Abu Dhabi Speed Trap: Who is the fastest of them all?

Abu Dhabi's 16-turn 5.2km circuit features two lengthy straights, including the 1.2km back straight between Turns 5 and 6 where cars reach maximum speeds in excess of 330 km/h.

Downforce is less of an issue at Yas Marina, with most teams running reasonably high levels of drag on their cars.

This means that drivers can tackle the slow corners as well as possible while still breezing down the straights with a good level of velocity.

Williams’ sleek FW45 is renowned for its top speed, so Alex Albon’s presence at the top of the speed trap readings in qualifying was anything but surprising.

And no one was disconcerted either by Red Bull’s equally strong performance – despite the RB19 running a very loaded rear wing.

Coupled with Max Verstappen’s pole position, this only further increases the already high odds of the Dutchman closing out his incredible 2023 campaign with a 19th win.

Could Ferrari or McLaren nevertheless pull off an upset? It’s unlikely barring any unforeseen circumstances.

In qualifying, Lando Norris was fastest through Sector 1 and on course to clock in P2 before his wild slide through the hotel complex. But in terms of single lap pace, McLaren’s MCL60 is still too draggy for it to take the fight to Red Bull.

Leclerc claimed P2 in Q3 despite not being fastest in any sector, and being just 9th fastest in S1 (data courtesy of @FDataAnalysis).

Looking at the fight between Mercedes and Ferrari for the runner-up spot in F1’s Constructors’ Championship, the Brackley squad holds a four-point advantage over its rival.

But the Scuderia certainly has a performance edge over Mercedes this weekend at Yas Marina, where Lewis Hamilton failed to reach Q3 for the second time in a row.

• Read also: Norris calls himself out: I’m doing a ‘shit job’ on Saturdays

In terms of race strategy, last year nearly all the drivers started their race on the medium tyre. The top three finishers – in order, Verstappen, Leclerc and Sergio Perez – all stopped just once to put on the hard tyre, between laps 16 and 21.

Teams will have likely tried to find out across practice if a medium-to-hard one-stopper was still fastest option, but Friday’s truncated FP2 might have left engineers with a murky picture.

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