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F1 2020's fiercest battle now hinges on a 0.068s swing

There was little surprise at the front of the Formula 1 field after the opening practice sessions for the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but behind Mercedes and Max Verstappen comes a frenetic, valuable fight for three teams, which looks too close to call at this stage

Alex Kalinauckas Dec 11, 2020, 4:02 PM

The finish line for the 2020 Formula 1 season is in sight, the prolonged and compacted saga reaching its conclusion at this weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. For the fourth year in a row, though, the season finale will not crown a world champion.

But that doesn't mean there's nothing left to play for.

In the opening practice sessions, Max Verstappen led the way for Red Bull in the unrepresentative, sun-kissed FP1, while Valtteri Bottas returned Mercedes to its usual perch in FP2. This was an unusual session in that all three leading drivers (Bottas, Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen) had different issues that stopped them truly showing what they could do over a single lap.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.