The 2025 Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship will be decided at a now-traditional venue for the season finale, with this year’s visit marking the 14th time the curtain has come down in Abu Dhabi. For the fifth time, the title is still up for grabs, while last year it was the constructors’ championship that was on the line as Ferrari tried to usurp McLaren, with this week’s guide to Yas Marina – Carlos Sainz – leading the charge.
“Abu Dhabi, I think since the track design change that saw Turn 9 become a long, faster left-hander from the previous three-part chicane and 90-degree left, I think it’s been a good step forward in terms of racing. It makes the races a bit more exciting.
“I’m not going to lie, Abu Dhabi has never been one of our highlights of the year in terms of one lap to drive. It lacks a bit of character, it lacks a bit of high speed, and it lacks a bit of elevation change. But, having said that, it’s produced some exciting races in the past. Since the track design change, I think it’s improved.
“It’s a tricky challenge to set the car up here because since Turn 2 and Turn 3 became flat – they became flat with the high-downforce cars in qualifying – it’s now essentially a straight between Turn 1 and Turn 5, and there’s another big straight between Turn 5 and Turn 6, and another big straight between Turn 7 and Turn 9.
“So you have Sector 1 and Sector 2 that are pretty much more of a straight line configuration setup that you want and you need efficiency from the car, but then you get into Turn 9, and from Turn 9 onwards it’s all about downforce and combined capability of the car. So it’s very different halves of the track, and that means it’s always difficult to set up a car.
Once the sun sets, Abu Dhabi can be a whole different track, Sainz says. Joe Portlock/Getty Images
“We race at sunset here, starting in daylight and finishing under total darkness, but I think it’s more the change between FP1 to FP3 and FP2 to qualifying that is more noticeable than the change through the race itself.
Usually once we start the race, the track temperature drops maybe five degrees (Celsius), which is a step, but it’s not huge. But from FP1 to FP2 the track might drop 15-20 degrees, which is what really affects the cars. You’re always playing guessing games.
For me, the key part or corner on the track now is Turn 9, since they changed the design of that corner. The amount of sliding and the setup that you have through Turn 9 can dictate a lot about the balance that you get in the last sector.
AT A GLANCE:
Race distance: 58 laps/190.3 miles
2024 pole time: 1m22.595s (Lando Norris, McLaren)
2024 winner: Lando Norris, McLaren
Pirelli is sticking with the usual selection of compounds for the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi, namely the C3, C4 and C5. Historically, the Yas Marina track sees graining on the tires, but as from last year this phenomenon seems to be relatively limited and the greater resistance of the current tires could reduce it to such an extent that even the Soft, usually only used in qualifying, could be a tire around which to put together a race strategy. At this track, degradation is thermal in nature and is generally seen on the rears due to the requirement for traction especially in the final sector of the track.”
ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX WEEKEND SCHEDULE (all times ET):
Friday, December 5
4:25am – 5:30am – Free Practice 1, ESPN2
7:55am – 9:00am – Free Practice 2, ESPN-U
Saturday, December 6
5:25am – 6:30am – Free Practice 3, ESPN2
8:55am – 10:00am – Qualifying, ESPN2
Sunday, December 7
7:55am – 10:00am – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (58 laps or 120 minutes), ESPN