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The Abu Dhabi
weekend brings the curtain down on the longest ever Formula 1 season, during
which the sport travelled the world taking in 24 rounds. To date, the Yas
Marina circuit has hosted motor racing’s blue riband category 15 times,
twelve of them rounding off the year. On four occasions this Grand Prix has
decided the outcome of one or both championship titles, in 2021 the two of
them and in 2010, 2014 and 2016, just the Drivers’. This Sunday’s race will
decide who takes the 2024 Constructors’ crown, McLaren or Ferrari.
As has long been the case at this track, Pirelli has chosen its three
softest compounds for the event, with the C3 as Hard, the C4 as Medium and
the C5 as Soft. The red-banded tyres will most probably only feature in
qualifying, while the Medium and Hard will be under the spotlight, in every
sense of the word, given this is the third consecutive night race.
Thanks to significant changes to the track layout introduced in 2021, the
5.281 kilometre track is much faster and flowing, with several overtaking
opportunities. In general, the forces exerted on the tyres are in the medium
to low range, because of the lack of high speed corners. The surface offers
little grip and its level of abrasiveness is average for the season.
Temperatures will play an important role, with two of the three free
practice sessions taking place in daylight, while FP2 and the race get
underway at sunset with all of qualifying taking place at night. Therefore,
track conditions can change quickly as temperatures drop and they will also
evolve rapidly as the track rubbers in, especially on the first two days,
helped by the fact there are three support categories on the card this
weekend – F4 UAE, F1 Academy and F2.
On a track where graining could have a significant impact and where, as
previously mentioned, overtaking is possible, a two-stop strategy certainly
seems preferable, as indeed was the case last year. Furthermore, the
undercut is very effective and, in order for a one-stop to work, it requires
a great deal of tyre management to limit performance drop off.
The most successful driver at Abu Dhabi is Lewis Hamilton with five wins to
his name. Max Verstappen could equal that number on Sunday as he has already
won here four times in a row, from 2020 to 2023. Prior to Sunday’s race, the
Dutchman will be presented with the Pirelli Pole Position Award of the Year,
for securing the most poles this season. As for the teams, Red Bull leads
the way on seven wins here, ahead of Mercedes on 6. Only two other teams
have won in Abu Dhabi: Lotus with Kimi Raikkonen in 2013 and McLaren with
Hamilton in the inaugural event in 2009.
Sunday night marks the end of racing for 2024 but not the end of track
action. All ten teams will stay on at the Yas Marina circuit for a very busy
group test on Tuesday 10 December. They will each field two cars: one for a
rookie, defined in the FIA sporting regulations as a driver who has taken
part in no more than two Grands Prix and the other car for another driver.
The two groups will run different tyres: the rookies will have the same 2024
compounds as selected for this Grand Prix, while the regular or official
drivers will run the homologated versions of all Pirelli’s 2025 tyres,
developed over the year with the teams, with the exception of the C1 which
is not suited to this track.
The rookies will have eight sets of tyres each: two C3, four C4 and two C5.
The other drivers will have ten sets: one C2, three each of the C3 and C4,
two C5 and one C6, the latter being the new ultra-soft compound which thus
extends the 2025 range. It is expected that this compound will be used at
some street circuits next year. Unlike the in-competition test run at the
Mexico City Grand Prix, this time Pirelli will not set out its own run
programme for the 2025 tyres. Therefore, each team can work as it sees fit
to collect data that will be vital to car development for next year. For
this test, the C2 and C6 will feature just the Pirelli logo coloured white
and red respectively, while the C3, C4 and C5 will run the usual white,
yellow and red bands respectively, alongside the logo. |
