Source: RacePictures.com

F1 News

Preview: The 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Preview: The 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

21-11-2018 16:00
10
Author profile picture

Nicolás Quarles van Ufford

Sadly, the last race of the season is already here. The 21st Grand Prix of 2018 sees the F1 circus travel to the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi for the second night race of the season. What to expect from the last F1-action of the season? Time for a preview!

Flashback

Last year's edition of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was all about Valtteri Bottas. The Finn completed his first 'hattrick' of getting pole position, the fastest lap in the race and the win at the end of the race. It was his third win of the season and indeed of his career, ending his year on a high after Lewis Hamilton had already secured the championship in the race before in Mexico. 

At the front, the race was fairly straight-forward, with the two Mercedes cars chasing each other all race while being miles ahead of the rest of the grid. Daniel Ricciardo did retire from the race with a hydraulics problem.

Carlos Sainz also retired, but with a rather flukey reason. His right front tyre wasn't bolted on properly at his pit stop, causing him to lose all control of the car as soon as he pulled away from the pitlane.

Nico Hülkenberg led the midfield as Renault secured P6 in the constructors' championship behind Williams. Speaking of Williams, their driver Felipe Massa had his last ever race in F1 before retiring (again) after 16 years of driving in F1. The Brazilian finished P10 and joined the championship-winning Mercedes cars in some donuts after the checkered flag waved.

Expectations

There will be a lot of emotional goodbyes at the Yas Marina Circuit this year round. Fernando Alonso will drive his last-ever Grand Prix before retiring. Marcus Ericsson will probably drive his last-ever race in F1 as he'll get replaced by Antonio Giovinazzi at Sauber. Daniel Ricciardo will drive his last-ever race for Red Bull after spending ten years in their program.

Sadly, we don't see either Alonso or Ericsson grabbing any points this weekend. McLaren's car simply isn't there this season as they struggle to get out of Q1 race after race in recent months.

Ricciardo wants to get a podium in his last race for the Bulls, but he isn't expected to get one. This track is all about Mercedes, even though the Siver Arrows haven't been at the top of their game in recent races (Hamilton's win in Brazil was pure luck, let's be honest). Expect Ferrari go out with a bang as well, with Kimi Raikkonen driving his final race in red before joining Sauber for the final chapter of his career. With Ferrari and Mercedes probably firing on all cylinders, Red Bull certainly aren't expected to be winning this race.

Predictions

Valtteri Bottas has had a very up-and-down season, but we think the Finn will finally grab his first win of the season in Abu Dhabi this weekend. He'll have his perfect weekend from last year to feed off of and to boost his (probably low) confidence, and we also think Lewis Hamilton still feels a little guilty about the whole Russia thing

With the long straight, we predict that Ferrari will have some advantage with their more powerful engine. Vettel and Raikkonen will both be fighting for the win, rather than finishing near podium places, as they've been doing recently. The technical corners should throw Red Bull a lifeline though, and we feel like Ricciardo might give us one last hurrah before he moves on to Renault. Max Verstappen has been in an incredible vain of form, but we predict that the Dutchman will finally end his streak of podium-finishes this weekend, as Ricciardo, Ferrari and Mercedes will probably have too much to offer for him.

Top 5 predictions

1. Valtteri Bottas (MER)

2. Sebastian Vettel (FER)

3. Daniel Ricciardo (RBR)

4. Lewis Hamilton (MER)

5. Kimi Raikkonen (FER)