2014 Abu Dhabi GP - Yas Marina

[turbof1]

I dont see anything chance of a non Merc finishing 2nd if LH has got a reliable car, so the only way NR can win the championship is if LH DNF or some freak SC period that mess up LH pit stop.

If Vettel can do a comeback drive on this track, I'm sure Hamilton would be able to do that too. Even more with such a dominant car.

We have seen Nico doing it in Sochi, which is a very similar track to Abu Dhabi, albeit with glorious tyre advantage in Sochi. This is a long race and with Soft and SuperSoft, there would be lot of pit stops and would create more optimized stint opportunities. In Singapore, Lewis did a phenomenal stint to get a Pit window created. Seb did that come back with RB9, with much lesser performance margin compared to W05.

This is any a high downforce circuit, but I expect both cars to be set up predominantly biased towards Race setup mode and if that happens, then the qualifying margins would be very narrow between Merc and other teams.

Merc engineers would have been working days and nights to ensure reliability and the race planning team is trying to put together all possible plans in case for adversity. As much as it is between the drivers, it would be same with engineers and strategists.

The strategist are only a factor if something goes wrong; in a 1-2 case both drivers follow the exact same strategy. So there's very little competition between the strategists.

I personally think that all resources have been allocated on checking the cars over and over again. The last thing Mercedes wants right now, is a driver championship spoiled because one of their cars broke down.

[SectorOne]

This is a myth created by brundle and the rest of sky "experts".

No it´s not, i think also if you look at times only then any driver outside the top 5 can´t be great in that sector because they are not leading a sector chart somewhere.

It´s juts a particular set of corners that seems to gel really well with his driving style.
Like many other areas/tracks for other drivers.

[tranquility2k4]

This is what Mark Hughes said re Hamilton at Abu Dhabi sector 3 prior to the 2010 Abu Dhabi finale:-

"Alonso's best friend in Abu Dhabi may in fact be Lewis Hamilton. Recall his devastating form there in qualifying last year. He was 0.7secs clear of the field, most of that margin coming in the final sector where he was uniquely at ease with oversteer that helped the car change direction, then skimmed the walls with breathtaking audacity. It was a section that might have been designed specially for him. The McLaren has not been the fastest car for some time now, but there's a chance that Lewis may be able to overturn the deficit - and if he can win the race, that makes it extremely difficult for Webber, let alone Vettel."

Hamilton is well known to handle oversteer better than most other drivers and in-fact sometimes he actually prefers a lot of oversteer in slow-speed sections. All I know is I remember over the past few years when Hamilton was at McLaren, he was always fighting with Vettel for pole, and often matching or beating him in sector 3, even though the Red Bull's biggest asset came in slow-speed corners.

[turbof1]

This is a myth created by brundle and the rest of sky "experts".

No it´s not, i think also if you look at times only then any driver outside the top 5 can´t be great in that sector because they are not leading a sector chart somewhere.

It´s juts a particular set of corners that seems to gel really well with his driving style.
Like many other areas/tracks for other drivers.

I think I choosed my word-use poorly yesterday. Dominating would imply Hamilton topped all S3 times since 2009 in Abu Dhabi. That's of course incorrect and does not reflect what I wanted to say. Red Bull had on many instances a better car which allowed them a better sector time.

However, the very angled and closely stacking corners are very much to the liking of Hamilton, as you said. He really throws his car into those corners, letting the rear step out just a bit to perfectly align his car each time. I've not seen any other driver breathing so much confidence in that set of corners.

[Jonnycraig]

9 more days and one of the worst seasons in F1 history will be a mere blot in the copy books. Thank god.

[astracrazy]

9 more days and one of the worst seasons in F1 history will be a mere blot in the copy books. Thank god.

worst? really?? We've had some of the best races for years and two drivers fighting for the title all year as opposed to a vettel snooze-fest for the last 3-4 years. Some of the past years were terribly boring - vettel pole, vettel storms away [repeat]

[SiLo]

9 more days and one of the worst seasons in F1 history will be a mere blot in the copy books. Thank god.

worst? really?? We've had some of the best races for years and two drivers fighting for the title all year as opposed to a vettel snooze-fest for the last 3-4 years. Some of the past years were terribly boring - vettel pole, vettel storms away [repeat]

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[turbof1]

On track it was a great year; off track one of the worst.

