After evaluating Pirelli's proposed new tyres for the 2020 Formula One season, the teams have voted against the new tyre specification, forcing F1 to continue with this year's specification.
Hosted by FIA President Jean Todt and FIA Deputy President for Sport, Graham Stoker, the World Motor Sport Council gathered today in Paris during the 2019 Annual General Assembly for its fourth and final meeting of the year.
The season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix perfectly mirrored the picture of the 2019 Formula One season – the utterly dominant Mercedes outfit once again demonstrated its strength with Lewis Hamilton's easy and commanding victory and Valtteri Bottas' shocking marching towards the sharp end of the field.
The 2019 Formula One World Championship has officially come to an end today when teams and drivers completed their ultimate on-track programme at Abu Dhabi. Mercedes appeared to be the fastest once again, this time with George Russell behind the wheel of the W10.
After its utterly dominant performance during last weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Mercedes continues where it left off a few days ago – Valtteri Bottas went fastest on the opening day of the post-season testing.
As the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship came to an end in Abu Dhabi, the focus was already set on the future of the sport. The unprecedented flirtation between Lewis Hamilton and Scuderia Ferrari was arguably the biggest talking point that kept the paddock excited for the season-ending weekend.
The Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport team used the last race weekend of the season for experimenting with 2020-specification engine components after it had to install fresh power unit parts in to the car of Valtteri Bottas, exceeding the permitted allocation. With minor reliability concerns with the brand-new units, the team had to make precautionary changes over the weekend.
Scuderia Ferrari have been fined €50000 by the stewards after the technical delegate reported that the team had put nearly 5kg more fuel into the car than reported by the team.
Lewis Hamilton has led the season closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from start to finish while also taking fastest lap. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc completed the podium, but were at no point fighting for the win.
According to the sport’s sole tyre supplier Pirelli, today’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix could see drivers striving for a one-stop strategy given the layout of the track and the expected tyre degradation.