2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Preview
“A spectacular season draws to a close at Yas Marina with a 2023 tyre test”
“At Abu Dhabi, a truly thrilling season comes to an end. Last year’s modifications to some of the straights and corners on the Yas Marina track have made the circuit faster, balancing the longitudinal and lateral demands on the tyres – whereas previously it was more about traction and braking. Despite these changes to the layout, there is still going to be a lot of attention paid to the rear tyres in order to guarantee the best traction over long stints. On the Tuesday after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the 2023 slick tyres will be tried out during a full day of testing, where the teams will be able to decide their run plans as well as which drivers to use: race drivers or young drivers..”
THE TYRES ON TRACK
- Pirelli has nominated the three softest compounds in the range for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: C3 as the P Zero White hard, C4 as the P Zero Yellow medium and C5 as the P Zero Red soft.
- The circuit characteristics aren’t particularly demanding for the tyres. The asphalt is not especially abrasive, which allows the use of the softer compounds. It’s going to be important to consider falling track temperatures during the race on Sunday, as the chequered flag falls late into the evening.
- Yas Marina is made up of 16 corners as well as some fast sections. Aerodynamics are an important aspect to guarantee a strong performance and optimal tyre management.
- The teams used a number of different strategies at last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won his first world title after stopping three times, putting on the soft tyre during a safety car period five laps from the end.
- This is the final race of the 2022 Formula 1 season, but the teams will then stay on for a one-day test of the 2023 slick compounds, which were fine-tuned in testing during the USA and Mexico Grand Prix weekends.
Abu Dhabi hosts the final round of this year’s Formula 2 championship, two months after the penultimate round in Italy. While MP Motorsport's Felipe Drugovich has claimed the drivers’ title already, the teams’ title as well as many other important positions in the final standings are still up for grabs. The P Zero Yellow medium tyres and P Zero Red soft tyres have been nominated for the season finale, just like the previous round at Monza. Each driver has five sets of slick tyres (three medium and two soft) to use across the weekend. The sprint race, lasting 23 laps, takes place on Saturday afternoon at 16:20 ahead of the 33-lap feature race on Sunday at 13:00.
WRC
The 2022 World Rally Championship, which is exclusively supplied by Pirelli, concluded on Rally Japan with a Hyundai one-two: Thierry Neuville winning ahead of Ott Tanak. Toyota driver Takamoto Katsuta was third on home territory.