Formula 1 statistics for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, season end and decisive title on Sunday at Yas Marina: Lap distance: 5.281 km.
Total distance: 306.183 km (58 laps) Pole position 2020: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull – one minute 35.246 seconds.
2020 winner: Verstappen Race lap record: The circuit has been changed since 2020.
Start time: 1:00 p.m. GMT (5:00 p.m. local) ABU DHABI
The circuit rotates counterclockwise. Mercedes has won six of the last seven editions. Five current drivers have won at Yas Marina: Sebastian Vettel (2009, 2010 and 2013), Lewis Hamilton (2011, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019), Kimi Raikkonen (2012), Valtteri Bottas (2017), Verstappen (2020).
Hamilton has been there five times on pole. Only once did the winner not start in the front row: Raikkonen from fourth place in 2012 with Lotus.
RACE WINS Hamilton has a record 103 career wins, including 82 with Mercedes, out of 287 starts. He has reached the podium 181 times.
Red Bull championship leader Max Verstappen has won nine times this year compared to Hamilton’s eight. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas have each won once. Ferrari has won 238 races since 1950, McLaren 183, Mercedes 124, Williams 114 and Red Bull 74.
POLE POSITION Hamilton has a career record 103 poles and has won pole 61 times. His teammate Bottas landed four poles in 2021.
Verstappen was on pole nine times in 2021, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the fastest in qualifying in Azerbaijan and Monaco. McLaren’s Lando Norris was on pole in Russia. CHAMPIONSHIP
Verstappen and Hamilton are tied at 369.5 points after 21 races, with Verstappen leading in wins. This is only the second time that the drivers have tied for the top ahead of the final race. The other was in 1974. This means that if Hamilton retires or fails to score, Verstappen is champion.
Otherwise, the champion is the one who finishes ahead of the other – unless Hamilton is ninth and Verstappen 10th but with the fastest lap. Mercedes are 28 points ahead of Red Bull in the constructors’ standings and need 17 points to secure the title. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said last weekend it would take a miracle to beat them.
Mercedes would be the first team to win eight successive constructors’ championships. Ferrari won six in a row from 1999 to 2004. McLaren won four in a row from 1988 to 1991 and Red Bull won four from 2010 to 2013. MILESTONES
Hamilton is already the most successful Formula 1 driver of all time, but may become the first to win eight world championships. 24-year-old Verstappen is said to be the first Dutch driver to win the title.
The Red Bull driver is also said to be the fourth youngest champion of all time – behind Vettel (23 and 134 days in 2010), Hamilton (23 and 301 days in 2008) and Fernando Alonso (24 and 59 days in 2005). Verstappen has 17 podiums this season and one more would be a record for a driver in a single championship.
FAREWELL Sunday is one last race for 2007 Ferrari world champion Raikkonen, now with Alfa Romeo.
It is also the last for Bottas at Mercedes before replacing Raikkonen, for George Russell at Williams before taking Bottas’ place and for the departure of Antonio Giovinazzi at Alfa Romeo. Honda, the partners of Red Bull, leave as an engine supplier.
It will also be the last race on 13-inch tires, with the sport switching to 18-inch low-profile tires for 2022 under the new technical regulations.
(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)