2014 Formula One World Championship - Round Nineteen - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (21-23 November 2014)

[Sven]

After 18 rounds of Formula One for 2014 we finally get to Abu Dhabi and the Yas Marina Circuit for the final race of the year. As usual here is Lewis Hamilton's preview of the track:


Number of Laps: 55
Circuit Length: 5.554 km
Race Distance: 305.355 km
Lap Record: 1:40.279 - S Vettel (2009)

Race time is midnight EDST, and 9pm WST.

Drivers Championship

Rosberg's win over Hamilton in Brazil means that there is a 17 point gap between Hamilton and Rosberg for the title. I've listed the scenarios for the title below. Although Ricciardo didn't finish the race in Brazil he has 3rd place wrapped up. The battle for 4th is almost down to who finishes in front of who in Abu Dhabi with Vettel, Alonso and Bottas separated by a mere 3 points.


1 Lewis Hamilton 334
2 Nico Rosberg 317
3 Daniel Ricciardo 214
4 Sebastian Vettel 159
5 Fernando Alonso 157
6 Valtteri Bottas 156
7 Jenson Button 106
8 Felipe Massa 98
9 Nico Hulkenberg 80
10 Kevin Magnussen 55
11 Kimi Räikkönen 53
12 Sergio Perez 47
13 Jean-Eric Vergne 22
14 Romain Grosjean 8
15 Daniil Kvyat 8
16 Pastor Maldonado 2
17 Jules Bianchi 2

With double points in Abu Dhabi Hamilton wins the Chamionship if Hamilton beats Rosberg over the line or Rosberg finishes lower than 5th. The other scenarios for a Hamilton win are in the table below:

Rosberg Finshes|Hamilton Must Finish
\1|2nd
\2|5th or better
\3|6th or better
\4|8th or better
\5|9th or better

Constructors Championship
The standings in the Constructors Championship is unchanged from Austin and looks to be pretty settled barring a shock result at Yas Marinas.


1 Mercedes 651
2 Red Bull Racing-Renault 373
3 Williams-Mercedes 254
4 Ferrari 210
5 McLaren-Mercedes 161
6 Force India-Mercedes 127
7 STR-Renault 30
8 Lotus-Renault 10
9 Marussia-Ferrari 2
10 Sauber-Ferrari 0

Caterham are making a return for the Abu Dhabi finale, but their existance in F1 will be short lived as all their staff have been made redundant.
The tyre choices at Abu Dhabi are the medium and soft compounds.

 

[Smeg Head]

Surprised to see Vettel sitting 4th considering the year he has had. A measure of his consistency in still banking points.

 

[Forward Press]

Surprised to see Vettel sitting 4th considering the year he has had. A measure of his consistency in still banking points.

Red Bull is the second fastest car this year. There are times when Williams looks faster but overall they have a decent package - when Mercedes faltered this year, Ricciardo in the Red Bull picked up the win.

4th is no surprise imo, the surprise is that Vettel is battling it out down there, with a massive points gap compared to his rookie teammate.

 

[Smeg Head]

Red Bull is the second fastest car this year. There are times when Williams looks faster but overall they have a decent package - when Mercedes faltered this year, Ricciardo in the Red Bull picked up the win.

4th is no surprise imo, the surprise is that Vettel is battling it out down there, with a massive points gap compared to his rookie teammate.

Williams have also tripped themselves up a couple of times when in line for a win. No im surprised how well Vettel has come back in the later stages, he was down 6th or 7th in the points a little while back if i recall.

 

[stmookeyj]

It's probably more of a case of the others not stepping up consistently. Ferrari for one/two races are decent (at least in Alonso's case, Kimi's done SFA), then Williams, then Force India or McLaren for a race, then repeat the cycle

 

[darth_timon]

I've been impressed by Riccardo's maturity. He knows when to push and can pull off some terrific moves, but he isn't reckless.

I hope Hamilton can pull off the title. Barring a disaster, he will.

 

[Sven]

Red Bull is the second fastest car this year. There are times when Williams looks faster but overall they have a decent package - when Mercedes faltered this year, Ricciardo in the Red Bull picked up the win.

4th is no surprise imo, the surprise is that Vettel is battling it out down there, with a massive points gap compared to his rookie teammate.

I think that Williams have clearly got the second fastest car in the field, but they have Q3 speed but not overall race speed. I'd agree that the Red Bull is #2 from a race pace perspective.

Vettel's luck had to change sooner or later and 2015 certainly showed that.

 

[ManWithNoName]

I think that Williams have clearly got the second fastest car in the field, but they have Q3 speed but not overall race speed. I'd agree that the Red Bull is #2 from a race pace perspective.

Vettel's luck had to change sooner or later and 2015 certainly showed that.

You can see the future?

 

[DREAM TEAM BUFF]

This could be Jenson Button's last race

 

[AM]

Australian single seater hopeful Spike Goddard will make his Formula 1 debut having secured a run with Force India at the Abu Dhabi test next week.

http://bit.ly/1EZsQCa

 

[DamoESP]

So according to a heap of posts on twitter it looks like Marussia have shipped equipment and crew to Abu Dhabi and may actually be racing this weekend!

 

[ManWithNoName]

Couple of great articles to have a read of before this weekend by Will Buxton.

The Contenders - Lewis Hamilton
The Contenders - Nico Rosberg

 

[juice t]

Do we get double likes for posts in this thread?

 

[ManWithNoName]

Marussia's attempt to get there have failed. Caterham however will race despite not reaching their crowd funding target.

What a farce the sport has become. Putting all that money towards racing instead of paying hundreds of employees made redundant who had gone months without pay.

 

[DrKrieger]

Marussia's attempt to get there have failed. Caterham however will race despite not reaching their crowd funding target.

What a farce the sport has become. Putting all that money towards racing instead of paying hundreds of employees made redundant who had gone months without pay.

Damn was really hoping they'd be able to get the car on the grid, and collect their earnings from Monaco

 

[DREAM TEAM BUFF]

Do we get double likes for posts in this thread?

No but nice try

 

[DamoESP]

Damn was really hoping they'd be able to get the car on the grid, and collect their earnings from Monaco

Yeah same, and they didn't even need to make the grid, just get it through Parc Ferme

Such a shame, what a waste of Bianchi's and the teams effort

EDIT: and no doubt the earnings could have help pay the all the staff who are now without a job etc.

 

[stmookeyj]

Judging from what was said in the presser Nico didn't want Lewis to channel Schummel Schumi or Senna, not that Lewis would be THAT stupid.

 

[ManWithNoName]

Since it'll no doubt come up: If there were no double points Lewis would need to finish 7th or lower to lose the WDC. As is he needs to finish in the top 2.

 

[RolandF1]

I hope Lewis retires, and Nico finishes 5th so the backlash against the double points is so strong it can't be ignored.

 

[DamoESP]

hahahahahaha don't know why but I found this pretty funny.

 

[ManWithNoName]

 

[darth_timon]

I had a dream last night where I was in Oz with a load of you guys and we had a big screen and lots of beer at the ready for the final race. The sun was hot and the beer was cold and the atmosphere was great!

 

[DREAM TEAM BUFF]

I had a dream last night where I was in Oz with a load of you guys and we had a big screen and lots of beer at the ready for the final race. The sun was hot and the beer was cold and the atmosphere was great!

I have never been in anyone's dreams before

 

[DamoESP]

So, HAM is on top of the timing sheet at the end of FP1 and was .133 seconds faster than ROS in 2nd.

3rd was ALO who is only a mere 1.708 seconds behind :O