Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Abu Dhabi GP: Mercedes dominance continues as Hamilton tops FP3 – Results

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton remained unbeaten in the Third Free Practice of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hamilton topped the timesheets in the final practice session of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with 1m 23.274s. His title rival, Max Verstappen was second fastest just two tenths of a second off the benchmark time as Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top three fastest lap times in the afternoon session. The conditions at Yas Marina Circuit were at 39 degrees for the track temperatures and 26 degrees for air temperature. Pirelli tyre options were the soft compound C5, medium compound C4 and hard compound C5. Verstappen was the first driver to set a time benchmark of 1m 24.997s on the medium tyre compound using the low downforce wing. Bottas went after Verstappen but only managed 1m 25.290s on the soft compound tyres which was a third of a second off Verstappen’s time. Lewis Hamilton experienced delays after coming in a little later than the other drivers as his mechanics raced against time working on the brakes. The Briton later set a benchmark time of 1m 24.241s on soft tyres. However, Hamilton’s lead was shortlived as Bottas made a flying lap recording 1m 24.238 in the sister Mercedes beating the benchmark time with just 0.003s. Lewis Hamilton later set a jaw breaking flying lap recording 1m 23.274s widening the margin over Bottas with 0.8s. Red Bull’s Verstappen recorded 1m 23.488s which was two tenths of a second slower than Hamilton after his flying lap on the softs after the team made changes to his rear wing. In the closing stages of the session, Hamilton’s time remained at the top of the timesheets. Verstappen taking P2 and Bottas P3, Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez came in P4 late in the session with 1m 24.047s. Yuki Tsunoda continued his good form which landed him P5 ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris who put quite an impressive performance despite a slow weekend start on Friday. Pierre Gasly in the second AlphaTauri came in P7 as Carlos Sainz marked the first Ferrari at P8. Daniel Ricciardo was impressive today after finishing P9 for McLaren as Charles Leclerc rounded out the top ten. 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix FP3 Results: Pos No Driver Nat. Team Time Gap Laps 1 44 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1:23.274 22 2 33 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1:23.488 +0.214s 23 3 77 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1:24.025 +0.751s 21 4 11 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1:24.047 +0.773s 20 5 4 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1:24.106 +0.832s 16 6 22 Yuki Tsunoda JAP Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1:24.223 +0.949s 21 7 10 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1:24.251 +0.977s 22 8 55 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari 1:24.595 +1.321s 19 9 3 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1:24.733 +1.459s 15 10 16 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari 1:24.758 +1.484s 20 11 18 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1:24.821 +1.547s 21 12 31 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1:24.834 +1.560s 17 13 7 Kimi Räikkönen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1:25.037 +1.763s 22 14 99 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1:25.048 +1.774s 17 15 14 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team 1:25.094 +1.820s 19 16 5 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1:25.115 +1.841s 24 17 63 George Russell GBR Williams Racing 1:25.220 +1.946s 21 18 6 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1:25.322 +2.048s 18 19 47 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1:25.340 +2.066s 17 20 9 Nikita Mazepin RAF Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1:26.332 +3.058s 18

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Wolff and Horner play cool ahead of the final title decider

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and Red Bull’s Christian Horner played cool and even ‘shook on it’ on the Friday press briefing ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale. The rival team bosses have had a somewhat ‘shaky relationship’ throughout the 2021 Formula 1 season. This was evident as the pair barely looked each other in the eye a couple of weeks ago discussing about the 2021 Formula 1 championship. However, today the duo put all the tension aside by shaking twice. The pressure build-up between Red Bull and Mercedes has been immense as they contend for both Drivers and Constructors championship titles. This comes as seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are equal on points as they head to the final campaign of the 2021 Formula 1 season. Verstappen leads with 9 wins ahead of Hamilton with 8. Looking at the Constructors championship, Mercedes is ahead of Red Bull with 587.5 and 559.5 points respectively with Horner saying it would take a miracle to win the Constructors title. “Good luck. May the best man and the best team win,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reaching out to shake Horner’s hand with the constructor’s Championship trophy laying between them. “Exactly,” Red Bull boss Horner replied accepting the handshake,”We’re competing for two of the biggest trophies in sport of course, the competition is intense.” “It would be totally fake to sit here and say how much we love each other… because I’m not going on holiday with you after this weekend.” “The only chance we have to win this championship is to beat Lewis, and we want to do that on the track,” Horner added.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Abu Dhabi GP: Hamilton fastest in second practice as Raikkonen crashes out – Results

