Mercedes: "Max drove a very controlled race"

Mercedes didn't expect Max Verstappen to have such an easy Sunday. Andrew Shovlin thought the W11 could bring better pace to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but it wasn't to be. The compliments, therefore, go to Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing.

"Well done to Max and Red Bull, they didn’t let us get into the race this evening," Shovlin said in Mercedes press release. The RB16 was too fast for Mercedes at the Yas Marina Circuit. "He drove a very controlled race, they had the best car and deserved the win."

Still, the German team expected to be more competitive on Sunday. "To be honest, we’d expected a bit more from ourselves today; we thought we’d either have a small advantage on pace or be a bit better on degradation, but we didn’t and it was a bit disappointing after a year where we have been strong at almost every track," he explains.

Still, both drivers were on the podium at the end of the 2020 season. "However, whilst today wasn’t the result we’d hoped for, we can reflect on the season as a whole and the team has done a great job, the drivers have done a great job and we’ve broken some records that we can be very proud of," concluded Shovlin.