2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

PeterJB · Nov 9, 2011

And so we return to the circuit where last year Sebastian Vettel arrived with zero world championship titles, and now he has two.

Round XVIII of the 2011 Formula One Season

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Hosted by the Yas Marina Circuit

Number of laps: 55
Circuit length: 5.554 km (3.451 miles)
Race distance: 305.470 km (189.805 miles)

Last year's pole lap:

2011 Driver's Championship standings after 17 rounds (Top ten only):
1. Sebastian Vettel (RBR-Renault) - 374
2. Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) - 240
3. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) - 227
4. Mark Webber (RBR-Renault) - 221
5. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) - 202
6. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) - 98
7. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) - 75
8. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) - 70
9. Vitaly Petrov (Renault) - 36
10. Nick Heidfeld (Renault) - 34

2011 Constructor's Championship standings after 17 rounds (Top five only):
1. Red Bull Racing - 595
2. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - 442
3. Ferrari - 325
4. Mercedes - 145
5. Lotus-Renault - 72

Weather: Sunny across all three days, with highs of 29 degrees Celsius and lows of 18 degrees Celsius.

McLaren have been gradually closing in on Red Bull, even with Hamilton's increasing magnetism to Felipe Massa, which has damaged the constructors charge for both teams, even though they have both now secured 2nd and 3rd in the championship respectively. Mercedes have been gradually increasing their pace and finding better consistency, whilst Toro Rosso have leaped far ahead of their fellow midfielders, and Lotus don't look far off catching Williams.

Hun200kmh · Nov 9, 2011

Nico Rosberg for the win!

Jimlaad43 · Nov 9, 2011

DRS

Whoa, F1 race thread started on a Wednesday?!

Akmuq · Nov 9, 2011

Jimlaad43
Whoa, F1 race thread started on a Wednesday?!

That's because there's a 95% chance of a boring race, so no-one really cares about it.

mattythedog · Nov 9, 2011

Double DRS. Should be interesting, or easy.

toyotsupra · Nov 9, 2011

Go button!

Azure Flare · Nov 9, 2011

This has been a really boring season, Vettel will probably get pole and win the race.

joetruckv8 · Nov 9, 2011

Lets see if schumacher gets 2 race this time, lol'
Go lewis, of course!

nissman · Nov 9, 2011

race'emhard
This has been a really boring season, Vettel will probably get pole and win the race.

It has been far from boring for me this season. Races have been interesting, championship not close but still intertaining.

Alex. · Nov 9, 2011

So the layout stays the same?

YellowG1 · Nov 9, 2011

akmuq
That's because there's a 95% chance of a boring race, so no-one really cares about it.

My interest level has faded as the season has dragged on. I think this will definitely be a repeat of India.

CarolinaBlue704 · Nov 9, 2011

nissman
It has been far from boring for me this season. Races have been interesting, championship not close but still intertaining.

I agree. There have been some great races this season.

PeterJB · Nov 9, 2011

Alex.
So the layout stays the same?

Maybe it'll be a dynamic layout that changes at different points during the race! 💡

Azure Flare · Nov 9, 2011

PeterJB
Maybe it'll be a dynamic layout that changes at different points during the race! 💡

In the first DRS Zone, there will be a massive jump placed on lap 14. In the second, a 50m radius loop on lap 37.

Alex. · Nov 9, 2011

The interesting thing is the cars and drivers could probably stomach 1 loop per lap in a race.

RTSolvalou · Nov 9, 2011

I hope Fernando wins (or gets podium), I know he wants a full set of trophies.

Akmuq · Nov 9, 2011

YellowG1
My interest level has faded as the season has dragged on. I think this will definitely be a repeat of India.

This was my view of the season.(Originally in the Italian Grand Prix thread)

akmuq
Ever since Turkey or so when it was obvious Vettel would be sticking to the top each race, I've just seen each race as an exhibition instead of a championship-importance race. The championship battle situation is a shame, but the racing quality, especially when it's someone putting the fight up to Vettel, has more then made up for it. Let's just hope we get both next year.

prisonermonkeys · Nov 10, 2011

Alex.
So the layout stays the same?

A change was planned almost as soon as the 2010 race ended. However, the organisers felt that the introduction of Pirelli tyres and DRS would address a lot of the issues that the proposed layour was looking to change, so they held off because the reconfiguration would cost million of dollars, and there was no guarantee that it would actually work.

