The final destination of this season’s F1 World Championship is set in the Yas Marina Circuit for the upcoming Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Just like in Interlagos, different drivers will fight for pride once more since the F1 title is already wrapped up by Lewis Hamilton and his whole Mercedes crew. But even if they’ve already brought home the F1 title, the Silver Arrows will be gunning for their sixth straight win in this circuit for sure.
Meanwhile, the Scuderia suffered another implosion in the Brazilian Grand Prix when Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc were involved in a nightmare collision. Coming into this match, Ferrari will be desperate to put on a united front before the year ends.
“It is an opportunity for us to finish the season on a high but we know the competition is strong, so it should be an exciting race,” said Vettel in a recent interview.
As always, SBOBET is here to bring you some points of discussion before we witness some great racing action this weekend.
Talking Points
Ferrari putting on a united front
The Prancing Horse have experienced all sorts of problems over their last few races. Seeds of frustration and miscommunication were first witnessed in the Russian Grand Prix when Sebastian Vettel went against team orders.
Vettel refused to let Leclerc go ahead after initially telling him the opposite via team radio. As they continued to argue, that left an opportunity for Lewis Hamilton to take away the lead from Charles Leclerc.
In Interlagos, the two weren’t bickering over the team radio, but they couldn’t capitalise to get a podium spot when they took each other out of the race with just five laps left.
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto will obviously go with his usual “It’s in the past, we’ll move forward” shtick for good PR, but he will have a lot on his plate on how to deal with his two drivers.
A beautiful venue in Abu Dhabi should be conducive for a bonding session between Vettel and Leclerc. The two would need to talk man-to-man and sort out a lot of things in order to get their heads straight come Sunday.
Mercedes gunning for sixth straight victory
Despite winning as the best constructors this season, the Silver Arrows indicated that they still “have something to prove” since they didn’t fare well in the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton finished third in Interlagos but was demoted to seventh after a five-second penalty due to his collision with Alexander Albon in a risky attempt to separate the rookie from second place on the final lap.
“The underperformance in Brazil means we head to Abu Dhabi with a point to prove. Yas Marina has been a good circuit for us in the last years and we’ll push hard to continue the same way,” mentioned Toto Wolff.
The Silver Arrows are obviously the heavy favourites on this one given their five-year streak. They’ve managed to get every pole position in those years which is the longest streak by any team in one venue.
Ferrari and Red Bull will be lurking to try and threaten Mercedes, but an in-form duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas should handle their business while producing the top Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019 highlights.
History
Formula 1 first came to Abu Dhabi in 2007 when it was named as the Formula 1 Festival. The committee announced that the city would be given rights to host the Grand Prix from 2009 to 2016. Etihad Airways would then re-negotiate for a three-year deal putting them as the main sponsors of the event.
Sebastian Vettel won the first two Abu Dhabi Grand Prix events when he was still under the Red Bull Racing stable.
Lewis Hamilton would get his first win there in 2011, while Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel won in the next two years.
Since 2014, Mercedes have won five straight with the likes of Nico Rosberg, Valtteri Bottas, and Lewis Hamilton rising to the occasion. Hamilton leads the pack with the most wins with four.
What are the odds?
Lewis Hamilton is pegged as the hot favourite to win it all once more, per our Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019 odds. The Briton driver is placed at 1.40 against Sebastian Vettel while he’s at 1.60 against the likes of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.
Just like in Interlagos, there’s no more incentive for Hamilton to go all out on this one. However, given his competitive spirit and no-nonsense attitude, we can expect him to at least finish in the Top 3.
His teammate Valtteri Bottas should join him in the podium, but the third spot is still up for grabs. Nonetheless, this should be a great race to cap off the 2019 calendar year.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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