2018 United Arab Emirates Grand Prix - Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi, 23-26 November

[Manoah2u]

well, there's some stuff still of interest for AbuDhabi.

lewis and vettel's WDC standings are done, nothing to be done there.
the WCC winner is also done, mercedes.
ferrari 2nd, redbull easily 3rd.

but, there's still quite some movement available.

max can still beat bottas and raikkonen, and allthough he says it doesn't bother him, i'm rather doubtfull about that.

so there's still potential for a interesting battle between Bottas, Raikkonen and Verstappen.

Ricciardo is in a solid spot, so no 'excitement' there. no win, no lose.

Perez can still beat the Hulk, but needs 12 points for that. i don't see him finish 4th, so thtat's dusted realistically too.

magnussen however could still beat perez, and so could alonso, and ocon.

alonso's chances are very slim, but magnussen might be up for the task, and Haas could theoretically still beat Renault in the standings, but needs 25 points for that whilst Renault gets zilch.

Grosjean and Magnussen must put down a pretty awesome result for that, matter of fact, they haven't made that many points together in any single race this season so let's not expect that though.

Sauber could beat RPFI though, and Leclarc can beat Grosjean.

So the things i'd think are to 'look out for' @ Abu Dhabi is the battle between

Bottas vs Raikkonen vs Verstappen,
Magnussen vs Perez
Leclerc vs Grosjean

and

Sauber vs Racing Point Force India.

Hamilton is still on a high, and this track suits the Merc well, so he'll be able to win this GP easily.
Bottas is a facade and pretty much lobotomized knowing his position, so winning is out of the question,
but the battle for 2nd or 3rd is still something Merc obviously wants to secure.
Vettel is pretty much non-caring right now and Raikkonen moves to Sauber anyway.

Hamilton for the win,
Bottas, Raikkonen or Verstappen for 2nd and 3rd.
Vettel and either of the above for 4th.

Expecting another DNF for Alonso,
another seriously appallingly weak performance of VanDoorne, good riddance he's out next year.

Williams announcement of Kubica driving in 2019 for them.

[dans79]

I hope they all run similar strategies so that the race is more straightforward. Personally I don't think RBR are nearly as good as may claim they are. Excluding Mexico, I think they have been befitting form the political and strategic war going on between Mercedes and Ferrari!

[Just_a_fan]

Hamilton is still on a high, and this track suits the Merc well, so he'll be able to win this GP easily.
Bottas is a facade and pretty much lobotomized knowing his position, so winning is out of the question,
but the battle for 2nd or 3rd is still something Merc obviously wants to secure.
Vettel is pretty much non-caring right now and Raikkonen moves to Sauber anyway.

I could see Hamilton helping Bottas to the win to keep his championship finishing place - a certain bit of "thank you" for the season. I don't see Vettel doing the same to help Kimi. I don't think either Finn would want it that way, however.

[Manoah2u]

@dan

I think you then completely missed seeing how fast RB was. Both @ Mexico and Brazil they were blazing fast.
Max was able to overtake a Ferrari on the straight. Had it not been for the contact between Max and Ocon,
then Max would have easily won the Brazil GP.

They have been superbly fast for the past 4 to 5 grand prix, with Mexico and Brazil standing out the most.
There was zero benefit from anything between Ferrari and Mercedes, it was on pure speed and tactics.

[Manoah2u]

I could see Hamilton helping Bottas to the win to keep his championship finishing place - a certain bit of "thank you" for the season. I don't see Vettel doing the same to help Kimi. I don't think either Finn would want it that way, however.

Nah, not gonna happen. First of all, Hamilton is by every means faster than Bottas,
and thus he'll be in front of him either way. Hamilton is also after race wins in the end,
and also the challenge of pole position is with him. He is on a high, and wants to finish the season
on a high. There's no saying what'll happen next year, with prospects of RedBull being in a WCC and WDC
position.
That means AbuDhabi could be the last chance for Mercedes to dominate, or the last chance for an 'easy'
win. They'll want to grab that win as much as they can.
Putting their 'money' on Bottas, and thus needing Hamilton to tune it down a notch, is far too big of a risk.

first of all it is unfair, as it's more or less 'setting up the race'. second of all, bottas is slower in all areas,
so hamilton must hold back and that endangers not only his own race result, but also that of the reason he's holding back, bottas. so by trying to 'present' the win to bottas, mercedes might dig their own grave and 'present' the win to either Ferrari (Vettel), which will make the headlines into a reboosted Ferrari spirit due to winning the final GP,
and a story that Mercedes are in trouble especially after their last GP had engine problems.
There's also Max to take into the equation, who will happily steal both positions and take the highest step.
boosting RB morale even further, and the result is still: nothing for Bottas.

if Bottas wants to win, he'll have to do it on his own merit. He can't, so he won't. Hamilton is far too good and on a far higher level. Bottas is nothing but a 2nd range nr2 driver. I'll even predict 2019 will be his last year with Mercedes, and see him get replaced in 2020. but that's another story.

