Mercedes VS Ferrari for 2nd Place
Whilst finishing second in the Constructors’ Championship is something neither Mercedes nor Ferrari would’ve been aiming for at the start of the season, finishing in P2 can still have its benefits. Mercedes have been towards the front of the Championship Standings for a while now whilst Ferrari have started to climb in the second half of the season, and with just 4 points between them heading into Abu Dhabi, anything really is possible.
The Final Race for the Two Al(f/ph)a’s
Since 2019, Alfa Romeo have been on the grid as the name for the former Sauber team. Since 2020, Alpha Tauri have been on the grid as the name for the former Toro Rosso team. Now, in 2023, both Alfa Romeo and Alpha Tauri will (kind of) bow out of the sport as the Swiss-Italian team will be rebranded back to Sauber whilst Alpha Tauri will also have their name changed for next season. Whilst it’s not been the greatest season for either team, both parties can certainly say that they did have some high moments over the years (especially Pierre Gasly’s win for Alpha Tauri in Monza 2020).
McLaren VS Aston Martin for P4
At the start of the year, Aston Martin were being praised by everyone for coming out of the blocks with a Podium-contending car whilst McLaren couldn’t even make it out of Q1. However, since Silverstone, McLaren have scored a total of 9 Podiums (as well as a Sprint Victory for Oscar Piastri) whilst Aston have been the ones struggling to score any points. However, the Silverstone-based team have come back fighting over the past few weeks and it’s meant that we head into the final round of the 2023 Season with just 11 points separating the two famous names. Whilst McLaren should have Aston Martin covered, you just never quite know in Formula 1 (unless it’s Max Verstappen winning the Grand Prix).
A Different Looking FP1
If you remember back to last year, the FIA brought in a rule where all 20 cars had to have a Rookie drive in them in FP1 at some point in the season. Due to teams either forgetting about it or not feeling like it was the right time, it now means that half of the drivers in Practice 1 tomorrow will be Rookies. Red Bull will field reigning Formula E World Champion Jake Dennis in one of their cars alongside Formula 2’s Isack Hadjar whilst Frederik Vesti, who enters the weekend with the opportunity to win the F2 Title, will hop into the Mercedes. Robert Shwartzman and Pato O’Ward will drive for Ferrari and McLaren respectively whilst the reigning Formula 2 Champion Felipe Drugovich will drive for Aston Martin. Jack Doohan will also feature for Alpine whilst Formula 3 star Zak O’Sullivan will drive for Williams. Finally, the current F2 Championship leader Theo Pourchaire will take part for Alfa Romeo whilst young Ferrari Academy Driver Ollie Bearman will feature for Haas. I’m certainly excited to see how everyone gets on.
A Four-Way Fight for 4th
We’ve talked plenty about the fights in the Constructors’ Championship, but now it’s time to talk about the 4-way battle for P4 in the Drivers’ Championship. The Spanish duo of Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso enter this weekend level on 200 points whilst Lando Norris sits pretty with 195 points and Charles Leclerc has 188. Whilst this might not seem that important, I can tell you that it is because Alonso and Norris have fought very hard to finish as high up as possible whilst Carlos and Charles know how important it is to end up as the higher-scoring Ferrari driver.
My Predictions for Yas Marina Qualifying
Max Verstappen
Lando Norris
Lewis Hamilton
Oscar Piastri
Carlos Sainz
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