Conclusions after Abu Dhabi: McLaren on their way back to winning ways

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is over and with it the 2020 F1 season. Max Verstappen closed the season in style with pole position and victory on Sunday. Though it did not help the Dutchman compared to Mercedes in the World Championship. 

Mercedes still a size too big

For Mercedes, F1 2020 was like the previous seven years. Lewis Hamilton took his seventh world title and the team secured their seventh constructors' title in a row. Mercedes surpassing the record held by Ferrari.

The numbers speak for themselves. Mercedes became champion earlier than ever in the season. Of course, 2020 was a shorter season with only 17 races. Nevertheless, Mercedes closes the season with a total of 573 points. That is 254 points more than second-placed Red Bull Racing.

Mercedes filled the top step of the podium 13 times, while Max Verstappen only managed it twice. Mercedes have again built a strong car in 2020. With Hamilton, they still have a very consistent and strong driver. Valtteri Bottas has provided the necessary breathing space as second fiddle.

Verstappen chases Mercedes

Judging by the difference in podiums (25 for Mercedes and 13 for Red Bull) it appears that Red Bull are seriously short of a strong driver duo. Verstappen performed well in Abu Dhabi and surprisingly drove without pressure from the Mercedes to victory. Verstappen took care of 12 of the 13 podiums over the season.

This article was written and originally published by Daniel on the Dutch edition of GPblog.com.

Alexander Albon has not been the driver who could jump into the gap that Verstappen left during one of his five DNF results. Still, after the strong performance at the Yas Marina Circuit, Red Bull Racing can go into winter in the belief that they are within range of Mercedes.

The vast majority of F1 car developments for 2021 have been brought to a halt, making the state of affairs in Abu Dhabi more than ever representative of the relationship between the teams in 2021. Don't forget that in the field of aerodynamics there are certainly some things that may be changed and developed.

Mercedes wouldn't be Mercedes if they didn't know how to deal with it ingeniously and just widen the gap to Red Bull Racing in the winter.

McLaren came out on top

McLaren finally returned to the podium at the end of 2019 after five years. In 2020 the team managed to do this twice. Once with Lando Norris and once for Carlos Sainz.

McLaren are on their way back to winning the Constructors' Championship against Racing Point and Renault F1. The former took no less than a competition victory this season and a total of two more podiums. Nevertheless, the team, led by Zak Brown and Andreas Seidl, managed to outperform the pink Mercedes cars in the last race in Abu Dhabi.