Hamilton puts down a marker for 2020  

With the big changes not coming until 2021, Abu Dhabi potentially gave us a warning about next year - and it's a worrying one for Red Bull and Ferrari.  

The weekend was dominated by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton: Pole position, victory and the fastest lap by a comfortable margin. The level of his domination over the course of the weekend has got to worry the opposition.  

Valtteri Bottas finished 4th from the back of the grid; the Finnish driver ended up right behind Charles Leclerc at the end.  

Could we see another season of dominance by Mercedes next year? Quite possibly.   

Verstappen wraps up third in the standings  

He's had a brilliant year overall and Max Verstappen deservedly beat Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel to P3 in the championship; it's the first time in his career that's he's finished in the top 3 at the end of the year.  

3 wins, 9 podiums and 2 pole positions are the big numbers after an impressive season where the Dutchman proved he's added a new level of maturity (for the most part) to the speed he's already shown for a number of years.  

If he gets a truly competitive car that could fight for wins at most races, he can fight for or win the championship. The driver of the year? He's certainly a contender. 

Sainz wins 'best of the rest' championship 

It came right down to the wire in the race, but Carlos Sainz managed to finish 10th to beat Pierre Gasly to 6th in the standings.  

A late stop to switch to mediums paid dividends as he caught Nico Hülkenberg and made a superb overtake on the final lap at the end of the second long straight to steal the final point in the race.  

It also meant he got the point he needed to finish ahead of Gasly in the standings. Following a series of superb performances on Sundays this year and finally getting that podium at Interlagos, it was a just reward for him and his McLaren team. Can they carry on this form in 2020? Time will tell.  

A shoutout to Sergio Perez, too. The Mexican’s last-lap overtake on Lando Norris meant he finished 10th in the championship in front of the Brit. After a difficult season for Racing Point, that’s a fine achievement by Checo. 

TV direction must improve 

Not for the first time in 2019, we missed some great battles on the track during yesterday's race.  

The Renaults and McLarens were quite close and battling hard throughout the race, but the TV coverage seemed way too focused on the front runners who were quite far apart for most of the race.  

It isn't the first time that they've really got things wrong when it comes to missing battles or charges through the field. 

The last lap four-car battle in Singapore and Sainz's stunning drive from the back in Austria are two of many examples from 2019. A huge improvement is required next year; the focus needs to be on battles and not the front runners if they're all spread apart.  

Another race to forget in Abu Dhabi 

2019 was the 11th edition of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and it turned out to be another boring one that we witnessed.  

Big gaps between the front runners for the most part and poor TV direction missing the midfield battles meant it was quite a dull watch once again. 

It seems to be said every year, but track changes need to be made urgently. At some point, they’ve got to accept that the circuit is a big problem in the lack of racing we see around it on an almost yearly basis. 

Sometimes money should take a back seat because Interlagos would be a far better venue for the final race of the season at the moment.