#F1 @etihad Airways #AbuDhabiGP 2023 Preview. #Formula1
Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2022 Race Start, Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Image credit to Robert Szaniszló/NurPhoto/Getty Images. 2023 Abu Dhabi GP Preview, F1 Abu Dhabi GP Preview, 2023 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Preview.
2023 Abu Dhabi GP Preview – After Max Verstappen took his 18th victory of the season in a thrilling Las Vegas Grand Prix, the final round of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2023. This will be the fifteenth edition of the Abu Dhabi GP and the fifteenth time that the event has been run as a World Championship round since the inaugural season in 1950. This also ends the final double header of the season with Las Vegas.
2023 Abu Dhabi GP Preview – A look at the Yas Marina Circuit
The Yas Marina Circuit is a permanent racing circuit located on the stunning Yas Island, 30 minutes away from the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi. The circuit was designed by German designer Hermann Tilke. It is the second purposely built circuit for Formula One in the Middle East with the first being in Bahrain. The circuit twists through Yas Island off the Abu Dhabi coastline passing by the marina and through the iconic five-star, 499 room Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi Hotel designed by New York -based architects Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture of Asymptote Architecture, and winds its way through sand dunes, with several long straights and tight corners. The uniquely scenic waterfront marina-based development includes water and theme parks as well as residential areas, hotels, and beaches. The track has five grandstand areas (Main Grandstand, West Grandstand, North Grandstand, South Grandstand and Marina Grandstand (aka Support)) and part of the pit lane exit runs underneath the circuit. It also features a team building behind the pits, Media Centre, Dragster Track, VIP Tower, and the Ferrari World Theme Park. The circuit also features a powerful lighting system which ensures the transition from day to night racing action.
The cars hit top speeds of 320 kph and average speeds of 195 kph. As well as the waterside marina area, there are high-speed sections (including the longest straight on the F1 calendar), tight corners for overtaking, and sector three which resembles part of a twisty-style street circuit. Overall, its diverse elements come together to create one of the most demanding and longest circuits in the world.
The Yas Marina Circuit underwent redevelopment to shorten the track and the expected lap time in order to increase top speeds and overtaking opportunities. The turn five/six chicane was removed and the hairpin at turn seven was widened. Turns 11–14 have been replaced by one banked curve and the radius of turns 17–20 were increased, to allow the cars to carry more speed, changes to turn 20 allow cars to travel flat out through the corner.
The reconfigured Yas Marina Circuit is 5.281km (3.281 miles) in length with 16 corners and runs in an anti-clockwise direction.
Race distance is 306.183km (190.253 miles) in length with 58 laps in total.
Max Verstappen holds the fastest lap record at the Yas Marina Circuit with a 1:26.103 set at the 2021 event in his Red Bull Racing-Honda RB16B racer.
Lewis Hamilton holds the record for most Abu Dhabi Grand Prix victories with five victories to his name.
Mercedes are the most successful constructors at the Yas Marina Circuit with six victories.
2023 Abu Dhabi GP Preview – Onboard Pole Lap of the Yas Marina Circuit
Here is the onboard pole lap of the Yas Marina Circuit set at last year’s event by Max Verstappen in his Red Bull Racing Honda-RBPT RB18 with the Dutchman posting a 1:23.284. You can watch the video right here at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-90ZTKNTTo.
2023 Abu Dhabi GP Preview – The Last Five Winners
2022: Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing. 2021: Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing. 2020: Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing. 2019: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2018: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1.
2023 Abu Dhabi GP Preview – Tyres
Pirelli will be bringing to the Yas Marina Circuit, the softest tyres in its range, the white side-walled C3 Hards, the yellow-branded C4 P-Zero Medium compounds and the C5 red-marked P-Zero Soft tyres along with the green-branded Intermediate and blue-marked Full Wet tyre compounds in case of rain.
Drivers will have two sets of the hards, three sets of the mediums and eight sets of the softs.
