The Abu Dhabi Forecast

So now Sebastian Vettel is world champion for another year, it’s all over isn’t it? Might as well pack up and go home now the title race is over for another year despite three races still to run. Well yes, you’d be foolish not to place a cheeky bet on Vettel making it nine race wins a row; if you enjoy a bet that is.

But this is Formula 1 and at some point people lose. They won’t always win. People once lamented that Michael Schumacher would win forever and no one else would get a look in. But no, in his last two seasons he lost the title, and in his second career he didn’t even win a single race.

Things change in sport, no one can win forever. With the pressure of the title race now finally done with, perhaps Red Bull’s and Vettel’s concentration will slip momentarily and allow others the chance for glory (unlikely).

We’ll see if there is any hope for that at this weekend’s race at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. It’s been on the calendar since 2009 and is now a dusk to night race. The tyres for the weekend are the soft and medium compounds which were used at India last weekend. As the race descends into darkness, although with hundreds of lights shining upon the circuit, it’ll be interesting to see how the tyre performance changes as the temperatures change when the sun goes out. It’ll still be hot though, the forecast is for the minimum temperature to be 23C this weekend.

There are two DRS zones this weekend between turns 7 and 8, with another one between turns 10 and 11. At a circuit which was hard to pass on and destroyed Fernando Alonso’s title hopes in 2010 as he struggled to pass Vitaly Petrov, it’s certainly worth having two DRS zones to make it slightly less, well dull.

So it’s guaranteed that the 2013 world champions Vettel and Red Bull will be up there fight for pole position and victory but who else will be in contention? Well I’m still hoping that Mark Webber will get a win in his final season of racing. He’s been a lot more competitive the last two weekends despite saying he is suffering with his motivation. It would be great for him to get one over on Vettel before his time in Formula 1 is up.

Never mind Red Bull for now though, even if they were to streak into the distance there’s still plenty of action out there to look for. The squabble for second in the constructors championship is an interesting one, with Mercedes ahead of Ferrari and Lotus closing both down.

Nico Rosberg was strong for the Mercedes team last time out, while Lewis Hamilton was a bit disappointed with his performance over the weekend. Lewis is always good in Abu Dhabi so I think he might have a chance of sneaking pole. It’ll also be interesting to see just the Mercedes team react to the increasing rumours of Team Principal Ross Brawn’s imminent departure.

I think Ferrari are done this year I can’t see them getting anything other than the odd podium in the last three races. You’d have to say that purely on last weekend, Felipe Massa will give the scarlet squad just as good a chance at a podium as Alonso. Massa put in a polished performance and will give him encouragement as he looks to secure his 2014 seat.

If Romain Grosjean hadn’t struck out in Q1, then where might he have finished in India? Second probably, as he rose almost unnoticed to snatch the final podium spot from 17^th on the grid. I still think he might grab a win this year and I think Grosjean will get another podium this weekend, maybe even a win. Kimi Raikkonen on the other hand will probably just want to get one over on his upstart team mate. Actually, I doubt he’ll care, he was at risk of not even turning up as disagreements with the managers at Lotus have started to create tension, especially with Alan Permane who swore at Kimi over the radio last weekend.

However, Kimi won in Abu Dhabi last year, there’s nothing to say he can’t do it again. Lotus are strong, probably the second fastest at the moment, so if Red Bull slip up I think the black and gold cars will be there.

Watch out for McLaren as they look to confirm their improved performance from India. Sergio Perez did particularly well last weekend, while Jenson Button will be looking to somehow grab an elusive podium.

In the midfield battle I think Sauber still have the edge and I believe will be the fastest ahead of Force India and Toro Rosso who actually both outscored Sauber after Nico Hulkenberg’s retirement.

There’s still plenty of action to be had, and like I said before, in Formula 1 and sport in general, no one can win forever. Will Red Bull win the last three races? It would be a brave man to bet on that. 

all photo's taken from autosport.com