#Formula1 Etihad Airways #AbuDhabiGP 2022 Preview. #F1
Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2022 Race Start, Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Image credit to Peter Fox/Getty Images. 2022 Abu Dhabi GP Preview, Abu Dhabi GP Preview, F1 Abu Dhabi GP, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
2022 Abu Dhabi GP Preview – After George Russell lead home team-mate Sir Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes’ first victory and one-two of this season at the Sao Paulo GP, the final round of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship returns to the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2022. This will be the fourteenth edition of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the fourteenth time that the event has been run as a World Championship round since the inaugural season in 1950.
2022 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 last year’s 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 AMG Petronas Formula One Team are the most successful constructors at the Yas Marina Circuit with six victories.
2022 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 RB16B with the Dutchman posting a 1:22.109. You can watch the video right here at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_jdcUVtaTU.
2022 Abu Dhabi GP Preview – The Last Five Winners
2021: Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing. 2020: Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing. 2019: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2018: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2017: Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1.
2022 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.
2022 Abu Dhabi GP Preview – DRS Zones
As in 2021, 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.
2022 Abu Dhabi GP Preview – Pitlane Speeds
Pitlane speed limits will be 80km/h during practice, qualifying and the race.
ICYMI: Russell storms to maiden victory at a dramatic Brazil GP
Russell Brazil GP victory – George Russell lead home team-mate Sir Lewis Hamilton to his maiden victory in a Mercedes one-two at the Brazil GP as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz completed the top three.
Pole-sitter Russell pulled clear at two safety restarts to avoid a fight with his team-mate, who was told he was free to race, as Hamilton recovered from his drop to eighth after tangling with his 2021 title-rival Max Verstappen in what was an action-packed Grand Prix at the Autodromo Carlos Pace.
With Red Bull’s day getting worse when Sergio Perez was stuck on the wrong tyre for the last stint, Ferrari capitalised to grab third and fourth – Sainz leading team-mate Charles Leclerc despite the latter complaining to the team to switch drivers round to secure second in the World Driver’s Championship.
Similarly, ordered to do so, Verstappen did not give the position back to team-mate Perez on the final tour to lead Red Bull home in sixth and seventh.
When the 71-lap Brazil GP began, pole-sitter Russell made a solid getaway off the line keeping team-mate Hamilton behind on the approach to the Senna S and breezed into the lead out front. Behind them, McLaren’s Lando Norris had a rapid start passing medium-tyre starter Leclerc and was side-by-side with both Red Bulls, but somehow the trio avoided contact and Verstappen emerged in-front.
Perez ultimately had the MCL36 covered as Russell ran clear from his team-mate, who in-turn had comfortable space over Verstappen before an opening lap safety car.
Further back, yesterday’s Sprint pole-sitter Kevin Magnussen, who had finished eighth in the 100km race, appeared slow off turn seven and was clipped in the right-rear by the chasing McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo.
This sent the Haas VF-22 racer into a spin and as Magnussen rolled back, he slammed into the Australian – who is without a drive in 2023 – to send the departing McLaren driver into the tyre barriers.
When the race resumed on lap six after the clean-up, Russell pulled clear whilst behind him, Red Bull reacted well when Verstappen took the opportunity to take second around the outside of the Senna “S”, but as the corner snaked right, the Dutchman made contact with rival Hamilton.
Both took to the run-off area, with Verstappen coming off worse with damage to his front wing and stopped for mediums, whilst Hamilton remained out with suspected floor damage as he fell to eighth.
The stewards deemed the Red Bull driver to be at fault and was hit with a five-second penalty.
Behind, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was in the wars and made the move on Norris into turn seven, but the pairing also made contact, as the McLaren understeered into the side of the F1-75 racer and sent it spinning into the outside barrier.
Leclerc was able to continue to prevent another safety car deployment and pitted for mediums, whilst the stewards also gave Norris a five-second penalty.
On lap ten Russell held a 1.656 second lead over Red Bull’s Sergio Perez with Sainz a further three seconds in-front of Norris, ninth-starting Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel up in fifth and the sole-remaining Haas of Mick Schumacher.
Hamilton was on the move again, passing four-time world champion Vettel through sector two and then using DRS assistance to overtake Norris into turn one for fifth place, which became fourth when Sainz was forced to come in on the 18th tour for softs after a visor tear-off caused his right-rear brake duct to catch fire.
Meanwhile Russell, was happy on his C4 red side-walled compounds and ordered his team to leave him out as he built a 3.5 second gap to Perez whilst Hamilton was closing in on the Mexican by 0.4 seconds per lap.
Red Bull reacted with a solid 2.0 second pit-stop for Perez as he switched to the mediums but re-joined behind Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and was hugely delayed by the C42 racer for the rest of the tour.
Mercedes reacted by bringing in race-leader Russell the following tour on lap 25 for his swap to mediums, which placed Hamilton on his starting soft rubber into the lead by over ten seconds.
The seven-time world champion was a second per tour slower than his Mercedes team-mate and pitted on lap 30 with a 3.3 second change to the C3 yellow-branded mediums. Hamilton emerged in fourth and eight seconds behind Sainz.
As temperatures at Interlagos dropped, the Mercedes duo looked to come alive on the medium compounds, as Sainz stopped again to undercut Perez, Russell was lapping 0.6 seconds (to lead by eight seconds) and Hamilton 0.8 seconds faster to close within two seconds reaching the 40th tour.
