Round 17: Abu-Dhabi 2013 - Preview

Greetings Internet,

Well this is the first race since the championship was all wrapped up last week in India, and we come to another monolithic facility built in the middle of nowhere with huge piles of money funding the project. Back when the Yas Marina circuit first arrived it brought with it a strong novelty factor, big impressive buildings coated in LEDs and finished in very futuristic plastic. A race held as daylight fades into the darkness of night - all very grand, and very deceptive. As the years roll by that novelty factor starts to slowly fade away, and the actual circuit design becomes far more prevalent. Over those years the track has failed to deliver the immense spectacle that the gargantuan architecture overlooking the circuit suggests. But then 2012 was a brilliant race it had madness, safety cars and some hilarious Raikkonen team radio comments.

It was Kimi's radio again that caused some angst within the Lotus team dynamic in the final laps of the Indian GP. The official transcript has not been published from the race yet due to the short turn-around between from India to here, but there was several expletives passed back and forth. Perhaps this suggests there is a slight breakdown of communication within the Lotus team since Kimi is on the way out to Ferrari. It also comes at the end of a recent drop in form for the Finn which coincidently coincides with the decision to jump ship... yet to smooth things over Raikkonen has stated he really enjoyed his time at Lotus, I wonder how much ice cream based bribery that took..

The Track

This is yet another of those Tilke based venues featuring another excessively long straight, but all anyone remembers from the Abu Dhabi grand prix is how pretty the whole venue is, the buildings of the marina section are staggering. A hotel that crosses the circuit draped in a veil of light panels which change colour as the daylight fades - simply marvellous. But as a actual layout it leaves a lot to be desired hidden beneath all the light and shiny objects, simply because it has way too many corners, a lot of which are the same in the final sector of the lap. It is an example of a circuit where the requirement to provide a racing circuit comes in a very distant second to the visuals and trackside objects.

Despite all that the track does get off to decent start, turn one is simple and effective and can be taken with a bit of speed. Of course it does conceal the venue's most unique feature which is the underground pit lane exit - and somehow despite being introduced in 2009, hosting GT, V8 Supercar, GP2/3 and F1 in that time - no-one has crashed into the walls inside the tunnel...Back on the surface the turns 2-4 sequence is by far the highlight of the lap in terms of the layout before it funnels down into a needless chicane. In fact the reason this chicane exists is a direct result of a compromise for the trackside structures. There is very limited run-ff at the hairpin due to a massive grandstand - as this was a clean slate during construction the developers obviously voted to have this structure instead of a valid corner... oh well. On the exit lies the obligatory DRS straight which all new tracks have to have.

Several hundreds of metres later we find another corner, which happens to be another excessively sharp chicane. I understand the need to break the two straights up with something, and a chicane is probably the best solution - it just seems the designers have pinned themselves in a corner and had run out of options. At least here the run-off space goes underneath the stands which is nice feature. The chicane leads onto another long flat out blast - not quite a straight but with current downforce it may as well be. Now you'd think having played the chicane card several times already there would be something different at the end, and you'd be wrong - it's another chicane. Which reinforces the argument that there are too many corners none of which are smooth, it's all angles everywhere.

If that wasn't bad enough the rest of the lap is the pseudo street/marina section, which like the lap lulls you into a false sense of security by starting off with a sequence of gradually decreasing radii. But after that the road is forced out of it's way to account for another structural feature - the hotel. Yes it is massively impressive and looks splendid but the way it has been introduced into the layout hasn't helped at all. Then we come to the final pair of corners which are virtually identical to the ones that started the area section - just not as well executed - more repetition pah... No wonder Rosberg decided to complete the lap in the air last season rather than finish the lap... One of the problems with this race is that the circuit is bounded immediately by painted tarmac, so inevitably there is going to be a barrage of penalties for 'gaining an advantage' off the track...

The Form Guide

Well on the basis of recent race weekends we can assume that Vettel will be out front because it no longer matters about the nature of the track and the Red Bull can win on them all. So the battle now is for second place, both in the race and in the championships, Ferrari, Lotus and Mercedes are still in contention for taking that place, and none of them really have a significant advantage in Abu Dhabi - last season it was Lotus who took the victory, because Vettel had a difficult race and Hamilton broke down again. There is also the potential for McLaren to get involved in this battle if their pace in India is any reflection, because the track is fairly similar being planned from the same drawing board in the same office.

It is also getting close in the middle of the pack, as Sauber, Toro Rosso and Force India are all arguing over the same position in the championship - presently Force India have that position but Sauber have a strong turn of pace having already passed Toro Rosso. All of this is not pleasant viewing for Williams who still, after 16 races, only have a single point - and that was a fluke in Hungary. Instability within the team with regards to Maldonado's funding and future are more damaging distractions as Williams hope to reverse one of their worst ever seasons in the few races have left.

At the bottom of the field there was more contact in India, Van Der Garde ran into the back of Chilton in exactly the same manner as in Japan claiming that Chilton failed to see the Caterham and moved across. That time it took Bianchi and Giedo out of the race, and in India only Van Der Garde was eliminated, either way there is definitely something going on back there and I don't think it is over.

I suppose Abu Dhabi is the ultimate example of modern F1, geared completely towards being a spectacle and a form of entertainment, and few venues look quite so spectacular as the Yas Marina track especially as the night falls over the track. It is a shame that the layout does not live up to that impossible standard - if the lap was like a European track underneath all those lights and splendour it would be amazing. But we shall have to make do.