Championship positions up for grabs going into the final weekend
Even though Red Bull have sealed both the drivers and constructors titles, there is still so much up for grabs. Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez are currently level on points for second in the drivers championship whilst Lewis Hamilton leads Carlos Sainz by 6 points for 5th in the championship. When it comes to second in the constructors, Ferrari currently lead Mercedes by 19 points. Ferrari shouldn’t lose P2 in the championship, but Mercedes are definitely in with a chance if they have as good of a weekend as they had in Brazil. Elsewhere, Alpine have a 19-point lead over McLaren for fourth in the championship; both Alpine drivers are also separated by 5 points so that should be an exciting battle. There is no way that McLaren finish 4th in the constructors. Alfa Romeo lead Aston Martin by 5 points for 6th in the championship whilst Haas lead Alpha Tauri by just two points in the battle for P8. I could genuinely see Aston toppling Alfa Romeo, but I can’t see Alpha Tauri scoring two points. Millions and millions of dollars are on the line for these teams, so I’m really intrigued to see how it plays out.
Is this the last time we see Daniel Ricciardo in Formula 1?
This weekend marks the end of Daniel Ricciardo in Formula 1 for now. This weekend will be Daniel’s 232 race start and, in that time, he has won 8 Formula 1 races and has been on the podium 32 times. He has also qualified on pole 3 times. I’m going to be very sad come Sunday as Daniel Ricciardo is one of the reasons that I got so into this sport. I really hope he has a good weekend and this isn’t the last time that we are going to see them. Given the fact that Nico Hulkenberg has been announced as Haas’ driver next season, Daniel should be back on the grid soon. Thanks for everything Danny Ric
Drivers leaving Formula 1 and others parting ways with their current teams
Daniel Ricciardo isn’t the only driver who is leaving Formula 1 at the end of this weekend. Mick Schumacher is leaving Haas after a tough couple of years with the team. In his 42 starts, his best finish was a P6 in Austria. Nicholas Latifi is also leaving Williams after a 3-year stint with the team. In his 60 race starts, his best finish was P7 in Hungary last year. He just hasn’t quite been good enough unfortunately. Elsewhere, Fernando Alonso will drive for Alpine for the last time before his move to Aston Martin and Pierre Gasly will race for the last time as a part of the Red Bull family before he moves to Alpine.
One last chance for Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton has won races in all 15 of his Formula 1 seasons. However, in his 16th season, he is yet to get a win. He’s been on the podium 9 times but hasn’t quite been able to get into P1. However, Mercedes got their first win of the season last week in Brazil so there is now belief that Lewis can do it in Abu Dhabi. Given his record and what happened at Abu Dhabi last year, there’s no reason why he can’t take the win this weekend.
Farewell Sebastian Vettel
This weekend will see the end of Sebastian Vettel in Formula 1. After 299 races, Sebastian Vettel has decided to hang up his helmet in order to spend more time with his family. The former 4-time World Champion has won 53 races, been on pole 57 times and finished on the podium 122 times. As for the records, Seb is ranked 3rd in race wins in F1 history, 4th in pole positions in F1 history, 3rd in total podiums and only 3 drivers have won more championships than the German. The first time I really learnt about F1 was on F1 2013 and the email at the start of the career mode said, “Who can stop Sebastian Vettel?” When he’s at his best, not many people in F1 history would be able to beat him. Thankyou Seb.
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