2024 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Preview: Final race of the Season
The final round of the 2024 F1 World Championship will be held in Abu Dhabi this weekend, but Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen had already won this season's champion at the Las Vegas Grand Prix on May 11. Constructors title battle is still very alive, McLaren lead, Ferrari is close second.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has been held annually since 2009 and has always been held at the Yas Marina Circuit designed by Hermann Tilke.This circuit underwent several minor layout changes in 2021 to improve the action. These changes provide more overtaking opportunities and also increase speed and load through several corners.
This circuit is a circuit where mistakes are costly because the walls are nearby and there are frequent safety cars and red flags. The track measures 3.3 miles and features a relatively smooth surface. This, combined with most of the flowing high-speed corners, means less stress on the tires.
Pirelli named the 3 softest compounds as a result: C3, C4, and C5. Drivers tend to run two-stop strategies.
The weather forecast calls for dry and warm conditions throughout the weekend. But like other races in the Middle East, Abu Dhabi races start at dusk and run at night to avoid the heat of the day. This is for engineers and drivers who have to adapt to changes in tire and car behavior caused by changes in ambient and road temperature.
For Saturday's qualifying session and Sunday's race, Verstappen's points tally at the 2024 Drivers' Championship will be 429 . McLaren's Rand Norris is 349 points in 2nd place, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc is 341 points in 3rd place. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren leads by 640 points, Ferrari by 619 points in 2nd place, and Red Bull by 581 points in 3rd place.
When the race ends the season, it will be the last for Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, both fired from Sauber. Franco Colapint's temporary seat at Williams will also be taken over by Carlos Sainz next season. Like Colapint, Liam Lawson has not confirmed a seat for 2025, but it is widely expected that he will either retain his current temporary seat at RB or replace Red Bull's Sergio Perez.
Lewis Hamilton will also bid farewell to his Mercedes・Benz AMG team, he plans to join Ferrari next season. Hamilton's entire career has been driven by Mercedes power units (even at McLaren), and it will be newcomer Andrea Kimi Antonelli that he will replace Hamilton with Mercedes for 7 out of 6 world titles.
