Formula One’s season finale in Abu Dhabi is bursting with drama: Lewis Hamilton is making ready an emotional farewell to Mercedes, high drivers are buying and selling fierce private barbs, and the constructors’ title remains to be up for grabs.
Although Max Verstappen clinched his fourth drivers’ championship in Las Vegas two weeks in the past, the Red Bull star stays within the highlight – this time for a heated feud with Mercedes’ George Russell.
Russell branded Verstappen “a bully” and accused him of threatening habits following a dispute throughout qualifying on the Qatar Grand Prix final week. Verstappen was pushed off pole place in Qatar in favor of Russell and has accused Russell of mendacity to get him penalized.
Verstappen is aiming for his tenth race win of the season Sunday in Abu Dhabi. While a formidable feat by most drivers’ requirements, it pales compared to Verstappen’s dominance lately – 15 wins in 2022 and 19 in 2023.
This weekend in Abu Dhabi marks a protracted goodbye for Lewis Hamilton as he prepares to go away Mercedes, the place he received six of his seven titles, to affix Ferrari in 2025.
Hamilton is driving in Abu Dhabi with the names of 150 followers on his automotive as a part of a “Thank You, Lewis” marketing campaign by Mercedes. The transfer to Ferrari, introduced earlier than the season started, has confirmed extra emotionally taxing than Hamilton anticipated. On Thursday, he admitted the extended farewell has taken a toll. Penalties and a puncture in Qatar have additionally dampened his hopes of ending the season on a excessive observe.
Either McLaren or Ferrari will finish a protracted drought for the F1 constructors’ title on Sunday. McLaren hasn’t received the coveted prize since 1998, whereas Ferrari’s final victory was in 2008.
McLaren leads Ferrari by 21 factors heading into the weekend. However, a heavy penalty for Lando Norris final week in Qatar dashed McLaren’s probability to seal the title early.
“A win is what we need. I think we’re going to need to have both cars on the podium if we want to clinch the championship unless something very disastrous happens to McLaren,” Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. stated Thursday.
Hamilton’s transfer to Ferrari, introduced in February, shocked F1 and set off a domino impact of driver adjustments throughout the grid.
Next 12 months, F1 will welcome its largest inflow of younger drivers in years, as established names swap groups or go away the sequence.
One of the brand new faces is already on the grid in Abu Dhabi after Alpine opted to present Jack Doohan an early style of F1. The 21-year-old Australian, son of motorbike racing legend Mick Doohan, is changing Esteban Ocon for the ultimate race of the season.
Source: www.dailysabah.com