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes on the top spot after setting the fastest lap in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix second free practice. Running on the soft tyre compound, the seven-time world champion set a time of 1m 23.691s on the revamped Yas Marina track being the only driver in the 1m 24s. Hamilton’s title rival Max Verstappen ended the session ranking P4, six tenths of a second off the benchmark time. In the early stages of the session, most drivers opted to run on medium tyres and Hamilton topped the time sheets with 1m 24.9s. Verstappen tried to beat the time but got his time deleted for exceeding track limits. The Red Bull driver later tried his luck again recording 1m 25s. Another driver who got his lap time deleted was Fernando Alonso after trying to be as fast as his teammate Esteban Ocon who was the second fastest. Valtteri Bottas finished third just three tenths of a second slower than his teammate. With darkness setting in on the track, the drivers had a brief experience of track conditions as they head to the Qualifying round on Saturday and the race on Sunday. Sergio Perez was the fifth fastest driver behind Verstappen in the sister Red Bull as Fernando Alonso finished P6 despite his lap time getting deleted earlier on. Yuki Tsunoda put an an impressive performance for AlphaTauri after being the seventh fastest as his teammate Pierre Gasly was down in 10th. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished P8 and P9 respectively. Daniel Ricciardo led McLaren in 11th place with Lando Norris finishing 13th as Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi separating the duo in 12th place. Sebastian Vettel was the fastest of the Aston Martins at P14 ahead of Lance Stroll. Kimi Raikkonen was P16 despite bringing out red flags in the closing stages of the session after crashing heavily into the barriers at Turn 14. George Russell on his first stint of the day finished P17 for Williams ahead of his teammate Nicholas Latifi in P18. Mick Schmacher led Haas in P19 six tenths of a second clear of Nikita Mazepin. 2021 F1 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (2) POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m23.691s 2 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1m24.034s 3 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m24.083s 4 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m24.332s 5 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1m24.400s 6 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team 1m24.495s 7 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m24.532s 8 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m24.557s 9 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m24.844s 10 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m24.940s 11 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m24.959s 12 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m25.108s 13 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m25.153s 14 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m25.195s 15 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m25.385s 16 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m25.440s 17 George Russell GBR Williams Racing 1m25.549s 18 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m25.687s 19 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m25.748s 20 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m26.336s

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Mercedes rules out having a new power unit for Lewis Hamilton

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Mercedes announced they have no plans to issue Lewis Hamilton with a fresh power unit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale. Lewis Hamilton will not be having a new Internal Combustion Engine this weekend which will mark the end of the 2021 Formula 1 season. Hamilton has already used five engines in the 2021 campaign which exceeds the permitted engine allocation which is three. The 36-year-old had to incur grid penalties in the Turkish and Sao Paulo GPs for the extra two engines used. Word had been going round that Mercedes may be in consideration of having a new ICE on Hamilton’s car giving him an edge in performance over Max Verstappen. The two title rivals are currently equal on points as they head to Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale. Mercedes engineer Andrew Shovlin shut down the engine change allegations in an interview with Sky Sports. “Not on the plan… If we do that, something has gone wrong. It wouldn’t feel like a good idea. That would only be if we suffer a big problem, and even that wouldn’t be Plan A if we did lose an engine,” Shovlin said. There has been a lot of talk over the ICE that Hamilton used in Brazil, as Red Bull boss Christian Horner described it as ‘unraceable’ after Mercedes dominance in Brazil and Jeddah rounds. “It’s not as big a deal as it’s perhaps being made out to be, I think Red Bull were inferring it was a huge difference and I think Toto did the same at one point. It’s a useful step in the right direction,” Shovlin added. “Whether we had it in, or not, at the last race, it’s not going to cover the kind of gap that we were seeing to Max over a single lap. But it’s a step in the right direction.”

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Abu Dhabi GP: Max Verstappen outpaces Mercedes in FP1

