F1 champion Verstappen takes pole position for season-ending Abu Dhabi GP

With the drivers’ and constructors’ championships both secured many weeks ago, is there anything to play for this weekend in Abu Dhabi, where the 2023 Formula One season will come to a close?

The answer is: Yes, there’s plenty!

The 23rd and final race of this campaign will witness some fierce battles for various positions in both championships, could see Max Verstappen close out the year with a new milestone, and will feature one driver eager to retain his seat for 2024.

Here are some of the main talking points surrounding the action at Yas Marina Circuit these next three days.

Mercedes and Ferrari to fight for runner-up spot

The duel for P2 in the constructors’ championship is going down to the wire with Mercedes leading Ferrari by just four points entering this final round in the UAE capital.

The momentum is on Ferrari’s side, as they managed to cut their 56-point deficit to their rivals over the last 10 races. But there is no clear favorite for that runner-up spot in the championship, which comes with an additional $30 million in prize money.

“It’s going to be tight,” said Ferrari’s Charles LeClerc on Thursday.

“We have good momentum coming to this race, as the last few races have been positive for us. However, Mercedes is historically pretty good here in Abu Dhabi so we’ll have to put everything together in order to fight them and then beat them in the constructors’ championship. But yeah, this is clearly the target.”

Mercedes’ George Russell said the team is going into Sunday’s race “with an open mind.”

He said: “They were definitely pretty competitive here last year. But we’ve been surprised a lot this season about which teams are fast at which races and vice versa. Qualifying, I think, they’ll have slightly the upper hand as they have tended to do so this season. But come Sunday, I think it’ll be a different story and we’ll have a good race.”

More battles down the grid

Heading into Abu Dhabi, McLaren occupy P4 in the constructors’ championship with a slender 11-point lead on Aston Martin.

Back-to-back fifth-place finishes for Lance Stroll in the last two races — in Brazil and Las Vegas — and a podium for Fernando Alonso in Brazil have helped Aston Martin gain ground on McLaren, but the task at hand remains a big one.

“We’ve picked up a lot of points over the last few races. So, car has been feeling good,” said Stroll.

“I think we definitely made some progress with the car over the last month. Just kind of understanding it a little bit better and some of the things that maybe we got a little wrong, over the last few months, I think we’ve learned from that and got back to our stronger ways.

“Tight battle now in the championship with McLaren. They’re going to probably be quick this weekend. I think they had an off weekend in Vegas, but I do expect them to be good. They’ve been good throughout the whole second half of the year. So, we’ll see what we can do, though it’s pretty tight now. Last race of the year, anything can happen.”

Meanwhile, Williams are keen to hold onto their seventh place in the championship, which would be their highest finish since 2017, and enter Abu Dhabi with a seven-point advantage on their closest rivals AlphaTauri.

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas said the team’s main goal is to try to leapfrog AlphaTauri and secure P8, but wiping their five-point deficit might not be as easy as it sounds.

“Of course we try to get AlphaTauri. It’s only five points and it is realistic to get that, but there’s not been many occasions that we’ve scored, so we need to get everything perfect. So that’s absolutely the target for this weekend, is trying to get them. But for that, we need to focus on ourselves as well,” said Bottas.

Another milestone in store for Max?

He landed a third consecutive world title and has picked up a record-breaking 18 race wins this season, but Verstappen can still add to what has been the most dominant season in F1 history with success in Abu Dhabi this weekend.

Should the Dutchman triumph on Sunday, it would be his 54th Grand Prix victory, which would see him pass Sebastian Vettel’s tally and take sole ownership of third place on the all-time list behind Lewis Hamilton (103) and Michael Schumacher (91).

“It’s quite a crazy number. But we’ve also had a crazy year, so it would of course be very nice but at the same time also I’m very focused on what’s ahead of me and hopefully also next year (if) we have a competitive car again, we can really continue that momentum (and) we can win more races,” said Verstappen when asked about the potential milestone.

Can Sargeant lock down his seat for 2024?

Williams rookie Logan Sargeant is the only driver on the grid yet to confirm his seat for next season, but the 22-year-old American should be feeling confident after pulling off the best qualifying performance of his career in Vegas last weekend, where he qualified seventh and started from sixth.

A strong showing in Abu Dhabi this weekend could strengthen his chances of retaining his Williams seat.

“Honestly, I don’t know. But I think for me, it’s just a case of taking it race by race. I feel like from a driving point of view, everything’s been getting much better in the past … however many rounds. I’m just trying to do my job the best I can. And I think with how it’s been going recently, I don’t see any issues,” said Sargeant on Thursday.

Will jetlag and fatigue play a factor?

“We’re delirious,” joked Daniel Ricciardo during the pre-weekend press conference on Thursday, referring to the obvious jetlag he and his fellow drivers have been suffering from since their arrival from Las Vegas.

This Vegas-Abu Dhabi double-header has been a real scheduling headscratcher, and drivers, mechanics, teams, and traveling media members have little time to adapt to a new time zone and be ready for what lies ahead.

Several drivers said they feel “burnt out” heading into this final race of the season, while Russell said that “it’s pretty brutal for everybody,” adding that the lack of sunlight during their time in Vegas “was a big challenge.”

The Mercedes man added: “I guess we’ll find out this weekend how we’re feeling, but I’m sure we’ll be feeling a lot better than we did last week.”

Will the drivers have enough in them for one final push, or will fatigue play a part? We could be in for a few surprises on Sunday!