Formula One’s 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will make history tomorrow as the world’s grandest circus takes to the 21-turn Hermann Tilke designed Yas Marina Circuit. It will be the first day-to-night Grand Prix, and the first Grand Prix under the lights on a ‘proper’ road circuit. Musco Lighting from Iowa (United States) provided the lighting, and they have done a fabulous job!
The circuit is 5.554 km (3.451 miles) long, and the race distance is 55 laps.
Although it could be said that the drivers and teams will be racing for pride since Jenson Button and Brawn GP wrapped up F1’s drivers
and constructors championships at the last round in Brazil, there is at least one significant fight between two old foes – McLaren & Ferrari – as the silver arrows have a one point lead over the red cars for third place in the constructors battle
For McLaren, 2008 Formula One World Driver’s champion Lewis Hamilton will start from Pole and give his team a decided advantage heading into tomorrow’s race as Ferrari’s best hope for point Kimi Raikkonen will start 11th. Further still, Hamilton will have a very long run down to Turn one, and with KERS available to him once he hits 100 Mph, we don’t see any other outcome than Lewis leading after Turn One.
Hamilton is slightly lower on fuel (658.5 kg) compared to the Red Bull cars of Sebastien Vettel (663 kg) and Mark Webber (660 kg), but will be of no concern unless by some freakish streak of fate Hamilton exits Turn One in P2 or P3. And even if he does, Hamilton was nearly seven tenths quicker than either Red Bull.
We expect Lewis Hamilton to pit around lap 17-19 and use a two stop strategy. By the first pitstop, he should have a 12-14 second advantage if he is able to hold up his qualifying pace in the race. We expect Vettel and Webber in around laps 18-21, with Vettel able to go a lap longer than Webber. They may go even a bit beyond as the Renault powerplants have shown better fuel economy over the course of the season than the rest of the field.
A bit further back, the Brawn GP boys will line-up fourth (Barrichello) and fifth (Button). We don’t expect either driver to be a significant factor for the race win given they were over 1.1 seconds adrift of Hamilton carrying less fuel. But the boys will be racing to see why exactly Brawn GP should be keeping 2009 World Champion Jenson Button, and why they are letting Rubens Barrichello go to Williams. Over the second half of the season… the better driver hasn’t been the world champion. We expect Barrichello in
on lap 16-18, with Button in on lap 17-19.
As for our pick for the race win. All signs point to McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. Should he stumble, it out to be a great fight between Vettel and Webber, though we’d expect Vettel to take the day as he was quicker in qualifying, and had more fuel.
The circuit is 5.554 km (3.451 miles) long, and the race distance is 55 laps.
Although it could be said that the drivers and teams will be racing for pride since Jenson Button and Brawn GP wrapped up F1’s drivers
and constructors championships at the last round in Brazil, there is at least one significant fight between two old foes – McLaren & Ferrari – as the silver arrows have a one point lead over the red cars for third place in the constructors battleFor McLaren, 2008 Formula One World Driver’s champion Lewis Hamilton will start from Pole and give his team a decided advantage heading into tomorrow’s race as Ferrari’s best hope for point Kimi Raikkonen will start 11th. Further still, Hamilton will have a very long run down to Turn one, and with KERS available to him once he hits 100 Mph, we don’t see any other outcome than Lewis leading after Turn One.
Hamilton is slightly lower on fuel (658.5 kg) compared to the Red Bull cars of Sebastien Vettel (663 kg) and Mark Webber (660 kg), but will be of no concern unless by some freakish streak of fate Hamilton exits Turn One in P2 or P3. And even if he does, Hamilton was nearly seven tenths quicker than either Red Bull.
We expect Lewis Hamilton to pit around lap 17-19 and use a two stop strategy. By the first pitstop, he should have a 12-14 second advantage if he is able to hold up his qualifying pace in the race. We expect Vettel and Webber in around laps 18-21, with Vettel able to go a lap longer than Webber. They may go even a bit beyond as the Renault powerplants have shown better fuel economy over the course of the season than the rest of the field.
A bit further back, the Brawn GP boys will line-up fourth (Barrichello) and fifth (Button). We don’t expect either driver to be a significant factor for the race win given they were over 1.1 seconds adrift of Hamilton carrying less fuel. But the boys will be racing to see why exactly Brawn GP should be keeping 2009 World Champion Jenson Button, and why they are letting Rubens Barrichello go to Williams. Over the second half of the season… the better driver hasn’t been the world champion. We expect Barrichello in
on lap 16-18, with Button in on lap 17-19.As for our pick for the race win. All signs point to McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. Should he stumble, it out to be a great fight between Vettel and Webber, though we’d expect Vettel to take the day as he was quicker in qualifying, and had more fuel.
Enjoy the 2009 formula One season finale. Someone will be the first winner of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and will put their mark on history!
2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Starting Line-up & Car Weights Pos Driver Team Weight (kg) KERS
1. Hamilton McLaren 658.5 K
2. Vettel Red Bull 663.0
3. Webber Red Bull 660.0
4. Barrichello Brawn 655.0
5. Button Brawn 657.0
6. Trulli Toyota 661.0
7. Kubica BMW 654.5
8. Heidfeld BMW 664.0
9. Rosberg Williams 665.0
10. Buemi Toro Rosso 661.5
11. Raikkonen Ferrari 692.0* K
12. Kobayashi Toyota 694.3*
13. Nakajima Williams 704.0*
14. Alguersuari Toro Rosso 696.5*
15. Alonso Renault 708.3*
16. Liuzzi Force India 695.0*
17. Sutil Force India 696.0*
18. Kovalainen McLaren 697.0* K
19. Grosjean Renault 710.8*
20. Fisichella Ferrari 692.5* K
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