A solid run through the opening sequence gave Hamilton a shot a Perez into turn four on the 44th lap, with Perez covering the Briton initially, but then with DRS assistance and a slipstream, the Mercedes driver could out-pace the RB18 up the pit-straight to reclaim second place.
Red Bull pitted Perez for mediums on lap 48 and although he continued in fourth place, the powerful undercut forced Mercedes into action as the pairing stopped for a set of C4 softs for the last stint.
Hamilton at first protested the call before pitting and lost out to Sainz, whose mediums were now 12 laps old, as Russell re-emerged 1.1 seconds before a virtual safety car deployment.
McLaren suffered a double-DNF as Norris pulled off track, which created a window for Sainz to take a cheaper pit-stop and put on a scrub-set of softs for the remaining 17 tours.
Then the full safety car was deployed to tighten the pack, and per both Mercedes drivers’ comments before the Grand Prix, no team orders were set to leave Hamilton clear to race his leading team-mate.
Russell repeated his earlier work at the second restart of the race by delaying his launch until he was level with the pit-entry line, with both Mercedes W13 entries moving clear of Perez, who had to defend hard against Sainz until DRS was re-enabled and he overtook for third on lap 63 on the back straight.
With the Red Bull pre-occupied, Russell lead his team-mate Hamilton home by 1.529 seconds to secure his maiden F1-career victory at the Brazil GP as the Silver Arrows finally got off the mark in the 2022 campaign with a one-two finish.
Leclerc was able to relegate Perez further with DRS to give the Scuderia a recovered third and fourth-placed finish, whilst Alpine’s Fernando Alonso – charging in the final stint to overtake his feuding team-mate Esteban Ocon, Bottas and Vettel – added fuel to the Red Bull pain as he snagged fifth six tours from the finish line.
On his inferior medium compounds, Perez did not fight team-mate Verstappen into the opening corner as the RB18 duo finished sixth and seventh respectively ahead of Ocon, Bottas, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Vettel – the retiring German also suffering later on with degraded medium rubber.
Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly finished 12th and ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu who was 13th, Haas F1 Team’s Schumacher who took 14th and the Williams Racing duo Alexander Albon and Nicholas Latifi who brought up the rear.
2022 Abu Dhabi GP Preview – The Situation
Max Verstappen returns to Abu Dhabi as newly-crowned two-time World Driver’s Champion and sits on top of the standings with 429 points and ahead of both Charles Leclerc and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez who are both tied on 290 points in second and third respectively and are a further 139 behind the Dutchman as the duo battle it out for the runners up spot in the Driver’s Championship this weekend.
The thrilling 2022 campaign comes to an end this weekend at the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with Sir Lewis Hamilton seeking to claim his first victory of the season and Verstappen looking for a record 15th, at the venue of their epic 2021 fight.
Whilst Verstappen has already secured his second consecutive world title and Red Bull sealed the Constructor’s Championship, there is still plenty to play for at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Leclerc and Perez go into the finale level on points in the battle for the vice-championship spot in the driver’s standings after both were denied assistance from their respective team-mates last time out in Brazil.
Meanwhile George Russell leading home Mercedes team-mate Sir Lewis Hamilton in a one-two finish at Interlagos had brought the Silver Arrows within 19 points of the Scuderia, meaning another strong outing for the Brackley-Brixworth outfit could see them steal second place in the Constructor’s Championship.
Whilst BWT Alpine F1 Team have built a strong gap between them and McLaren in the battle for fourth, close fights between Alfa Romeo for sixth, and Haas F1 Team fighting Scuderia AlphaTauri for eighth place.
There will also be the final round of the FIA Formula 2 World Championship, with Logan Sargeant needing to have a solid performance to ensure he secures the required Super Licence points to take a seat on the Formula 1 grid with Williams Racing next season.
F1 reserves Pietro Fittipaldi, Jack Doohan and the aforementioned Sargeant are due to drive for Haas, Alpine and Williams respectively during the opening practice session on Friday. Newly-crowned Formula 2 World Champion Felipe Drugovich and Pato O’Ward are set to drive for Aston Martin and McLaren respectively in the same session, making their Formula 1 practice debuts.
This Grand Prix is set to be the last for Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel who is retiring as well as the last for McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi, both of whom have been unable to gain a seat on the Formula One grid for the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.
The final race of the year is also due to be the last for Fernando Alonso at Alpine and Pierre Gasly at AlphaTauri before moving to Aston Martin and Alpine respectively for the next campaign.
Oracle Red Bull Racing comes into the final Grand Prix of the year, crowned as World Constructor’s Champions and on top of the standings with 719 points and a 195-point advantage over nearest rivals Scuderia Ferrari who are second on 524 points whilst Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team are a further 214 points behind the Silver Arrows in third place on 505 points. Both the Scuderia and the Silver Arrows still are in the fight for second place in the Constructor’s Championship with just 19 points separating the two outfits heading into the approaching race weekend.
McLaren’s Ricciardo also carries a three-grid-placed-penalty for causing a collision with Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen at last round’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Click here for the 2022 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructors Championship Standings.
The Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2022 race weekend begins Friday November 18 with Free Practice 1 and 2, followed by Free Practice 3 and Qualifying Saturday November 19 and the 55 lap Race Sunday November 20.
1 thought on “#Formula1 Etihad Airways #AbuDhabiGP 2022 Preview. #F1”
Comments are closed.