All info you need to see before the 2024 Abu Dhabi F1 GP starts

The 2024 Formula 1 season will finish with the upcoming Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit.

McLaren Faces Ferrari Showdown for 2024 Constructors' Title Finale

While the World Drivers' championship has already gone to Max Verstappen's hands for the fourth consecutive season, the teams' championship is still going.

McLaren (Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri) and Ferrari (Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz) are the only teams with chances of winning the World Constructors' Championship in the finale at Abu Dhabi. McLaren (640 points) lead with a 21-point gap over the Scuderia Ferrari (619).

Red Bull (581 points) won the previous race with Max Verstappen, but do not have chances of winning the WCC, as Sergio Pérez didn't score points in Qatar.

Red Bull have nine wins in the season, only one fewer than McLaren's and Ferrari's combined wins in 2024.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, battles with Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24 during the Dutch GP at Circuit Zandvoort

Still, Sergio Pérez's dismal season has been a failure from both the driver and the team. The Austrian squad could still finish second in the WCC, as there are 44 points available for teams on Sunday. Red Bull are 38 points behind the Scuderia and they basically need Ferrari to have a bad outing at Abu Dhabi to have any chance.

McLaren must score at least 24 points on Sunday to win the WCC regardless of Ferrari's result. A McLaren win would be enough, as it gives them 25 points.

On Ferrari's side, they definitely need to have a strong finish with both cars to eat into McLaren's 21-point lead. If Ferrari finish 1-2 with the point for Fastest Lap in Abu Dhabi, it would give them 44 points and would force McLaren to finish at least with one car on the podium and the other among the top 5.

With a 1-2 and Fastest Lap for Ferrari and third and sixth for McLaren, there would be a tie at the top. However, Ferrari would win the title due to having one more win (they are now tied at five apiece).

2024 Abu Dhabi GP Facts & Figures

The 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be the 16th race at the place since 2009. The event will be the final race of the year for the 13th time since entering the Grand Prix calendar and for the 11th consecutive year.

Red Bull won the last four races in Abu Dhabi and seven overall. On their side, Mercedes had won six consecutive editions of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix between 2014 and 2019.

Sebastian Vettel won the first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix back in 2009 for Red Bull. In the following season, Vettel and Red Bull won again in Abu Dhabi, which sealed Vettel’s first World Drivers’ Championship.

Lewis Hamilton won in 2011 for McLaren-Mercedes, while Kimi Raikkonen took a famous victory in the 2012 edition (his first in three years). Vettel and Red Bull dominated in 2013 before Hamilton sealed his second championship with a dominant win in 2014.

Nico Rosberg won in 2015 for Mercedes, and then he sealed his only championship with second place in 2016 (behind Hamilton). Bottas took the 2017 edition for Mercedes, while Hamilton controlled the 2018 and 2019 events from Pole Position.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull won the 2020 round and the 2021 title decider, which has been widely claimed as a controversial race, with the FIA ultimately replacing the 2021 Race Director Michael Masi for his mishandling of the Safety Car in the final lap of the event. The Dutchman also dominated the 2022 and 2023 editions of the event.

Hamilton is the most successful driver at Abu Dhabi, with five wins. Max Verstappen is second among drivers with four wins and has a big chance of tying Hamilton at the top in 2024.

Yas Marina Circuit Track Info

The original layout of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi was designed by Hermann Tilke. Since 2021, the track has seen changes to its layout, including changing the Turn 5, 6, and 7 section and turning into just one corner. Also, the old section between turns 11 and 14 was also converted into a faster corner.

The track was previously a 5.554-km circuit with 21 corners, but was changed to a 5.281-km long circuit and has 16 corners since the 2021 event. The track is clearly faster and the new Turn 5 is definitely better than the previous complex seen in that area of the circuit.

The track has one of the most spectacular pit exits in Formula 1, as the pit exit street crosses under the track through a tunnel.

The lap records at the old layout of the Yas Marina Circuit are held by Max Verstappen from the 2021 race, the first edition in the new layout. The Red Bull driver put up a 1:22.109 min lap in 2021's Q3 for the outright Fastest Lap in the circuit. Moreover, he put up the Fastest Lap of the race with a 1:26.103 Lap Record on lap 39.

2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Tyres

The dry tyres for the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be the C3 as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow Medium, and C5 as P Zero Red soft.