2023 Abu Dhabi GP Preview – DRS Zones
As in 2022, there will be two DRS Zones at the Yas Marina Circuit. The first detection point will be 40 metres after turn seven with the first activation zone 390 metres after turn seven. The second detection point will be 50 metres after turn nine with the second activation zone at turn 10.
2023 Abu Dhabi GP Preview – Pitlane Speeds
Pitlane speed limits will be 80km/h during practice, qualifying and the race.
ICYMI: Verstappen takes 53rd-career victory in thrilling Las Vegas GP
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen equalled four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel to third on the all-time winners list for his 53rd-career victory at a thrilling Las Vegas GP as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc made a late dive up the inside of Sergio Perez into turn 14 to take second place on the final lap.
When the 50-lap Las Vegas GP began, pole-sitter Leclerc got an equal getaway with Verstappen and the latter ran the former wide into turn one to take the lead meanwhile behind them the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz was spun around after tapping the rear-left of Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton.
At the end of the opening lap a virtual safety car was deployed to clear debris off the circuit at turn one as Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas made contact with Alonso after the latter suffered a spin.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez pitted for a new front wing after sustaining damage, whilst Alonso and Bottas also stopped for a set of hards.
When the VSC ended Verstappen held a 2.3 second gap over Leclerc with Mercedes’ George Russell third, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly fourth as Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant completed the top six.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was the first casualty of the Grand Prix after losing the back end of his MCL60 racer and hit the wall into turn 12, which deployed the full safety car.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, and Ferrari’s Sainz also took the opportunity to stop for a fresh set of hards and emerged in 15th and 17th respectively.
Leclerc continued to talk to his team over the radio feeling he should be given the place back.
When the race resumed on lap seven, Verstappen charged away on the rundown into turn one with Leclerc second, Russell third, Gasly fourth as Albon and Sargeant rounded out the top six meanwhile behind them McLaren’s Oscar Piastri made a move on the inside to pass AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda into turn one for tenth place.
On the eighth tour, Verstappen’s lead was up to 1.816 seconds over Leclerc with Russell holding third Gasly fourth as Albon and Sargeant completed the top six.
Verstappen was hit with a five-second timed penalty for forcing Leclerc off the track on the opening tour into turn one.
Hamilton made short work of Tsunoda moving up into 11th place whilst Piastri made his way ahead of Hulkenberg for ninth.
On lap ten, Verstappen’s lead over Leclerc increased to 2.198 seconds with Russell third, Gasly holding fourth as Albon and Sargeant rounded out the top six in their FW45 entries.
In the battle for fourth Gasly was keeping right behind the Mercedes of Russell and the latter covered the Frenchman into turn 14.
Behind them Hamilton follows Piastri through to move up into ninth place after passing Magnussen on the run-down to turn 14.
Upfront, Leclerc was starting to match Verstappen on lap times after finding a good tyre working range on lap 13 as the gap dropped to 1.893 seconds.
On the 14th tour, Piastri dived up the inside of Sargeant into turn 14 and also dropped behind Hamilton into ninth.
On the 15th lap, Verstappen’s lead out-front dropped to 0.598 seconds to Leclerc with Russell third, Gasly fourth as Albon rounded out the top five.
Russell pitted from third on lap 16 for hards and emerged in 13th behind Alonso meanwhile Sargeant stopped from ninth and came out in 16th behind Bottas.
Meanwhile Leclerc on the long famous “Las Vegas Strip”, got into the slipstream and passed Verstappen to reclaim the lead into turn 14, whilst the latter came in for his pit-stop and had to serve his five-second time penalty and emerged in 11th behind Russell.
Piastri and Hamilton also made contact after turn 14 with the former pitting and coming out in 16th.
A tour later, Gasly stopped from third and emerged in tenth behind Verstappen meanwhile Hamilton also pitted after suffering a puncture from his collision with Piastri and came out in 19th behind Ricciardo.
On the 19th lap, the yet-to-pit leader Leclerc was 14.634 seconds clear of Perez who passed Ocon for second place into turn 14, with Stroll fourth and Sainz up into fifth.
