Grand Prix 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

So here it is, the last race of the longest F1 season in the history of the sport (?). We are off to yet another faceless, racing "installation" in the middle of bloody nowhere, but hey, they are paying lots of money for the joy staging the event. And it's not like the old days, where there were races in countries with poor human rights records, run by military dictatorships, like Argentina, Spain, or South Africa. Oh....

Back to 2024. There a few other lasts in this last race of the season:
  • Lewis Hamilton will have his last race for Mercedes
  • Carlos Sainz will take part in his last race for Ferrari
  • Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen will have their last race for Haas. Hulkenberg will continue at Sauber/Audi in 2025, but I suspect we have seen the end of Magnussen.
  • Bottas and Zhou will have their last race for Sauber, and will join KMag in the queue at the F1 unemployment office
  • Ocon will have his final race at Alpine. Hang on, that was Qatar. Extraordinarily, he has managed to get a seat at Haas for next year.
  • Franco Colapinto will likely have his last race at Williams, but where might he be in 2025?
Who have I missed? Ah, Sergio Perez, although you would probably not have noticed him being at Red Bull for most of this season.

Have I missed anything? Is this the last race for a Renault engine or do Alpine switch in 2026?

Let's hope it is less of a farce than Qatar, from a stewarding perspective. Although it did actually generate some interest when watching it on the TV.

And, of course, we have the BIG question, which team will win the Constructors Championship. I suspect that only Ferrari fans really care about their team winning this, what the other teams are worried about is the huge cash pot associated with their final position in this league table. These were the estimates in 2023

1733304367188.webp


Odd to think that the team in 10th couldn't even pay the salaries of Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen with their share.

No sprint race this weekend. Here are the timings if you are lucky enough to be able to watch it on Sky. Enjoy!

1733304561817.webp
 
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Click to expand
When you look at the "data"; seven race winners from four different teams, 10 different drivers on the podium, 21 out of 24 drivers scoring points, teams rising and falling, some new stars born, McLaren win their first Constructors title for 26 (?) years, it was a great season. The problem was there was no peril as Max won seven of the first ten.

Maybe next season will be better as we enter season four of these regulations. And then the FIA will throw them all away and we will probably end up with one team winning every race for the next season after the new regs start.
 
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cider_and_toast said:
Can't help but think if LeClerc had been in that McLaren he'd be the new World Champion.

Norris hasn't got "It" unfortunately.
Click to expand
are we being too harsh, he only won his 1st race in miami, never expected to be in this fight. i think 2025 with his eyes on prize in pre season testing, not monza. will be the biggest test of this.

FB yeah im worried about 2026 because the rules shouldnt change. F1 has never been this open why risk it. we go into 2025 where genuinely 7 people will think they have chance of winning that title.
 
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yeah i think its also 9pts in last 8 races. the decent thing for Red Bull wouldve be to announce the inevitable at monza. because it dragged on so long Perez has got no options left to race next yr as. ironically there is no room at the inn. WEC, Indycar & Formula E all look full

but apparently his dad has got list of people "Sergio Perez’s father Antonio Perez blasted “lying journalists” and intends naming them after Abu Dhabi."

www.planetf1.com

Papa Perez blasts 'lying journalists' amidst Sergio Perez exit rumours

Sergio Perez's father Antonio Perez has blasted "lying journalists" and intends naming them after Abu Dhabi.
www.planetf1.com www.planetf1.com
 
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F1Brits_90 said:
are we being too harsh, he only won his 1st race in miami, never expected to be in this fight. i think 2025 with his eyes on prize in pre season testing, not monza. will be the biggest test of this.
Click to expand
I don't think so. I have grown to dislike Norris this season. Verstappen goes overboard with the aggression but Norris is nowhere near aggressive enough.

In how many races did he manage to put in great qualifying runs and then fall apart on lap 1.

If Piastri hadn't had a poor start to the season, he would have probably beaten Norris. It's interesting to note that after the Spanish GP which was the end of the high water mark in Red Bull's performance, Piastri only scored 20 points less than Norris. That gap would have potentially been even smaller had he not been instructed to play good boy in the last half dozen races.

If McLaren continues to develop and to maintain their pace with next seasons car, I predict that Piastri will be the one to watch, not Norris.
 
F1Brits_90 said:
yeah i think its also 9pts in last 8 races. the decent thing for Red Bull wouldve be to announce the inevitable at monza. because it dragged on so long Perez has got no options left to race next yr as. ironically there is no room at the inn. WEC, Indycar & Formula E all look full

but apparently his dad has got list of people "Sergio Perez’s father Antonio Perez blasted “lying journalists” and intends naming them after Abu Dhabi."

www.planetf1.com

Papa Perez blasts 'lying journalists' amidst Sergio Perez exit rumours

Sergio Perez's father Antonio Perez has blasted "lying journalists" and intends naming them after Abu Dhabi.
www.planetf1.com www.planetf1.com
Click to expand
Sergio Perez’s dad is the person who sponsors the shirts of the local football team, so that his son can play even though he has two left feet.
 
cider_and_toast said:
I don't think so. I have grown to dislike Norris this season. Verstappen goes overboard with the aggression but Norris is nowhere near aggressive enough.

In how many races did he manage to put in great qualifying runs and then fall apart on lap 1.

If Piastri hadn't had a poor start to the season, he would have probably beaten Norris. It's interesting to note that after the Spanish GP which was the end of the high water mark in Red Bull's performance, Piastri only scored 20 points less than Norris. That gap would have potentially been even smaller had he not been instructed to play good boy in the last half dozen races.

If McLaren continues to develop and to maintain their pace with next seasons car, I predict that Piastri will be the one to watch, not Norris.
Click to expand
Piastri is a fantastic driver & i do think we have 5 guaranteed drivers who could go for the world title next year. verstappen both ferraris & mclarens. you dont win F4 F3 & F2 in consecutive years without be incredibly talented. but piastri always seemed to be behind norris. 20-4 in qualifying & 15-7 in the races (excluding max idiocy)

but on norris they say only way to learn from your mistakes is through expierence. hamilton had to go through this in 2007 & 2008. i hope norris has learns from this over the winter. as brazil was an open goal he missed as that was real point to put the pressure on but too many times made silly mistakes in that race
 

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