To be fair, the first half of the 2010 race was actually pretty interesting. When Webber and Alonso pitted it became a race to see whether they could pass Petrov before the majority of the field pitted, thus undercutting them. Or, failing that, whether they could clear Petrov and the other drivers that they needed to in order to challenge Vettel's points position. It was somewhere around the 60% mark that it became apparent that this would be impossible. But honestly, I'm kind of glad that the 2010 race played out that way because of the effect the results had on the championship - after all, Sebastian Vettel never actually led the 2010 World Championship until he finished the race in Abu Dhabi.

This year, there's plenty of stuff going on in the midfield. Sure, Vettel is already World Champion and Jenson Button pretty much just has to finish the next to races to secure second place, but further down, there's going to be some hard-fought battles: Toro Rosso and Sauber are tied on points, and they're both chasing Force India, who are eyeing off Renault. And I actually think the Abu Dhabi circuit has the potential to make this race-off good: because of the lack of overtaking, strategy is all-important in Abu Dhabi. This year, we've seen Sauber run some pretty out-there strategies (especially with Sergio Perez) and Toro Rosso play it very conservative. Yas Marina will be key for both teams to try and get an upper hand going into Brazil - and it could give them the chance to take a run at Force India.

Peter. · Nov 10, 2011

You're only glad because Alonso lost the title.

niky · Nov 10, 2011

I've lost interest recently only because I've been out of the house during most of the races... working on Sundays sucks.

-

But I'm looking to get back into the season before the end. I'm interested in seeing what kind of records Vettel can get, whether Button will actually challenge for race wins, and if it's actually possible for Hamilton to redeem himself by spoiling Vettel's chances at the pole position record.

Seismica · Nov 10, 2011

I've lost interest mainly because i've missed the practice sessions and in India I even missed qualifying

This weekend I will be watching it all live, no matter what I have to do. I think Mclaren will put up a good fight against Red Bull (Vettel) but as prisonermonkeys stated, the excitement lies in the midfield now as there seems to be a dramatic change race to race what order they are in (Well... except Williams).

F1 fan · Nov 10, 2011

Maybe because it would be a bit of a compliment calling Williams part of the midfield this year.

Jimlaad43 · Nov 10, 2011

F1 fan
Maybe because it would be a bit of a compliment calling Williams part of the midfield this year.

They are kind of the Intermediary in between. They have basically always been faster than Lotus et al, but nowhere near as fast enough to score good points.

mattythedog · Nov 10, 2011

Also, should be interesting to see how Lotus (or should I say Caterham?) do. Kovalinen was lapping well in India and was at one point in 10th.

Anghammarad · Nov 10, 2011

Sebastian Wunderbaum will win. From pole. Odds 1.01

Brend · Nov 10, 2011

Vettel's race I'm afraid! Hoping for a Strong Di Resta finish though!

Seismica · Nov 10, 2011

mattythedog
Also, should be interesting to see how Lotus (or should I say Caterham?) do. Kovalinen was lapping well in India and was at one point in 10th.

But in 2010 they were battling with Mclaren and Red Bull:

:sly:

PeterJB · Nov 10, 2011

I Desperately want a point from Kovalainen. I get so sick of seeing backmarker teams that make no progress and are constantly bringing up the rear.

Akmuq · Nov 10, 2011

PeterJB
I Desperately want a point from Kovalainen. I get so sick of seeing backmarker teams that make no progress and are constantly bringing up the rear.

It's the amazing finishing consistency of all the other teams keeping them from getting points.

Ardius · Nov 11, 2011

PeterJB
I Desperately want a point from Kovalainen. I get so sick of seeing backmarker teams that make no progress and are constantly bringing up the rear.

That team has made progress though...besides, it would be boring if it were easy to jump into F1 and score points in just a couple of seasons. The difficulties that the smaller or newer teams face only help give some perspective to how good the top teams are. It helps define "what it takes" to win the championship.

If we just had any old team come into the sport with success without much trouble it might make it more interesting with more variety of teams succeeding but the successes themselves would be less meaningful.

Thats not to say that we should be happy to see HRT and Virgin struggle to get anywhere. Of course we should want them to succeed. But I don't really get "sick" of seeing them struggle, I actually find it quite fascinating and infinitely more interesting to follow the struggles of teams having to watch every penny than teams spending millions trying to find a tenth in qualifying.
The same goes for the midfield teams battle. Its interesting to follow each team's struggle and how they go about finding success or trying to recover from losses. We hear all about the top teams and all the analysis of their strategies but rarely do we get much discussion of say how Maldonado or Kovalainen's strategy panned out. The information is out there if you look for it though.

2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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