The title fight may be all over, but there's still one GP left in 2009 for drivers to repair some shattered pride, take some final bragging rights or simply try to secure a job for next year. And it all takes place at F1's new 'day-night' venue in Abu Dhabi.
Talking Points
- The mean streets of Abu Dhabi
In 2009, Formula One has saved it's flash new venue for the season until the very last. Presumably hoping to see the shiny new Yas Marina track host a dramatic championship decider. But Button and Brawn GP had other plans, securing the title in the more traditional (i.e. older) surroundings of Interlagos two weeks ago. That may not be that much of a bad thing for the track, though, as it means the inaugural Abu Dhabi GP is free from the choking constraints of nervy point-scoring and title chat. This will be an end-of-season free for all around a packed-out, state-of-the-art circuit, and may well end up being a hugely fun weekend.
The track itself has been billed as the "Monaco of Arabia", but it patently isn't that. Perhaps a Monaco that had been designed in the 21st century to strict planning permissions, but very much not a traditional street track. Again, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, because designing a twisty street circuit from first principles means that overtaking places and challenging corners are not simply governed by the local road system. The Yas Marina track should prove a challenge, with 21 turns in total, a high-walled pit lane exit (complete with a tunnel) that seems certain to catch someone out throughout the weekend, and two long Tilke-spec straights coupled with tight turns that should see the KERS-equipped cars at least licking their lips in anticipation.
The overall look of the track, though is much more Bahrain than Monaco, with driver-reassuring tarmac runoffs across much of the layout instead of Monaco's imposing Armco. Still, with the gloves off for the 20 drivers for this weekend, hopes are high that after the miserable entertainment values at F1's other two new street tracks in Valencia and Singapore, Abu Dhabi can deliver some end-of-season fun.
In case you haven't seen it already, watch a lap of the new Yas Marina track with Bruno Senna here.
- A day-night affair
The Abu Dhabi race has been desperate to find something unique to throw at the viewing public in terms of the look of the race. But with Singapore having cornered the market for night racing and Melbourne and Malaysia messing about with 'twilight' races (that's races in the evening, not races involving rubbish vampires), there wasn't much left for Abu Dhabi to pick at. Or so we thought.
Yes, the Yas Marina track will race under the totally unique (i.e. not at all unique really, basically twilight racing and night racing fudged together) pretext of being a 'day-night' event, with the race starting at 5pm local time, the sun predicted to set around 5.45pm, and the chequered flag to come down in darkness. Well, except none of that will actually happen, because safety-wise, the floodlights will need to be on from the very start of the race to minimise the risks to the drivers.
How well this will come across on television remains to be seen, as will the effect the setting sun and floodlights will have on the drivers, with many of them vociferously complaining about the mess of scheduling that was running the Australian season-opener while the sun was setting. Still, Bernie thinks it's a good idea, and he's never had a bad id...oh, wait.
- The mighty have fallen
For the last two years, the F1 powerhouses of Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes have gone into the final race of the season duking it out for the constructors crown, but this season, they only have the "best of the rest" award to fight over that the pair of them usually leave for everyone else to scrap for. And although both teams have made a few soundbitey comments about wanting to beat the other, the reality is that they're probably not really that bothered.
But McLaren are the clear favourites, due to Ferrari essentially giving up on developing their 2009 machine since the middle of the year. Which is a situation that highlights the interesting difference of opinion between the fallen pair as to the best way of ensuring that they are back at the front right from the start of next season.
Ferrari have opted for the Honda/Brawn approach of last season, which has worked to such effect this year, essentially abandoning a failed season in order to devote more time to sorting their 2010 contender. McLaren, on the other hand, have gone with the idea that given the minor rule changes between this season and next, as opposed to the difference in car regulations between this year compared to 2008, that developments and improvements made to their current machine will be directly transferable to next year's beast.
It will be fascinating to see which approach pays off, if indeed either one does. But it is possible that though McLaren will win the battle this weekend in terms of third place in 2009, Ferrari's long game approach to 2010 may end up winning the war next season.
- End of an era
The BMW team face up to their last ever race after seeing their excitingly efficient five year plan fall apart in their final season. The team joined F1 back in 2000 with Williams, but since going solo in 2006 they have progressed from point scoring to race winning (well, one race win), but the fourth year of their plan was never titled "In which we muck about at the back of the grid embarrassing ourselves", and so BMW have efficiently pulled the plug.
That means that F1's newest track will see their final performance. With the future of the team behind the badge also uncertain, it could be the F1 swansong for quite a lot of people as well. But with the relative upturn in form of recent races behind them, Kubica's second place in Brazil was a genuine result based on the pace of the car, they might leave with a smile on their collective faces. And anyway, for the race they may as well push the cars to the limit and see what happens. If they break an engine, what are the FIA going to do? Give them a grid penalty?
Track Facts
Yas Marina Circuit
Number of Laps: 55
Circuit Length: 5.554 km
Race Distance: 305.470 km
Lap Record: n/a - Lap times around the 1:40.000 mark are predicted.
2008 pole: n/a
2008 winner: n/a
Timetable
Friday 30th October
Free Practice 1 - 13:00 (Local Time) / 09.00 (GMT)
Free Practice 2 - 17.00 (Local Time) / 13.00 (GMT)
Saturday 31st October
Free Practice 3 - 14.00 (Local Time) / 10.00 (GMT)
Qualifying - 17.00 (Local Time) / 13.00 (GMT)
Sunday 1st November
Race - 17.00 (Local Time) / 13.00 (GMT)
Five "Interesting" Facts About Abu Dhabi
1) The words Abu Dhabi translate as "Father of Deer", referring to the herds of deer that used to dominate the area.
2) Abu Dhabi is one of the Emirates that make up the obviously-named United Arab Emirates, the others being Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah.
3) Abu Dhabi is the home of the Emirates Palace, the most expensive hotel ever built at a reputed cost of 3 billion dollars. Prices for the top-of-the-range, 7000-square-feet Palace Grand Suite start at a very reasonable $11,500 per night. Kimi Raikkonen could afford to stay there until March 29th 2391 if he plunged his entire Ferrari payoff cheque into paying the bill.
4) Abu Dhabi is twinned with the cities of Madrid, Houston, Minsk, Brisbane and, slightly oddly, Bethlehem. Which is an awful lot of twinning.
5) Alcohol sale is severely restricted in Abu Dhabi, outside of the most expensive hotels, meaning that it is almost certainly a rubbish place to visit.
Best Race Odds
Lewis Hamilton - 5/2 (SportingBet)
Sebastian Vettel - 10/3 (SkyBet)
Jenson Button - 8/1 (Boyle Sports)
Mark Webber - 8/1 (BlueSq)
Rubens Barrichello - 9/1 (Bet365)
Patty's Tip - 8/1 are the odds on Robert Kubica making the podium. Get on that. Also, we're offering odds of 1/100 that we don't bother with this bit of the race preview template next season. Which is also a very good bet.
On Patronise
Just because this weekend's race is entirely pointless doesn't mean that Patty is going to be slacking off any more (or less) than it usually does. Follow the action from Abu Dhabi with Patty, from the first moments on the new track in Friday practice all the way through to the end of the race on Sunday, with our almost award-winning minute-by-minute reports, and we'll have all the usual reviews and rubbish opinions as well. Plus, once this weekend is over, look out for a typically epic Patty F1 season review, and some very special bonus coverage as well.
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