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Welcome to Abu Dhabi for round 18 of the 2012 Formula One World Championship!

We've seen three races at the Yas Marina circuit so far since its opening in 2009. 2010 was the most exiting race, with Vettel clinching his first WDC and Alonso losing out due to Ferrari's poor strategy. Two years later the championship battle is again between those two. Not much needs to be told about about the other two races in Abu Dhabi...

Track facts
Race Date: 04 Nov 2012
First Grand Prix: 2009
Number of Laps: 55
Circuit Length: 5.554 km
Race Distance: 305.355 km
Lap Record: 1:40.279 - S Vettel (2009)

Track map


Past winners
Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton have been dominating at Yas Marina since the inaugural Grand Prix in 2009.

2009 pole setter: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)
2010 pole setter: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2011 pole setter: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)

2009 race winner: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2010 race winner: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2011 race winner: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)

Drivers standings
[spoiler]1 Sebastian Vettel 240
2 Fernando Alonso 227
3 Kimi Räikkönen 173
4 Mark Webber 167
5 Lewis Hamilton 165
6 Jenson Button 141
7 Nico Rosberg 93
8 Romain Grosjean 90
9 Felipe Massa 89
10 Sergio Perez 66
11 Kamui Kobayashi 50
12 Nico Hülkenberg 49
13 Paul di Resta 44
14 Michael Schumacher 43
15 Pastor Maldonado 33
16 Bruno Senna 26
17 Jean-Eric Vergne 12
18 Daniel Ricciardo 9
19 Timo Glock 0
20 Heikki Kovalainen 0
21 Vitaly Petrov 0
22 Jerome D'Ambrosio 0
23 Charles Pic 0
24 Narain Karthikeyan 0
25 Pedro de la Rosa 0[/spoiler]

Constructors standings
[spoiler]1 Red Bull Racing-Renault 407
2 Ferrari 316
3 McLaren-Mercedes 306
4 Lotus-Renault 263
5 Mercedes 136
6 Sauber-Ferrari 116
7 Force India-Mercedes 93
8 Williams-Renault 59
9 STR-Ferrari 21
10 Marussia-Cosworth 0
11 Caterham-Renault 0
12 HRT-Cosworth 0[/spoiler]

Timetable
Practice 1 Fri 13:00
Practice 2 Fri 17:00
Practice 3 Sat 14:00
Qualifying Sat 17:00
Race Sun 17:00

Weather prediction
F1.com predicts a dry weekend with temperatures around 33°C.

Preview quotes from drivers & officials on F1.com

2010 may have been the most exciting, but take the championship out of the equation and it was nearly as bad, if not worse, than the two other editions. The only thing remotely interesting is the sun setting and the challenging final two corners.

the only reason we visit this track is because of the fallus-shaped hotel and the money, which keeps the female audience happy I guess.

I really don't get your obsession with the challenging final two corners. They really, really aren't.

As Kimi says, the first few turns are good, but the rest of it is shit. Yet peculiarly, it's quite fun on an F1 game.

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Unless Alonso is on the front row, I won't watch this race.

Vettel and Hamilton will lock out the front row.

_________________
Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

We'll see.

Red Bull front row, followed by Hamilton, Alonso and Räikkönen.

_________________
"Indy doesn't give you a second chance. You have to earn it."

What's the tyre choice for the weekend?

_________________
"The best decision is my decision!" - Balestre
"Halo is for little babies, not for men" - Jeha

Abu Dhabi Grand PrixView
[spoiler]General
Race Laps: 55
High percentage of low and medium speed corners, like Hungary but with two long straights
Limited number of high speed corners: T2-T3 & T20
High fuel effect
Medium-high brake energy but two high power braking zones
Braking stability & good brake cooling are very important
No major bumps on track
No kerbs are high but landing from kerb is very important for traction
In FP1 the track is usually dusty and green but the circuit evolves very quickly
Main observation is track temperature change: In FP1 and FP3 the ground temperature can be around 40°C, while for FP2, quali and the race it is often around 30°C - this is an important consideration for tyre evaluation and setup work

2011 Weather
Air/Track temp ( C): 28 / 31
Pitlane altitude (m): 0
ATM Press (HPA): 1010
Hum (%): 45
Wind (kph): SSE 15

2011 Timing

Qualifying
P1: VET (1:38.481 Q3)
P2: HAM (1:38.622 Q3)
P3: BUT (1:38.631 Q3)


Race
P1: HAM (1:43.461 L51)
P2: BUT (1:43.914 L41)
P3: ALO (1:43.154 L51)


Circuit Particularity
Bumpiness: low
Overtaking chance: T8, T11
Kerbs: smooth
Ride height setting particularity: low
Engine severity: medium
Gearbox severity: medium / high
Lat/Long grip: medium
Aero eff ratio: low
Safety car history: 2011 – none, 2010 – 1 (laps 1 – 5), 2009 – none
Track grip evo during w/e: high
Aero settings: high
Brake wear severity: medium / high
Brake cooling necessity: high[/spoiler]

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Thanks! I wonder if we will see more pitstops this time, it always helps to have more overtakes, back at India the one pitstop strategy made it very predictable.

_________________
"The best decision is my decision!" - Balestre
"Halo is for little babies, not for men" - Jeha

Sauber has already said that Pirelli is being conservative here, so it's likely a one stop or two stop.

_________________
Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Should have been super soft and medium instead to spice it up. Now it's going to be yet another parade at Abu Dhabi.

Or maybe - just maybe - there's a chance it to be like Valencia this year, has sucked before, but this time it's going to be a classic.

(not going to happen)

_________________
"Indy doesn't give you a second chance. You have to earn it."

Rain please!

It might actually rain in FP1.

_________________
Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Pirelli already said they've been too conservative, but the tyres are nominated too long in advance to change them now.

After 17 races 2011:
Vettel 374
Button 240
Alonso 227
Webber 221
Hamilton 202

After 17 races 2012:
Vettel 240
Alonso 227
Kimi 173
Webber 167
Hamilton 165

Interesting is that Alonso scored the same amount of points after India last and this year.

The 1st DRS zone has been extended by 80m

Im surprised the extended the 1st zone as it was already pretty effective last year & having the 2nd zone directly after the 1st did nothing but undo any passing that had occurred in the 1st zone.

DRS too long and probably one pitstop strategies? On Abu Dhabi? This will suck.



And Hamilton a lot less than last year. This means he really had a lot of bad luck, now he's driving superb but in 2011 he kind of sucked.

Shameless plugging time - F1Zone's sister site F1Arab is in Abu Dhabi, so there's a couple of exclusive interviews up there for anyone here that speaks Arabic.

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011