58 laps / 5.281 km / 16 corners / 1:26.103 lap record (Verstappen 2021)

The Yas Marina Circuit held its first F1 GP in 2009, which was won by Sebastian Vettel in his Red Bull.

Ferrari World Yas Island is a Ferrari theme park located just next to the circuit.

The Yas Marina Circuit being at the end of the season calendar will always have potential for some dramatics and was the site of one of the more controversial season endings in 2021 when Max Verstappen won his first Drivers Championships from Lewis Hamilton on a last lap restart. I am sure we all remember where we were when this happened.

Since 2013 only Mercedes or Red Bull drivers have won at Yas Marina. And since it’s inception only two other teams have won here, and one of those times was Lewis Hamilton for McLaren.

Max Verstappen has been on pole and won the last 4 races in Abu Dhabi.

Arthur Leclerc is set to drive in FP1 in Carlos Sainz Ferrari! The first time two brothers will take part in an F1 session for the same team.

Drivers

8 points separate P2 in the Drivers Championship.

Constructors

21 points separate McLaren and Ferrari for P1 in the Constructors Championship.

A less talked about race is between Alpine (59), Haas (54), and the second Red Bull team (46) for P6-8 in the Constructors. With $$$ to play for you know these teams will want to end this weekend on a high.

The 2024 Abu Dhabi marks the end of the road for a few drivers both on the grid or with their respective teams.

Lewis Hamilton most notably will be in his last race as a Mercedes driver, and the team shared a nice collage of photos and memories of their partnership and its success over the last

Carlos Sainz ends his stint with Ferrari before making the move to Williams next year. Sainz has shown time and again this year that he is a top driver in this sport and we are all very interested in how he matches up next to Albon in a car that has been nowhere near the quality of his Ferrari drive.

Valtteri Bottas will be leaving Sauber and at this time there is no set spot for him on the grid next year. As he would say, “What’s Next?”. There have been rumours of him taking a reserve driver role or maybe getting back onto the grid next year with the 11th team joining the grid.

The Franco Colapinto hype train has pumped the breaks over the past few weekends due to both crashes and less than desirably results. Red Bull have reportedly decided against bringing him into the first or second team at VCARB. It might come down to how RB junior and F2 driver Isack Hadjar performs in his FP1 showing in Verstappens car this weekend and how he wraps up his F2 season.

Zhou Guanyu coming off his P8 finish in Qatar will be looking to end his time at Sauber with another good weekend. Rumours of Zhou taking a role at Ferrari as a reserve driver have been circulating, but nothing has been confirmed.

If we were better people (we sometimes are) we would bet that this is the last time we see Checo in a Red Bull as well. But really who knows.

Kevin Magnussen will be out at Haas after Abu Dhabi but there has been little speculation on what he will do next year. There might be potential for him to stay with Haas in some other role?

Esteban Ocon is officially out at Alpine after the Qatar GP and Haas has confirmed he will be running a tests in Abu Dhabi after the season wraps.

Hooooooolllyyyyy… This George vs Max back and forth has completely popped off and we are here for it.

It all started in Qatar when Max was handed a 1-place grid penalty for impeding George during a warm up lap in qualifying. Max said to the media post race that he “lost all respect” for Russell after seeing how he acted in the stewards room trying to get him a penalty.

Now on media day in Abu Dhabi George has clapped back at Verstappen and Toto has taken a shot at Horner (this part is nothing new).

Firstly George:

"I find it all quite ironic, considering Saturday night he said he's going to purposely go out of his way to crash into me and, quote, "put me on my fucking head in the wall."

"To question somebody's integrity as a person, while saying comments like that the day before, I find it very ironic, and I'm not going to sit here and accept it.

"People have been bullied by Max for years now, and you can't question his driving abilities. But he cannot deal with adversity whenever anything has gone against him.

"Jeddah '21, Brazil '21, he lashes out. Budapest this year, very first race, the car wasn't dominant, crashing into Lewis, slamming his team.

"I've known him for 12 years. We've had respect with one another beforehand. We've never had any collisions….but we've got a guy who's on the top of this sport and who feels he's above the law. I don't think that's right.

"I've got an eight-year-old nephew who's just started go-karting, who watches all of my races, watches TikTok, watches YouTube, and for a world champion to be coming out saying he's going to go out of his way to crash into someone and put them on their effing head, that is not the sort of role models we should be."