I think Bottas will be lucky if he even MANAGES himself to make p3 in qually, i fully expect him to reach P4 at maximum. Getting P3 is probably the best he can achieve i'd say, P2 is only due to the car itself being faster than the rest and having great tactics and Ferrari's usual bad tactics.

[Cannonballer]

I hope Alonso gets, at least, a point in his last grand prix.

Indeed. BTW, he's in the 6-hour Shanghai race going on right now! Just under 2 hours to go.

I hope Alonso finishes the race.
I'm tired of seeing "once upon a time" cutting edge McLaren technology on the grass half way through the race

Yeah, Alonso scoring a point is bit unrealistic. That we are just hoping to see Alonso avoid a DNF at his final race in F1 is quite the commentary on how far Mclaren have fallen.

[TheGkbrk]

It feels strange knowing this will be the last time I will see Fernando on track in a Formula 1 car. Scoring will be hard, Mclaren lost its midfield spot so long ago but I hope he will see the chequered flag. I will be crying no doubt, F1 won't be the same for me.

[ian_s]

Don't forget Baku, without that puncture he should have won it.

Personally i want either Hamilton or Räikkönen to win. Hamilton so he can put the "never won a race after winning a championship", and Kimi so he can stick fingers up at Ferrari as he leaves.

Hamilton to win so he can put the "never won a race after winning a championship"

Have a wild guess what happened in the last race we had in Brazil 7 days ago.

There was still a championship to be won. Now there isn't, so he can really put that behind him.
add to that winning the last races in a season will put him in a good place for starting next year well.

[NathanOlder]

Don't forget Baku, without that puncture he should have won it.

Personally i want either Hamilton or Räikkönen to win. Hamilton so he can put the "never won a race after winning a championship", and Kimi so he can stick fingers up at Ferrari as he leaves.

Hamilton to win so he can put the "never won a race after winning a championship"

Have a wild guess what happened in the last race we had in Brazil 7 days ago.

There was still a championship to be won. Now there isn't, so he can really put that behind him.
add to that winning the last races in a season will put him in a good place for starting next year well.

He still won a race after winning THE championship though.

[LM10]

Hamilton is still on a high, and this track suits the Merc well, so he'll be able to win this GP easily.
Bottas is a facade and pretty much lobotomized knowing his position, so winning is out of the question,
but the battle for 2nd or 3rd is still something Merc obviously wants to secure.
Vettel is pretty much non-caring right now and Raikkonen moves to Sauber anyway.

I could see Hamilton helping Bottas to the win to keep his championship finishing place - a certain bit of "thank you" for the season. I don't see Vettel doing the same to help Kimi. I don't think either Finn would want it that way, however.

Reason?

[TAG]

I could see Hamilton helping Bottas to the win to keep his championship finishing place - a certain bit of "thank you" for the season. I don't see Vettel doing the same to help Kimi. I don't think either Finn would want it that way, however.

Reason?

You've been around the block long enough to know the answer, your response comes off a bit passive aggressive. Save your energy for next year we all deserve a dignified winter break.

[foxmulder_ms]

Kimi for the win. Seb for the "toys out of pram" episode. Ferrari wondering why they sacked the wrong driver. Everyone goes in to winter laughing.

Sing it brother! Yeah we wantsssz.

[Just_a_fan]

I could see Hamilton helping Bottas to the win to keep his championship finishing place - a certain bit of "thank you" for the season. I don't see Vettel doing the same to help Kimi. I don't think either Finn would want it that way, however.

Reason?

Because he's given up (on this year at least) and because, ultimately, I think he's selfish and doesn't care a damn about his team mate.

[dans79]

@dan

I think you then completely missed seeing how fast RB was. Both @ Mexico and Brazil they were blazing fast.
Max was able to overtake a Ferrari on the straight. Had it not been for the contact between Max and Ocon,
then Max would have easily won the Brazil GP.

In mexico they where fast, because of their down force. In Brazil they where fast because they sacrificed one lap performance for tire life. No to mention they have fresher pu than all their competitors.

[GrandAxe]

Alonso finishing his F1 career in a markedly diminished McLaren team is a bit like karma. I wish him all the best in his new racing series though, his on-track skills are undeniable.

As for winning the last race meaning a driver can start the next season on a high, well that's a bit of a stretch. No high (or low) can last more than a week, talk less four months (especially if one is already the WDC or has had a solid season). The last race win psychology stuff is pure journalistic hyperbole to get in the clicks, something there's no benefit for us to get involved in.

The race should be between Merc and Ferrari for the win, with Red Bull losing all their high altitude shine to finish as the distant third best team. Tyres should also no longer be a problem as teams regain their normal levels of downforce as well as normal levels of tyre and brake cooling.