The final round of the season sees F1 head to Abu Dhabi and for a race at dusk as the sunsets on the season. First held in 2009 the circuit built around a desert island gives drivers a challenge as the light drops making conditions difficult to see. The circuit has many different elements a long fast flowing first half before a street stlye final sector around the harbour and paddock.
The circuit features a long back straight where cars zoom along in front of the fans providing lots of opportunities for overtaking. There is also a pit lane where the exit dips under the circuit so cars re-join from the inside after turn two, this has not caught many out over the last few years.
Abu Dhabi has been and once again will be the setting for the title decider as the sunsets over the desert. Will it be Nico becoming only the second son of champion or can Lewis steel his best friends’ title to be a four time champion? One thing we know is Mercedes have been strong here in the hybrid era but Red Bull have been quite strong so they may cause an upset!
Facts and figures
| Race | الاتحاد للطيران سباق جائزة أبوظبي الكبرى
(Ethaid Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) |
| Venue | Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island |
| Circuit Length | 5.554 km (3.451 mi) |
| Laps | 55 |
| Race Distance | 305.470 km (189.810 mi) |
| Lap Record | 1:40.279 (Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing, 2009) |
| Most wins drivers | Sebastian Vettel (3) |
| Most wins manufacture | Red Bull (3) |
Event timetable
| Local | BST | |
| Friday | ||
| P1 | 13:00-14:30 | 09:00-10:30 |
| P2 | 17:00-18:30 | 13:00-14:30 |
| Saturday | ||
| P3 | 14:00-15:00 | 10:00-11:00 |
| Qualifying | 17:00-18:00 | 13:00-14:00 |
| Sunday | ||
| Race | 17:00-19:00 | 13:00-15:00 |
What happened in 2015?
Nico Rosberg took control of the race causing world champion Lewis Hamilton to change his strategy in order to unsuccessfully try and catch him. But Hamilton got caught in traffic when he tried going back onto the same strategy as Rosberg. Kimi Raikkonen finished third while Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel recovered from fifteenth to finish fourth.
2015 vs 2014 Race Data
| P1 Fastest | P2 Fastest | P3 Fastest | Q1 Fastest | Q2 Fastest | Q3 Fastest | Race Time | Fastest Lap | |
| 2015 | 01:43.753 | 01:41.983 | 01:41.856 | 01:40.974 | 01:40.758 | 01:40.237 | 01:38:30.175 | 01:44.517 |
| +0.277 | -0.130 | -0.432 | -0.233 | -0.162 | -0.243 | -01:28.564 | +0.021 | |
| 2014 | 01:43.476 | 01:42.113 | 01:41.424 | 01:41.207 | 01:40.920 | 01:40.480 | 01:39:02.619 | 01:44.496 |
Tyres
| Driver | Ultra soft | Super soft | Soft |
| HAMILTON | 7 | 2 | 4 |
| ROSBERG | 7 | 2 | 4 |
| VETTEL | 7 | 1 | 5 |
| RAIKKONEN | 7 | 2 | 4 |
| BOTTAS | 7 | 2 | 4 |
| MASSA | 7 | 1 | 5 |
| RICCARDO | 6 | 2 | 5 |
| VERSTAPPEN | 6 | 2 | 5 |
| MAGNUSSEN | 6 | 2 | 5 |
| PLAMER | 6 | 3 | 4 |
| HULKENBERG | 8 | 2 | 3 |
| PEREZ | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| KYVAT | 7 | 2 | 4 |
| SAINZ | 7 | 2 | 4 |
| BUTTON | 7 | 1 | 5 |
| ALONSO | 7 | 1 | 5 |
| ERICSSON | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| NASR | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| OCON | 6 | 3 | 4 |
| WEHRLEIN | 6 | 3 | 4 |
| GROSJEAN | 7 | 2 | 4 |
| GUTIERREZ | 7 | 3 | 3 |
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