Max had his own response to this:

"That's not true, I didn't say it like that. He's trying to exaggerate it again. Do you know what else I can't stand? That he attacks me in an unacceptable way with the stewards and then comes back a day later as if nothing is wrong and slaps me on the shoulder. Then I think: stay away for a while. He makes up all kinds of things that aren't true."

"With me you always get the same: here, at home, with the stewards; I don't change. You can't say that about everyone. But I'm not surprised by that with him."

“Yes, but George is a bully. He brings all this stuff in, he's just a loser. He lies and puts all kinds of things together that are not true. I only gave my opinion on his behaviour with the stewards. He is clearly not into that. What he said about 2021 was the same with the stewards. He insinuates a lot of things that don't make sense."

Last week in Qatar Horner said George resorted to ‘hysterics’ when speaking with the stewards to get Max a penalty. And Toto has now called Horner a ‘yapping little terrier’.

We hope this continues and that these two have some close battles next year 🤞

It has become a tradition for the drivers of the F1 grid to get together for a dinner before their last race! This year it was reportedly planned by Sir Lewis Hamilton and paid for by Valtteri! Unsure why but the Aston Martin guys were absent.

Lando shared the photo and a bit of a cheeky caption poking fun at Max and George.

Sergio Perez’s Formula 1 future with Red Bull Racing hangs by a thread as speculation mounts that his tenure could end following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko have hinted that the decision about Perez’s future is imminent, though Horner suggests Perez could step down voluntarily.

Horner has reflected on Perez’s achievements, including his role in securing Red Bull’s 2022 and 2023 Constructors’ Championships and supporting Max Verstappen’s 2021 Drivers’ title. However, he acknowledged the pressure Perez faces in the current competitive environment.

Perez’s underwhelming performance this season, highlighted by a 152:429 points gap going into Abu Dhabi with Verstappen, has made his position increasingly difficult to justify.

As Red Bull’s shareholders prepare to meet after Abu Dhabi, the team’s future lineup will soon be determined. Whether Perez leaves as a celebrated team player or exits quietly depends largely on his own choices in the coming days.

Liam Lawson has become the betting favourite to land the Red Bull seat for next year.

The 2026 Dutch Grand Prix will be the last. Zandvoort will remain on the calendar for 2025 and then in 2026 will play host to a sprint race weekend.

The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport’s governing body, has put forward significant amendments to its statutes, prompting concerns about transparency and accountability. These proposals, set for a vote at the FIA General Assembly on December 13, aim to alter the operational scope of the audit and ethics committees.

These revisions follow a year of controversies involving FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

Ethics Committee Oversight Shift:

The ethics committee would lose its power to independently investigate complaints, limiting its role to an initial assessment.

Reports would be sent to the president of the FIA Senate, who decides on further action.

Audit Committee Limitations:

The committee would no longer independently investigate financial issues.

Its role in ensuring accounting accuracy and overseeing financial operations would be reduced to a mere "review."

Compliance Officer Role Reduction:

The compliance officer’s ability to report irregularities or investigate FIA leadership, including the president, would be eliminated.

Leadership Control:

The FIA president gains authority over appointing the head of the ethics committee.

Investigations into the FIA president or Senate president would effectively be decided by one another.

Financial Scrutiny: Questions arose over the finances of the president’s private office and a $1.5 million "president's fund" distributed to member clubs.

Grand Prix Interference: Allegations of meddling in the 2023 Saudi Arabian and Las Vegas Grands Prix, dismissed by the ethics committee.

Leadership Departures: High-profile exits included former CEO Natalie Robyn and senior figures like the head of the audit committee and compliance officer.

Opponents argue that the proposed changes weaken the FIA's ability to hold leadership accountable. By centralizing power within the FIA president and Senate president, whistleblowers and oversight bodies may lose their ability to address ethical and financial irregularities.

Notable Figures in the Senate:
The 12-member Senate includes influential figures such as Prince Faisal Al Hussein of Jordan, billionaire Carlos Slim Domit, and Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda.

As the FIA declined to comment on these proposed changes, stakeholders and member clubs prepare for the decisive December vote. The outcome could shape the organization’s governance and transparency for years to come.

This guy really likes to think himself the hero. With all of the controversy surrounding the figure over the past few months he took a chance to shine a light on his involvement in getting a new team on the grid in Cadillac for 2026.