[Harsha]

9 more days and one of the worst seasons in F1 history will be a mere blot in the copy books. Thank god.

worst? really?? We've had some of the best races for years and two drivers fighting for the title all year as opposed to a vettel snooze-fest for the last 3-4 years. Some of the past years were terribly boring - vettel pole, vettel storms away [repeat]

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Racing is Superb this year but off track is much worse than any thing thanks to bernie

[WaikeCU]

This season was pretty good despite the new formula with the turbo era. Sound has been disappointing, but it's the first season, so it might get better. Time will tell. Generally speaking, nobody likes 'Change'. The reason why, is habits are created when consistency occurs. Change in F1 is needed to further develop technology for a better and efficient tomorrow. Racing has been great tbh, Pretty exciting wheel to wheel racing this season. Although it was an exciting season, it must be said that it has been shadowed by Bianchi's incident, the financial problems of certain teams and the inter team dispute at Mercedes, which was sometimes a tad childish. The financial problems of certain teams does raise a question mark if there's sustainability for teams to be able to compete without having financial problems. There must be a major flaw in the business.

[Jonnycraig]

9 more days and one of the worst seasons in F1 history will be a mere blot in the copy books. Thank god.

worst? really?? We've had some of the best races for years and two drivers fighting for the title all year as opposed to a vettel snooze-fest for the last 3-4 years. Some of the past years were terribly boring - vettel pole, vettel storms away [repeat]

One of the most dominant cars in F1 history that has been unbeaten all season in a straight race, along with the loss of several teams and a highly talented driver. Bar the second half of 2013, RB & Vettel never experienced the sort of tedious dominance we have seen this year. Lest we forget a double points race, and at the risk of becoming the politics hour, racing in Russia as a new Cold War develops outside the F1 bubble.

There have been utterly dominant years before of course, but Prost v Senna, or even Mansell v Piquet this has not been.

[astracrazy]

One of the most dominant cars in F1 history that has been unbeaten all season in a straight race, along with the loss of several teams and a highly talented driver. Bar the second half of 2013, RB & Vettel never experienced the sort of tedious dominance we have seen this year. Lest we forget a double points race, and at the risk of becoming the politics hour, racing in Russia as a new Cold War develops outside the F1 bubble.

There have been utterly dominant years before of course, but Prost v Senna, or even Mansell v Piquet this has not been.

i think your being highly negative about this season. on track, the racing has been great. off track, i agree, nothing special.

this prost vs senna take 2 rivalry talk was all fabricated by the press and the press wanted to create it. the press stirred it all up the best they could from monaco. telling each driver the other had said this and that and taking quotes out of context. everytime time the driver didn't bite.

[prince]

One of the most dominant cars in F1 history that has been unbeaten all season in a straight race, along with the loss of several teams and a highly talented driver. Bar the second half of 2013, RB & Vettel never experienced the sort of tedious dominance we have seen this year. Lest we forget a double points race, and at the risk of becoming the politics hour, racing in Russia as a new Cold War develops outside the F1 bubble.

There have been utterly dominant years before of course, but Prost v Senna, or even Mansell v Piquet this has not been.

i think your being highly negative about this season. on track, the racing has been great. off track, i agree, nothing special.

this prost vs senna take 2 rivalry talk was all fabricated by the press and the press wanted to create it. the press stirred it all up the best they could from monaco. telling each driver the other had said this and that and taking quotes out of context. everytime time the driver didn't bite.

Why is the discussion getting dragged into some rivalry and slicing/dicing of 2014 season? This is Abu Dhabi race thread and can that be just left for that purpose?

[WaikeCU]

I think there are lots of teams that want to end 2014 on a high. Teams that have been a disappointing from the start or teams that just want to boost morale going into the winter stop. For example I think Mclaren will yet again be strong, perhaps surprisingly stronger than Red Bull and Ferrari, whereas Williams maybe still want to seal their single race win at the last race. That's why I think the last race might not be a foregone conclusion and Mercedes really have their hands full with the Williams cars.

[Phil]

Indeed. I just added the team standings to the OP.

Team Standings:
1. Mercedes 651 points
2. Red Bull Racing-Renault 373 points (-278)
3. Williams-Mercedes 254 points (-129)
4. Ferrari 210 points (-44)
5. McLaren-Mercedes 161 points (-49)
6. Force India-Mercedes 127 points (-34)
7. STR-Renault 30 points (-93)
8. Lotus-Renault 10 points (-20)
9. Marussia-Ferrari 2 points (-8)
10. Sauber-Ferrari 0 points (-2)
11. Caterham-Renault 0 points (-2)

Interestingly, Mercedes and RedBull are set in their positions; no matter what happens, they'll be finishing the year 1st & 2nd. Behind them, Ferrari and Williams are close (44 points), so the double points might create some opportunities. Given Williams strength though, I think Williams will finish 3rd. Force India might look to finish on a high though and possibly overtake McLaren.

Behind them, Sauber is also in great need of some points - it being the first year since a long time since they haven't scored a single point (would it be their first season?). With double points, I think even a 10th position would be enough to be classified ahead of Marussia? Or would they need a 9th place to overhaul them?