2024 Formula 1 season, 24e and last episode. The longest season in F1 history comes to an end in Abu Dhabi, from December 6 to 8. At the end of a year 2024 which will have worn out the bodies of the pilots and mechanics who have traveled all over the world, the challenges are still palpable. If Max Verstappen has been assured since the Las Vegas Grand Prix of being titled a fourth time in a row among the drivers, the battle for the constructors’ title rages on.
McLaren for a first since 1998?
If Red Bull has long held the lead in the championship, it is between McLaren and Ferrari that the constructor’s title will be played out. With 640 points, the British team looks set to lift its first team trophy since 1998, when Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard were still at the wheel. But Ferrari, which enjoyed a magnificent comeback in the second part of the season, has not said its last word. With 619 points, the prancing horse team can still dream of a first constructor’s title since 2008, with Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen.
But 21 points is a lot for Frédéric Vasseur and his men. The situation is simple, if Ferrari manages to achieve a double coupled with the point of the best lap (44 points) and McLaren places its cars 3e et 6e (23 points), the Italians will be crowned constructors’ world champions based on the number of victories (six against five), while the two teams would be on 663 points. Whatever happens, the 2024 season will remain as the first season since 2010 where neither Red Bul (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2022, 2023) nor Mercedes (from 2014 to 2021) will be titled world constructors’ champions.
A little further down the rankings, the battle for 6e place is still undecided. Boosted by her double podium in Brazil (Ocon 2eGasly 3e), Alpine went from 9e at 6e place. If Haas had regained the position after the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the 5e Pierre Gasly’s place in Qatar last Sunday gives the French team (59 points) five points ahead of Haas (54 points) and 13 over Racing Bulls (46 points). Note that Esteban Ocon, sidelined by Alpine after the race in Qatar in favor of Jack Doohan, will not participate in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The characteristics of the Yas Marina circuit
Length : 5,281 km
Number of turns: 16 (6 left, 10 right)
Number of turns: 58
Most pole positions: Lewis Hamilton (5, between 2009 and 2019)
Most wins: Lewis Hamilton (5, between 2011 and 2019)
Record of the circuit : 1’22” 109 (Max Verstappen, 2021)
Circuit race record: 1’26” 103 (Max Verstappen, 2021)
Built on an artificial island, the ultra-modern Yas Marina circuit is one of the tracks where drivers turn counter-clockwise (counter-clockwise). Shortened from 21 to 16 turns since 2021, it has the particularity of having a pit exit lane which passes under the circuit. Apart from that, its two long straights offer overtaking possibilities while the last sector is made up of slow turns winding along the edge of the marina and under the circuit hotel.
A lap of the Yas Marina circuit embedded in Charles Leclerc’s helmet
2021: a world title against a backdrop of controversy
How to talk about the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix without returning to this Sunday, December 12, 2021. At the end of one of the craziest seasons in the history of Formula 1, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) arrive in the United Arab Emirates with the same number of points (369.5). The situation is simple: the Dutchman will win his first world title if he finishes ahead of the Briton, who can make history by becoming the only driver to have been crowned eight times. If Max Verstappen takes pole position, the Red Bull driver loses his advantage from the first corner, overtaken by Lewis Hamilton.
Thanks to a better pace throughout the Grand Prix, the Mercedes driver led the race masterfully and headed straight for the world title. With Max Verstappen 2eRed Bull tries everything by asking Sergio Pérez to extend his first stint to hinder Lewis Hamilton. But nothing happens, the Briton is on another planet and maintains a lead of 10 seconds. Advance reduced to nothing when Nicholas Latifi, then Williams driver, smashed his car into the walls of sector 3. What followed was an incredible management of the safety car which allowed Max Verstappen to return to the pits and switch to soft tires, while Lewis Hamilton is on used hard tires. Then comes the inevitable. The Dutchman overtook the Briton at the turn 5 hairpin and won, thanks to an overtake on the last lap of the last Grand Prix of the season, his first Formula 1 world championship title.
