Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Prediction:The last dance this season

It’s time for the last race of the season in Formula 1, and the curtains will go down in Abu Dhabi. Verstappen won his 4th title, and after this race, we will know the champion among the constructors. This is also the last race for Hamilton in Mercedes and Sainz in Ferrari, a lot of emotions during the whole weekend but the excitement and the race will certainly be on the best level of F1.

Ferrari came to Abu Dhabi to fight McLaren for the constructors' title, but that mission will be much more difficult after the penalty received by Charles Leclerc. Of course, it wasn’t the driver’s fault. A technical failure in his car occurred. When the first free practice session began at the Yas Marina circuit, Charles Leclerc watched helplessly for almost half an hour as Ferrari's mechanics tried to get the car running. In the end, they succeeded, but with a heavy burden for the rest of the weekend. They had to change the battery in the power unit, and considering that Leclerc had already used up the allowed number of these components for this season, he was automatically given a penalty. At the start of Sunday's race, he will be moved ten places back compared to his qualifying result. He will start from 19th place.

McLaren carried the form from the last free practice into Saturday's qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Lando Norris will start Sunday's race ahead of teammate Oscar Piastre. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was third, and an excellent fourth went to Nico Hulkenberg in Haas who later received a penalty of three-places and will start from seventh place. It was the last qualifying session for Lewis Hamilton in Mercedes, Carlos Sainz in Ferrari, the last qualifying session for Valtteri Bottas in Formula 1 for now, and definitely the last for Kevin Magnussen.

Saturday was not a positive day for Ferrari, despite Carlos Sainz setting the third-fastest time, giving him the chance to fight with McLaren, who secured the first row of the grid in qualifying yesterday. However, the Ferrari boss is not giving up on the title until the last lap: “We are fighting with McLaren, as in previous races, at least with Carlos. That will not change. Maybe with Charles, we will have to think of something different to avoid traffic, but we will evaluate the opportunities in the race. The focus for the Maranello team must remain the same.”

I expect the last race to bring us excitement besides the fact that the champion is known and McLaren almost won the constructor’s title. There are still some personal issues between the drivers as Verstappen and Russell and for many drivers it’s the last race in their current teams or last in their career. I expect Leclerc with his repaired Ferrari to have a different strategy and it will get him in the top 6 in the end.

OUR PREDICTION: Charles Leclerc in top 6