Pirelli's press release explained the plans for the weekend and the upcoming test: "The Abu Dhabi weekend brings the curtain down on the longest ever Formula 1 season, during which the sport travelled the world taking in 24 rounds. To date, the Yas Marina circuit has hosted motor racing’s blue riband category 15 times, twelve of them rounding off the year.

On four occasions this Grand Prix has decided the outcome of one or both championship titles, in 2021 the two of them and in 2010, 2014 and 2016, just the Drivers’. This Sunday’s race will decide who takes the 2024 Constructors’ crown, McLaren or Ferrari.

As has long been the case at this track, Pirelli has chosen its three softest compounds for the event, with the C3 as Hard, the C4 as Medium and the C5 as Soft. The red-banded tyres will most probably only feature in qualifying, while the Medium and Hard will be under the spotlight, in every sense of the word, given this is the third consecutive night race.

Thanks to significant changes to the track layout introduced in 2021, the 5.281 kilometre track is much faster and flowing, with several overtaking opportunities. In general, the forces exerted on the tyres are in the medium to low range, because of the lack of high speed corners.

The surface offers little grip and its level of abrasiveness is average for the season. Temperatures will play an important role, with two of the three free practice sessions taking place in daylight, while FP2 and the race get underway at sunset with all of qualifying taking place at night. Therefore, track conditions can change quickly as temperatures drop and they will also evolve rapidly as the track rubbers in, especially on the first two days, helped by the fact there are three support categories on the card this weekend – F4 UAE, F1 Academy and F2.

On a track where graining could have a significant impact and where, as previously mentioned, overtaking is possible, a two-stop strategy certainly seems preferable, as indeed was the case last year. Furthermore, the undercut is very effective and, in order for a one-stop to work, it requires a great deal of tyre management to limit performance drop off.

Sunday night marks the end of racing for 2024 but not the end of track action. All ten teams will stay on at the Yas Marina circuit for a very busy group test on Tuesday 10 December. They will each field two cars: one for a rookie, defined in the FIA sporting regulations as a driver who has taken part in no more than two Grands Prix and the other car for another driver.

The two groups will run different tyres: the rookies will have the same 2024 compounds as selected for this Grand Prix, while the regular or official drivers will run the homologated versions of all Pirelli’s 2025 tyres, developed over the year with the teams, with the exception of the C1 which is not suited to this track.

The rookies will have eight sets of tyres each: two C3, four C4 and two C5. The other drivers will have ten sets: one C2, three each of the C3 and C4, two C5 and one C6, the latter being the new ultra-soft compound which thus extends the 2025 range. It is expected that this compound will be used at some street circuits next year. Unlike the in-competition test run at the Mexico City Grand Prix, this time Pirelli will not set out its own run programme for the 2025 tyres.

Therefore, each team can work as it sees fit to collect data that will be vital to car development for next year. For this test, the C2 and C6 will feature just the Pirelli logo coloured white and red respectively, while the C3, C4 and C5 will run the usual white, yellow and red bands respectively, alongside the logo."

The minimum starting pressures for the tyres will be 22.5 PSI (front) and 21.0 PSI (rear).

2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Weather Forecast

Friday, Dec. 6th - FP1 & FP2
Conditions: Sunny and pleasant
Max. temperature: 28°C
Chance of rain: 0%

Saturday, Dec. 7th - FP3 & Qualifying
Conditions: Sunny and pleasant
Max. temperature: 28°C
Chance of rain: 0%

Sunday, Dec. 8th - Race
Conditions: Sunny, nice and less humid
Max. temperature: 29°C
Chance of rain: 0%

Who will be on the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix podium?

2023 Abu Dhabi F1 GP Podium: Race winner Max Verstappen, 2nd Charles Leclerc, 3rd George Russell

The 2024 Formula 1 season was certainly entertaining in the middle part of the season, while the final stretch became a bit torrid with many controversies involving the series. From the different banned devices on cars to the mess of the FIA stewards, the final part of the year should be one to learn from quickly.

Still, some great races gave us entertaining moments throughout the campaign and it could be a preview of the 2025 F1 season.

At Abu Dhabi, things could be wide open between Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren, but Red Bull's surge in the last few weeks could be too much for the rest of the grid in the finale.

The prediction for the podium of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is 1. Max Verstappen, 2. Charles Leclerc, 3. Lando Norris.

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