us-brian)
13th December 2020, 18:29
So boring! Yes we had some passes (but only because of DRS), but other than that nothing!
I gave it a 3. But I almost thought afterwards, that a 2 was more deserving. The race was basically like a Lance Stroll interview. The post race interviews were more entertaining.
Year after year we end the season here and every year we get a snooze fest or inability for someone to pass on this awful track.
It is time for a change for the season finale.
DeanR (@deanr)
13th December 2020, 18:42
Surely this should be a 10?? I mean we had a different winner. We’ve been told variation makes F1 more exciting over the last 2 weeks. “Are you not entertained??”
DeanR (@deanr)
13th December 2020, 18:43
Anyway… 5 for me. Std end of season dead rubber. Max did very well to control the race and deserved the win. Onto 2021…
Ronald (@mosquito)
13th December 2020, 18:58
Nice to see someone else win a GP on merit than Mercedes.
In any other way the race looked like a usual Merc cruise to victory.
Montréalais (@)
13th December 2020, 19:26
Quite frankly, I watched through to the bitter end only because I’ll have to wait until March for the next race and I somehow didn’t want to throw it away. I gave it a “5” because at least it wasn’t the worst I’ve seen. Oh well…
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
13th December 2020, 19:36
6 for me. I only watched the highlights. It wasn’t awful but not good either. Good drives by Max and the McLaren boys.
This place should never hold the final race though. It’s never a good race. Take it back to Brazil I say. But then the championships rarely go to the final race anyway.
David (@davidjwest)
13th December 2020, 20:02
Dull. Gave it a 5 as it’s nice to see a new face at the top and there was some reasonable racing further back.
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
13th December 2020, 20:15
Generous 4/10, another extremely poor race around Yas Marina…
Another race with literally, absolutely no battle for the lead at any point.
In today’s case, we didn’t have a random factor/Mercedes bottle to spice things up like in Monza and Sakhir…
dot_com (@dot_com)
13th December 2020, 20:26
Slept through most of that. And I wasn’t even particularly tired. It’s such a shame that we have to end the season at this place.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
13th December 2020, 20:36
The longest pitlane didn’t do any good to two-stop strategies and we’ve been granted an anti-climatic procession.
Clearly the tyre specs could have been one step softer, seeing how hards were performing even after 40 laps. Pretty sure Ricciardo pitted only because he had to.
Olivier
13th December 2020, 20:56
1 point for having a non-Mercedes driver win
1 point for Ricciardo stealing the fastest lap and 1 point for people overtaking Leclerc.
3 points
petebaldwin (@)
13th December 2020, 21:08
I gave it the same score for similar reasons.
1 (as the base score we can give a race) and then +1 for a non-Mercedes win with another +1 for McLaren beating Racing Point to 3rd in the Constructors’.
DanielH (@danielh)
13th December 2020, 23:07
I say “yawn” because when I actually yawn, you don’t get it.
Jay
14th December 2020, 6:09
Purists downvoting a traditional F1 race. What a shocker.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
14th December 2020, 7:31
First time I vote a 1. But this race was 0 dun, despite Mercedes not winning amd being a proclaimed Verstapen fan.
Almost nothing happend, a few DRS passes, compared to last week, this one was… Booring.
Jim Sharpe (@jms90h5)
14th December 2020, 18:17
I always watch the races time delayed and this is the first one I’ve ever fast-forwarded through and then didn’t even bother to watch the end. I’ve never rated any race lower than a 3 but gave this one a 1. If this was the first race I had seen I wouldn’t have become a fan.
Pjotr (@pietkoster)
15th December 2020, 12:11
This is how it works. The same race and the winner is Hamilton all Ham fans say the race was great, all others are bored. If Ves wins, all Ves fans say it was a great race, others are bored to death. It was a boring race, but being Dutch….. Fantastic!