A lap later, Verstappen made his way around the outside of Alfa’s Zhou Guanyu into turn 11 to snatch eighth place.
On the 21st tour, Ocon pitted from third for a fresh set of C3 hards and came out in 12th behind Piastri.
The beginning of lap 22 saw Leclerc pit from the lead for a fresh set of hards and emerged in third behind Stroll meanwhile in the fight for fifth, Alonso had Russell tucked right behind the AMR23 into turn one.
On the Las Vegas Strip, Russell breezed his way around the outside of Alonso to take fifth place from the Spaniard before reaching turn 14 and Verstappen also found his way by overtaking the Aston Martin on the inside into the opening corner to take sixth place.
On the 24th tour, Russell flew passed the Ferrari of Sainz down the Las Vegas Strip to grab fourth place whilst Verstappen dived up the inside of the SF-23 into turn 14 to take fifth from the Spanish driver.
At the halfway point of the race, Perez was 10.992 seconds clear of Stroll with Leclerc third, Verstappen fourth as Russell completed the top five.
Meanwhile a tour later, Leclerc made his way ahead of Stroll into second place and behind them Russell and Verstappen made contact after the latter dived up the inside of the Briton into turn 12 with Verstappen suffering damage to his front wing and Russell lost his left-front wheel cover.
A second safety car was deployed for the debris to be cleared, meanwhile Perez pitted from the lead and emerged behind Leclerc as world champion Verstappen pitted for a set of hards and came out in fifth behind Piastri.
On lap 29 when the race resumed, Leclerc breezed ahead of Perez as the Mexican has Gasly having a look at passing the Red Bull into turn one but covered the A523, meanwhile a corner later, Piastri made his way in-front of Gasly to snatch third place.
On the 30th tour, Perez was right back on the Ferrari’s tail in the fight for the lead and later on in the lap, Perez had a look on Leclerc into turn 14 but the Monegasque driver kept the Red Bull at bay.
Lap 32, with DRS assistance down the Las Vegas Strip, Perez on his fresher harder rubber got into the slipstream of race-leader and made a lunge on the inside of Leclerc into turn 14 to take first place meanwhile Verstappen also got ahead of Gasly to move up into fourth place.
A tour later, Verstappen also breezed his way ahead of Piastri on the inside of turn 14 to jump up into third.
Behind them in the battle for fifth, Gasly started to fight with team-mate Ocon as both switched places with the former passing the latter as the Enstone-French squad told their drivers to hold positions and look at managing their tyres.
On lap 35, Leclerc was keeping within DRS range of Perez and later on in the lap at the Las Vegas Strip, the Ferrari driver dived up the inside of the Mexican into turn 14 to reclaim the lead.
On the 36th tour, this put Perez into the clutches of his team-mate Verstappen for the battle for second place and like Leclerc on the Las Vegas Strip – Verstappen moved ahead of his team-mate to grab second.
And on lap 37, on the Las Vegas Strip with DRS assistance, Verstappen dived up the inside of Leclerc to re-take the lead.
With ten laps remaining, Verstappen’s gap was 0.834 seconds ahead of Leclerc with Perez close behind in third, Piastri fourth as the two Alpine’s of Ocon and Gasly were fifth and sixth respectively.
On lap 41, race leader Verstappen broke the DRS hold from Leclerc as Perez in the battle for second continued to intensify with the Mexican tucked behind the Ferrari.
Lap 43 saw Leclerc out-brake himself into turn 13 letting Perez slip through into second place to make it a Red Bull one-two.
Meanwhile on the 44th lap Piastri pitted from fourth for a fresh set of mediums and emerged in 11th place behind Hamilton as Sainz passed Gasly for seventh.
A lap later, Alonso with DRS assistance passed Gasly around the outside on the rundown to turn 14 to take eighth place and at the end of the tour Hamilton pulled a brave overtake on the inside of the final corner to also get ahead of the Frenchman to move up into ninth.
