You can tell the paddock already has one eye on their winter holidays.
Out of all the rounds on the F1 calendar, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix holds the distinct honour of hosting the final race of the championship – which it has almost every season since it joined the series in 2009.
As the season finale, this event is supposed to be the grand climax of the year. The final chapter that sees all of the major storylines of the season culminating with champions crowned and the crucial places in the constructors’ standings finalised along with the millions of dollars of prize money to go with it.
However, at the end of the most one-sided season in the history of the sport, it’s hard not to wonder how many of the competitors are simply going through the motions to the end of the weekend, where they will receive a well-earned break from traipsing across the globe on a relentless racing schedule. Perhaps this was best illustrated by the world champions, Red Bull, choosing to run both of their compulsory Friday young driver allocations in the same first practice session at the Yas Marina circuit.
But Red Bull were far from the only team to get in their Friday driver allocation in at the last minute. Nine of the 10 teams ran a driver fulfilling F1’s criteria of being sufficiently inexperienced during the opening hour of running in Abu Dhabi. Aside from the invaluable experience afforded to that fortunate 10, there was little insight to gain from the first practice session as a result, with George Russell setting the pace for Mercedes. Neither RB19 – occupied for one session only by Jake Dennis and Isack Hadjar – appeared in the top 10.
At least the 10 drivers who missed out could expect the benefit of a full hour to catch up on their rivals when the track conditions were more representative. But that was not to be. Instead, two red flag suspensions totalling just under 34 minutes robbed the field of over half of the second session. As a result, those drivers who skipped the opening session will have technically had only a quarter of the track time they would typically have under their belts at the end of a usual grand prix Friday.
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