Usually, a Safety Car brings a Formula 1 race to life. It triggers a flurry of pit-stops and forces teams-drivers to adapt, evolve & deploy out-of-box tyre strategies. The 2020 Formula 1 season has seen the Safety Car appear in 12 out of 17 races. However, did the Safety Car cost us Formula 1 an exciting race in Abu Dhabi? Soumil and Kunal discuss further in our Pits to Podium (https://bit.ly/pitstopodium) segment.
Mercedes couldn't use strategy to try and jump Max Verstappen for the lead of the race. It also eliminated the possibility of a two-stopping race & it made strategy almost null and void for the hard and medium starters. If you're a Ferrari fan, you must be wondering why they didn't pit either driver during the VSC/SC period. And of course, yet another mechanical issue robbed us of a 'pits to podium' charge by Sergio Perez!
Also in this episode: Mclaren finishing 3rd in the Constructors' Championship while Sergio Perez maintaining 4th in the Drivers' Championship. Carlos Sainz Jr.'s slow driving in the pit lane proved yet again that slow is the way to go in Abu Dhabi (ref: to championship battles). And of course, CONGRATULATIONS to Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing and Honda for claiming their 2nd win of the season. For once, Mercedes aren't to be blamed for boredom caused by dominance. Tune in!
(Season 2020, Episode 65)
Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora (https://twitter.com/iamsoumilaroraa) and Kunal Shah (http://www.twitter.com/kunalashah)
Music courtesy: Lucien Byfieldt (https://lucienbyfieldt.bandcamp.com/) Stats courtesy: Sundaram Ramaswami (https://twitter.com/mpformula1) & Nithyanand Ram (https://twitter.com/The_F1fanatic) Image courtesy: Mercedes AMG Petronas