On lap 46, Hamilton passed his former McLaren team-mate Alonso to move up into eighth place using DRS on the Las Vegas Strip as Hulkenberg became the second retirement of the race pulling off into the run-off area.
And on lap 48, Tsunoda also retired from the Grand Prix pulling off at turn 16 due to a gearbox problem as Russell moved up into fifth place overtaking Stroll.
On the final tour with DRS assistance, Leclerc made a late bold dive up the inside of turn 14 to overtake Perez for second place as Verstappen crossed the line to take the Las Vegas GP victory and his 18th win of the season.
Perez finishing third meant the Mexican wrapped up second place in the World Driver’s Championship to make it a Red Bull one-two in the standings.
Alpine’s Ocon finished fourth and in-front of Stroll who took fifth, Sainz who placed sixth as the two Mercedes of Hamilton and Russell came seventh and eighth respectively as the latter was demoted from fourth after receiving a five-second time penalty for his collision with race winner Verstappen.
Aston Martin’s Alonso and McLaren’s Piastri completed the final points places.
The second Alpine A523 entry of Gasly ended the Grand Prix outside the top ten in 11th place and ahead of Williams’ Albon who settled for 12th and Haas F1’s Magnussen who came home in his team’s home race in 13th.
The sole AlphaTauri of Ricciardo finished in 14th and in-front of Alfa’s Guanyu who took 15th, Williams’ Sargeant who came 16th at his third home Grand Prix of the season as Bottas completed the final runner of the race in 17th.
2023 Abu Dhabi GP Preview – The Situation
The final race of the year awaits this weekend with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is on the hunt for his seventh victory in a row to pull closer to his own record of 10 wins on the trot and the Dutchman’s won the last three Abu Dhabi Grands Prix.
The Milton-Keynes based-squad will take some stopping to not end their dominant campaign on a high, with all the attention focusing on second place in the World Constructor’s Championship between Mercedes and Ferrari as the Silver Arrows are only four points ahead of the Scuderia.
Charles Leclerc’s solid second place and Carlos Sainz’s sixth-placed finish last time out on the streets of Las Vegas has given the Prancing Horse a big opportunity to jump Mercedes in the standings.
McLaren’s disappointing result in Las Vegas meant the Woking based-outfit are only 11 points in-front of Aston Martin in the fight for fourth and a strong weekend for Scuderia AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo or Haas could see their positions in eighth, ninth and tenth change after Sunday’s season-closing Grand Prix.
During opening practice, nine teams will field alternate drivers who have not raced in more than two Grands Prix, as required by the Formula One’s regulations: Theo Pouchaire for Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake, Jack Doohan for BWT Alpine F1 Team, Felipe Drugovich for Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team, Robert Shwartzman for Scuderia Ferrari, Oliver Bearman for MoneyGram Haas F1 Team, Pato O’Ward for McLaren Formula 1 Team, Frederik Vesti for Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, Jake Dennis and Isack Hadjar for Oracle Red Bull Racing & Scuderia AlphaTauri; and Zak O’Sullivan for Williams Racing. Dennis and O’Sullivan will make their respective Formula One practice debuts.
Max Verstappen returns to Abu Dhabi as a newly-crowned three-time World Driver’s Champion, sitting on top with 549 points and a 276-point lead over Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez who wrapped up second place in the Driver’s Standings on 273 points whilst Lewis Hamilton is a further 317 behind the Dutchman in third on 232 points.
Oracle Red Bull Racing comes to the Yas Marina Circuit as World Constructors Champions, sitting in P1 with 822 points and a 430-point advantage over nearest rivals Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team who are second on 392 points whilst Scuderia Ferrari are third and a further 434 behind the Milton Keynes based-outfit on 388 points.
Click here for the 2023 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructors Championship Standings.
The Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2023 race weekend begins Friday November 24 with Free Practice 1 and 2, followed by Free Practice 3 and Qualifying Saturday November 25 and the 58 lap Race Sunday November 26.
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