On the final lap of Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo prevented a Grand Chelem for Max Verstappen, which would have been the first of his Formula 1 career and the first for anybody in 2020.
Renault weren’t able to fend off McLaren and Racing Point in the battle for third place in the 2020 Formula 1 constructor standings, but Daniel Ricciardo was still able to play spoiler in a different way.
The season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit, which had been dominated by Mercedes in each of the last six years leading into 2020, was dominated by Ricciardo’s former Red Bull teammate, Max Verstappen.
Verstappen led all 55 laps of this race around the 21-turn, 3.451-mile (5.554-kilometer) road course on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates after taking the pole position in shocking fashion.
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He won the race by 15.976 seconds over Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in second place, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton a further 2.439 seconds behind.
The win was Verstappen’s second of the 2020 season, giving him multiple victories in each of the last four seasons, and the 10th of his career. It made him just the fourth active driver to hit double-digit wins and first among active drivers to do so since former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel secured his 10th career win in 2010.
However, what could have been a perfect race for Verstappen went out the window when Ricciardo crossed the finish line in seventh place.
Up until that point, Verstappen had run the race’s fastest lap at 100.958 seconds (123.057 miles per hour). But Ricciardo’s 55th and final lap was a 100.926-second (123.096 miles per hour) lap, giving him the bonus point for running the fastest circuit of the day.
It robbed Verstappen of what would have been his first career Grand Chelem and the first Grand Chelem for anybody of the 2020 season.
A Grand Chelem involves a driver winning the race after starting from the pole position and leading every lap while recording the race’s fastest lap along the way.
Unsurprisingly, the most recent Grand Chelem was secured at Yas Marina Circuit. Hamilton secured the sixth of his career, which ranks second on the all-time list behind Jim Clark (eight), to end the 2019 season.
Ricciardo is set to move to McLaren next year after spending two seasons with Renault. He is set to replace Carlos Sainz Jr., who is set to replace the Aston Martin-bound Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari. McLaren secured the coveted third place in this year’s constructor standings with Racing Point in fourth.