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was the fastest in the first practice session of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Verstappen was two tenths of a second clear of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas who was the second fastest as Lewis Hamilton came in third. The Friday afternoon practice session was the first opportunity Formula 1 drivers had sampling the renovated Yas Marina Circuit. The track underwent alterations on Turn 5, 9 and 12 to 15 complex. Verstappen set the pace on the early stages of the session despite complaining about his steering wheel which he described as ‘right hand down and really annoying to drive.’ However, he was able to beat title rival Lewis Hamilton by two tenths of a second in the first Red Bull runs. Lewis Hamilton was able to get within 0.055s off Verstappen but the Red Bull driver extended his lead with three tenths of a second. Hamilton would later have another flying lap getting within 0.033 of Verstappen’s 1m 25.009s time but got his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits on the last turn. Verstappen’s lap time proved unbeatable even in the final stages as Bottas managed to come within 0.196s finishing P2. Hamilton came in at P3 just 0.008s clear of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. Yuki Tsunoda started the weekend with a stunning performance for AlphaTauri which landed him at P5, closely followed by Alpine’s Fernando Alonso. Yuki’s teammate Pierre Gasly finished P7 as Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished P8 and P9 respectively. Ferrari encountered problems as Leclerc lost the first 20 minutes of the practice session, Sainz also complained that his car felt ‘quite bad’. Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top 10. Alpine’s second car finished at P11 after Esteban Ocon experienced a technical hitch in the opening stages of the session slowing down, he also had a close shave after missing the wall on Turn 14. Lando Norris finished P12 ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who is on his final weekend racing in Formula 1. His teammate Antonio Giovinazzi finished P14. Lance Stroll finished P15 and Daniel Ricciardo closely followed in P16. Jack Aitken finished 17th in his debut practice session in Formula 1 as he acted as a replacement for George Russell in Williams. The sister car finished P18 with Nicholas Latifi as Haas duo Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin finished P19 and P20 respectively. 2021 F1 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (1) POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m25.009s 2 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m25.205s 3 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m25.355s 4 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1m25.363s 5 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m25.378s 6 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team 1m25.625s 7 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m25.822s 8 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m25.846s 9 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m25.886s 10 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m26.007s 11 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1m26.025s 12 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m26.123s 13 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m26.189s 14 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m26.409s 15 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m26.608s 16 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m26.678s 17 Jack Aitken GBR Williams Racing 1m27.481s 18 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m27.487s 19 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m27.698s 20 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m28.305s

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

F1 extends partnership to race in Yas Marina for 10 years

Kevin Peterson02 mins

F1 and Yas Marina Circuit on Thursday extended their partnership to host Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for 10 more years up to at least 2030. Formula One announced on Twitter that Abu Dhabi have extended their deal to host high-energy races with the inaugural race back in 2009 at the venue well into the future as the United Arab Emirates becomes one of the top venues on the F1 calendar. The deal also means the Abu Dhabi will continue to host the final race of the Formula 1 season in its now traditional slot to bring the curtain down on the year-long campaign. “The promoter always creates an incredible show for the final race of every F1 season and combined with the changes made to improve the racing on Yas Marina Circuit we are excited for the many years of racing in Abu Dhabi that are ahead of us,” F1 president Stefano Domenicali said. Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which is the 22nd race of this year and also the final round in the 2021 World Championship, will name this year’s champion. The 2021 title contenders, Red Bull Racing Honda’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ British star Lewis Hamilton collected 369.5 points each before this weekend’s race in the United Arab Emirates.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Haas drivers warned to be careful at Abu Dhabi finale as team runs out of spare parts

Kevin Peterson04 mins

Haas drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin will have to avoid damages to their Formula 1 cars in the Abu Dhabi season finale this weekend. This comes after the team declared that it’s running out of spare parts ahead of the final race at Yas Marina this weekend. The team suffered damage to two chassis in Qatar and Saudi Arabian Grand prix after Mick Schumacher crashed out of the Jeddah race. Nikita Mazepin also had a violent crash in the race which damaged his replacement chassis beyond repair after the previous one was lost at Losail. “The last two races, Saudi and Qatar, we had some damage and there was no time to recover or to make new parts obviously,” Haas team principal Guenther Steiner explained. “So our stock is pretty low on parts but we have got enough to do the race if we don’t have any big accidents on Friday, then we will be OK. “But the drivers will be made aware of the situation – I think they are already aware that they cannot take any risks on Friday. “It’s not like that we are completely without parts. We’ve got enough parts. If we have a Friday this weekend like we had Sunday last weekend, we wouldn’t survive that.” Haas is coming to the end of a season with what is essentially – bar minor upgrades – the same car that it started the season with in Bahrain. It has proved a tricky car for its all-rookie line-up to handle at times, with Schumacher crashing out of qualifying at Paul Ricard and missing qualifying at the Hungaroring due to an FP3 crash. His team-mate Mazepin spun out on the first lap of the Bahrain season-opener and has lost control of his Haas on multiple further occasions. When asked if it was just chassis damage that Haas is vulnerable to this weekend, Steiner admitted stock of the rest of the parts “is not high” but the chassis is the main concern. “We’ve got enough of wings and floors so we should be OK with that one,” he added. “But let’s see, normally when you do a chassis you need other parts as well so we just need to be a little bit careful on Friday but then we will be OK.”