Within the twenty fourth and remaining grand prix of the 2024 season, McLaren has a possibility to do one thing many followers of theirs have by no means seen them do earlier than – win the constructors’ championship.
Fittingly, the workforce they need to defeat for that honour is their oldest and fiercest conventional rival: Ferrari.
After exhibiting promising tempo throughout the primary two days of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri secured one of the necessary entrance row lockouts the workforce has ever taken, proper forward of Carlos Sainz Jnr in third
“I feel we’ve each been driving effectively this weekend and we knew the stress was on, from ourselves,” Norris stated after taking his eighth pole of 2024. “So we’ve each carried out effectively. We’ve each obtained every thing out of the automotive. However this can be a lengthy race, and lots of issues can occur, so we’re undoubtedly not going to get forward of ourselves.”
Ferrari’s day was bittersweet to say the least. At a observe he struggled severely final yr, Sainz confirmed that Ferrari had been not at all far off McLaren for efficiency by being the closest to them in qualifying two tenths away from Norris’s pole. However not solely was workforce mate Charles Leclerc hit by a 10-place grid penalty on Friday, a brutal Q2 elimination after exceeding observe limits signifies that Ferrari’s second automotive will begin down in nineteenth.
“I feel it was already extraordinarily tough,” Sainz admitted. “It was a little bit of a ‘mission not possible’ already earlier than the weekend began.
“Then we arrived in FP1 and Charles’ battery died earlier than operating and the grid penalty clearly was an enormous shock, an enormous blow. On prime of that, you get the Q2 scenario for Charles. It simply makes issues clearly much more tough.
However in his remaining race for Ferrari, Sainz is on no account going to surrender the combat. If Ferrari are to lose this title, Sainz is decided to push each McLarens to the bitter finish.
“Till the chequered flag comes down tomorrow, something can occur,” he stated. “I’m going to maintain combating for no matter comes. And I’m positive Charles from the again will push flat out to get each single level out there and see what occurs with the McLarens.”
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Climate
To the shock of nobody, the Abu Dhabi Grand prix will likely be a dry race. There may be not even the slightest probability of rain hitting the Yas Marina circuit, that means the constructors’ championship will likely be determined over a dry race.
The race itself will run in circumstances largely just like qualifying and Friday’s second apply session, with ambient temperatures slightly below 30C for the 5pm race begin time after which steadily falling by means of the race because the solar units. Wind has not been too large an element thus far this weekend and is unlikely to be once more on Sunday, with wind speeds anticipated to be decrease than the earlier two days.
Begin
The 177 metre run from pole place to the braking level for the primary nook is among the many shorter ones of the season. Even when the driving force beginning second on the grid, on the left-hand aspect, manages to get a greater begin than the pole winner and has the within line for the primary nook, there may be not a whole lot of room for them to try an out braking transfer into flip one.
Within the final ten grands prix at Yas Marina, the driving force on pole has led the opening lap eight occasions, with Lewis Hamilton the one driver capable of take the lead from second on the grid – from Nico Rosberg in 2014 and Max Verstappen of their notorious 2021 showdown.
Nevertheless, all that’s prone to be rendered moot as Piastri will possible be beneath strict orders to not assault his workforce mate too onerous initially, on condition that it doesn’t matter what order they end in, however that they’re forward of Ferrari.
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Technique
It’s a good factor for a number of groups that many drivers have already used up all of their tender tyres this weekend – as they’ll virtually actually not be needing them for Sunday.
Final yr, the sector had been pretty common of their method to the race and a two-stop technique. The highest eight finishers all employed the identical technique of beginning on mediums earlier than two stints on the onerous tyres, with Yuki Tsunoda one-stopping to ninth and Lance Stroll the one driver inside the highest ten to run a hard-hard-medium technique.
This yr, Pirelli predict a one-stop as being the most suitable choice, beginning on mediums and switching to onerous tyres – as was the case final weekend in Qatar. That’s based mostly on the degrees of tyre degradation being decrease this weekend than was noticed on the identical occasion final season.
Overtaking
Yas Marina just isn’t recognized for producing thrilling racing however it’s honest to say that the intensive reprofiling at both ends of the observe for the 2021 season has had a demonstrable affect on overtaking alternatives across the lap.
The final seven races held across the circuit’s outdated configuration – 2014-2020 – produced a mean of 25.7 profitable on-track overtakes outdoors of the primary lap, per race. Following the modifications, the primary three races have averaged 44.3 passes per race.
The 2 most evident passing spots sit on the ends of the 2 DRS zones at turns six and 9. However the DRS zone alongside the again straight approaching flip six has been diminished by 50 metres for this yr. This didn’t appear to have an effect on the prospects of passing in Saturday’s F2 dash race, nevertheless, with a number of strikes made into the 2 turns.
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Security Vehicles
With its virtually infinite asphalt run off areas, Yas Marina just isn’t a circuit that produces Security Vehicles typically. The final ten have solely produced three in whole, with solely two Digital Security Automotive intervals wanted over that very same time.
The final two Abu Dhabi Grands Prix have run totally freed from Security Vehicles, that means the final deployment in a race right here was essentially the most controversial one within the sport’s historical past, following Nicholas Latifi crashing out at flip 14 in direction of the top of the race in 2021.
One to observe
There is just one driver to select for this remaining weekend of the season: Lewis Hamilton.
His remaining race for Mercedes sees him beginning far decrease than each he and his workforce would have needed in sixteenth – though it’s possible that he deserved to be a lot greater given the tempo he had proven as much as the top of Q1.
Like Michael Schumacher, who capped off his time as a Ferrari driver with a shocking combat from the again in his remaining race earlier than his first retirement at Brazil in 2006, Hamilton will likely be determined to emulate his fellow seven-times champion by producing one remaining magic second.
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Over to you
Will Sainz be capable of combat in opposition to the McLarens for victory on Sunday? Share your views on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix within the feedback.
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