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The nineteenth, and the final, round of the 2014 Formula 1 season is at last here. The 2014 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will finally give us the winner of the season long battle between Mercedes teammates and championship rivals, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
This year’s Grand Prix will be the first ever race, in history of Formula 1, to hand out double points to the top ten finishers. This would mean that the winner would get 50, instead of the regular 25 points for a victory. This has made the race even more prominent for all the teams and the drivers in the paddock.
The gap at the top between Hamilton and Rosberg was cut down just 17 points, thanks to Rosberg’s win at the Brazilian Grand Prix. After the missing the previous two races, the Caterham team announced their return at Abu Dhabi, after securing enough funds to race. Only the Marussia cars miss out from the grid, which will see 20 cars racing against each other this Sunday.
The Yas Marina Circuit and the challenge it presents to the drivers
Opened in October 2009, the state-of-the art Yas Marina circuit has been home to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix since its inception. The 2014 race will mark the sixth running of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and the third, as a season finale race in a Formula 1 season.
The 5.554 Km long circuit has three very distinct sectors, the first one having quick flowing corners, while the second sector features two-long straights. The final sector has an extraordinary sequence of low-speed corners, which eventually leads to the start-finish line.
The last sector puts emphasis on the aerodynamic balance of a car, with and fast straights, and medium speed corners, in the first two sectors. Getting the right set-up at the Yas Marina circuit has always been a huge challenge for the drivers. There are two DRS zones in circuit, first one 390m after turn seven, and the other one right after turn nine.
Both the straights are long enough to aid overtaking during the race, with or without Drag Reduction System (DRS) assistance. Since the circuit has a combination of slow and medium corners, and with the track surface being smooth through-out, Pirelli are bringing their softs (the prime) and their super-softs (the option) to Abu Dhabi.
Brake ware is high at Yas Marina because of the 12 braking zones at the circuit, out of which, there are couple of heavy braking points are after the two long straights. Like all the previous editions of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, this year again we will see a twilight race. The race will start as the evening will approach, and will end under the lights.
The title war between the two Mercedes drivers
This is the 29th time that a Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship will be decided at the final round of a season. With a margin of 17 points, Hamilton goes to Abu Dhabi with the destiny of the world championship in his own hands. On the other hand, Rosberg most definitely has to finish ahead of his teammate, and also hope the Brit has a challenging race on Sunday.
With many permutations and scenarios on the table, various possible outcomes can crown, either Hamilton or Rosberg the championship. In a nutshell, even if Rosberg wins the race, his teammate just needs to be second in order to win his second world title. If the German is second, then the Brit would only require a fifth place finish.
Whatever happens, Rosberg has to finish in the top five at any cost to have a glimmer of claiming his first world title. He then has to hope that Hamilton finishes at least three or, maybe even four places below him, depending on the situation. If Rosberg is sixth or lower, then Hamilton can even afford a DNF.
Due to his emphatic win at the previous Brazilian Grand Prix, the momentum is with the German going into Abu Dhabi. That said, Hamilton has already tasted success at the Yas Marina circuit in 2011, albeit as a McLaren racer. Rosberg’s third place finish last year is his best finishing position at Abu Dhabi.
The fight for other places in the championship table
With third place in the championship already secured by Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, the fight for fourth place in the table promises to be a mouth-watering prospect.
Soon to be former world champion, Sebastian Vettel is leading Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso only by two points. The Red Bull Racing driver has 159 points against the Spaniard’s 157. Adding to the drama is Valtteri Bottas, the Williams man is just one point behind Alonso, and will be looking to topple the two world champions in the standings.
The battle for seventh place in the champion between, 2009 World Champion Jenson Button and Brazilian Felipe Massa, also promises to thrill us. Other significant changes in the champion table might come in form of the battle between Kevin Magnussen, Kimi Raikkonen and Sergio Perez. There are only eight points in-between these three drivers, with the McLaren rookie leading the other two.
Abu Dhabi will be the last chance for drivers this season, who are yet to secure a seat for next year, to shine and impress current, or future, team bosses. Jean Eric Vergne, Kamui Kobayashi, the Sauber pairing of Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutiérrez, and McLaren drivers Button and Magnussen, will all try to give their maximum in order to retain a drive in 2015
Constructors’ Championship fights
The Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team will try and secure their record 16th win of the season at Abu Dhabi. Mercedes, having clinched the teams’ championship at the Russian Grand Prix and with Red Bull confirming second position couple weeks ago, the championship table is more or less settled coming into the final race.
Only possible fights are between Williams and Ferrari, for third and fourth place, and in between Toro Rosso and Lotus, for seventh place. McLaren’s second half resurgence has helped them to achieve a healthy margin of 37 points in their fight against Force India, for the fifth place in the championship.
Meanwhile, Sauber, and comeback team Caterham, who have raised enough funds to race, will try and take advantage of Marrusia’s nonappearance by scoring their maiden points the year. The lucrative ninth place in the standings, which carries a significant amount of prize money, is begging to be taken off from the, now defunct, Marussia team.
Caterham have already confirmed that Kobayashi will return to the cockpit at Abu Dhabi, but the identity of his teammate, till now, remains unclear, as Marcus Ericsson has already left the squad.
The qualifying format and race strategy
It is still unclear on how many cars will drop out after the first two phases of qualifying at Abu Dhabi. There is a possibility that five slowest cars each will drop out of Q1 and Q2. It is also a possibility that, in Q1, six cars will be knocked out, and slowest four cars in Q2 will be shown the door.
Whichever format the FIA selects, there is bound to be a shootout of the top ten cars in Q3. Regarding the race strategy, a two stopper was the preferred, and the winning, way to go last year. However, with the softs and super-softs on offer this year, there is a possibility that teams might to opt for three, or four, stop their cars.
The Grand Prix will consist of 55 laps, and with the throttle being used more than 60 percent of the time in a single lap, fuel consumption is regarded high. With its unique underground pit lane exit, the total pit lane time, including stopping at the box, will be around 22 or 23 seconds.
Time to bid farewell
Since this is the season finale race, this might mark as the final race for many ongoing working relationships between teams, drivers and engine makers. After the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel is set to bid Red Bull goodbye after winning four titles with them in six years. The German is set to join Ferrari, replacing Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard in turn might make a shocking return to his former team, McLaren. These two changes were expected, as they became one of the worst kept secrets of the F1 paddock this season. The 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix might well be 2009 World Champion Jenson Button’s last Formula 1 race.
The twilight race will mark Button’s 268th race in a long, and an illustrious racing career. McLaren on the other hand will also bid goodbye to its long serving, and successful, engine partners Mercedes. The British squad will switch over to Honda powered V6s from next year, to once again form a much awaited McLaren-Honda combination.
Lotus Team on the other hand will switch to Mercedes power from next year, breaking ties with former engine partners and longtime backers of the Enstone squad, Renault. With Team Marussia already folded, and the path to make a comeback in the 2015 Formula 1 season for Caterham looking bleak, the new 2015 Formula 1 season may only feature nine teams and eighteen cars. Because of this reason, and some more, few more drivers in the paddock, who are also racing for a ride next year, may also bid goodbye to Formula 1 this year.
Last 5 Winners of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix:
| Year | Driver | Team |
| 2013 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault |
| 2012 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault |
| 2011 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes |
| 2010 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault |
| 2009 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault |
Circuit Lap Record- Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Renault): 1.40.279s (Year 2009)
