With both championships already decided, settling for second place is the focus now. The spotlight in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit will be on the battle between Ferrari and Mercedes.
Scuderia Ferrari arrives in Abu Dhabi with a four-point deficit to the German team but buoyed by the excellent result in Las Vegas. Can they replicate this performance in the final race of the season?
As revealed in our analysis, the Yas Marina circuit has properties that can favor both teams. Ferrari, in particular, has shown comfort on circuits known as “rear-limited,” which are more demanding on the rear tires. The Abu Dhabi track partially exhibits these characteristics, especially in the slow and narrow turns of the third sector and the braking zones of Turn 2, providing hope for Ferrari fans.
Additionally, the Emirati circuit is not particularly harsh on tire wear, which could further benefit the SF-23.
Mercedes: Unpredictable W14
For Mercedes, the W14 must regain the downforce qualities it seems to have lost, especially in Brazil and Las Vegas. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s car has often proven unpredictable throughout the season, making it even more challenging to predict its behavior at Yas Marina.
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Regardless, the mix of corners on the track will require teams to adopt setups with relatively high levels of downforce. At the same time, the long straight in the second sector necessitates not sacrificing top speed excessively to avoid being easy targets for overtaking.
Therefore, the preparation for the weekend will be crucial. In this regard, both teams have chosen, or rather, have had to, entrust their cars to two rookie drivers during FP1. Thus, in the first free practice session, we will see Robert Shwartzman and Vesti in place of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Source: f1ingenerale
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