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Final Round of the 2022 F1 World Championship Set To Take Place in Abu Dhabi This Weekend

In just a few days, we'll witness the last race of the 2022 F1 season. Drivers are headed to the United Arab Emirates, where they will be going all out at Yas Marina Circuit starting Friday. We already know that Max Verstappen is this year's World Champion and that Red Bull Racing has secured the Constructors title. But there is still much at stake, which means we'll have yet another heated challenge to the finish line.
Final Round of the 2022 F1 World Championship Set to Take Place in Abu Dhabi This Weekend 25 photos
Photo: Ferrari
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The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has been part of the F1 calendar since 2009, which also marked the inaugural season of the Yas Marina Circuit. Back then, it was the 17th and final race of the year. And it has established itself as the conclusive round of the championship ever since 2014.

Instead of taking place in December like last year, officials have opted to schedule it for November instead. That means that by the end of this week, we will know the outcome for both the driver and constructor rankings.

Sebastian Vettel won the inaugural race at Yas Marina in 2009 while he was still competing for Red Bull Racing. It took him one hour and a little over 34 minutes to complete all 55 laps, with Mark Webber crossing the finish line in P2 after almost 18 seconds.

Even though Lewis Hamilton was the fastest in qualifying, he didn't finish the race due to a brake failure. Vettel would go on to win the Abu Dhabi in 2010 as well, and that's when he also secured his first World Championship winner title.

2021 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Photo: Daimler AG
With one more success recorded in 2013, the soon-to-retire German driver is now second on the list of drivers with the most wins in Abu Dhabi. Lewis Hamilton is at the top of that list with five wins, while Max Verstappen is third with two victories. The reigning World Champion has been unstoppable at Yas Marina for the past two years, starting the races from P1 and winning them as well.

After a total of 13 races in the UAE, we've only had six different drivers climb to the top of the podium. As Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Rosberg are no longer competing in the series, that means there are only four drivers on the grid today that have achieved this performance previously.

Sebastian Vettel hasn't won a GP since 2019, while Valtteri Bottas was last on top of the competition back in Turkey in 2021. Neither of them has been on the podium in 2022. So you'd think that it will all boil down to a battle between Hamilton and Verstappen.

But let's not forget about drivers like George Russell, who has just won his first F1 race in Brazil. Sergio Perez will also be pushing hard to stay ahead of Leclerc, as he's aiming to finish P2 by the end of the season. Carlos Sainz has got a fresh engine to work with, and he was the third fastest in Abu Dhabi last year. So he might as well be on the path to winning his first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

2021 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Photo: Ferrari
A lot of Red Bull Racing fans complained about Verstappen's decision to stay ahead of Perez in Brazil, but team officials have reasons to believe that the Dutchman will reconsider his position for the final race of the year.

If that happens, it will be interesting to see if team orders will come into play for Ferrari as well. Even if Sainz takes Pole Position, wins the race, and also sets the fastest lap, he still hasn't got a chance at finishing 2022 in P4. If he can score seven points more than Hamilton, he will be fifth, though.

But Scuderia Ferrari also has to consider the situation in the Constructors Championship. The team is 19 points ahead of Mercedes right now, but Russell and Hamilton can rack up as many as 49 points if they have a flawless weekend. If Sainz and Leclerc can gather 31 points in Abu Dhabi, that will secure Ferrari's Runner-up position in the championship.

But any strategy or prediction can simply be voided by a safety car, as we've seen in last year's Grand Prix. Most people would say that the outcome was quite controversial, as Hamilton lost the championship to Verstappen right at the end of the race. The post-race highlights video is the third most viewed one on F1's YouTube channel, which should further support that claim. Either way, we're all hoping for an action-packed event, and we'll make sure to report back after every session.
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About the author: Dragos Chitulescu
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The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S.
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