Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: an exciting climax in store for F1; Team Red Bull or Ferrari?
The Formula One racing season is set for an exciting climax as the top teams and drivers in the world brace for the final race of the season that is set to be held at the Marine Bay in Abu Dhabi.
While the Constructors’ title for the year is settled with Red Bull emerging as winners, there is yet hope for other teams in the drivers’ category.
Despite losing the constructors’ crown, the team principal of Ferrari, Stefano Domenicali, is confident of success. He thinks that the season is going to be settled in the desert and both he and his team are raring to go for the
finale.
Ferrari is pinning its hopes on Fernando Alonso, who went into last weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix with a chance of clinching his third title.
Unfortunately though for the Spaniard, Red Bull’s one-two has seen his overall lead cut to eight points with just one race remaining.
Despite the misfortune in Brazil, there is hope yet for him and his team. The feeling is prevalent in the entire camp that they can upstage their rivals.
As the team prepared for the race in Abu Dhabi, Domenicali insisted that his team was good enough to steal the ultimate prize in the sport. He added that he had a feeling that the Drivers’ championship would go down to the wire.
"I have to be very honest with you, I was totally focused on the fact that the championship would have been finished in Abu Dhabi, I'm speaking for the drivers of course. I was not convinced that the championship would have been
finished by here because unless there was a problem with reliability we know Red Bull is very very strong."
Domenicali paid tribute to his team’s fiercest rivals Red Bull; he opined that they deserved the constructors’ title as they had worked the hardest to gain their win and outdo the rest of the opponents in the battle.
"I take the opportunity to congratulate them because they deserve the constructors' title and did the best job of everyone so they deserve the title. On the other hand it's great that we are going to Abu Dhabi to fight with them
for the other title, and this for me is great news for the team."
On the drivers’ front, however, the arena is wide open and an enthralling end to the season is expected at Abu Dhabi. Over in Brazil, team Ferrari’s Alonso finished third while the second spot went to Australian Mark Webber.
He is now eight points adrift of current leader Alonso with his race-winning Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel of Germany 15 points adrift of the lead.
The responsibility is on the Red Bull team: if they put their heart into the battle, they have a chance to dictate the championship outcome.
The drivers’ title could also be their own if Vettel and Webber are again running first and second in Abu Dhabi.
The race for the top spot is an extremely intricate one and Alonso, who gained seven crucial points in July when his teammate Felipe Massa was ordered by his team to let him pass and record a win in the German edition of the race,
would have a chance to become the champion if he finishes as low as fourth and Vettel wins.
The track at Abu Dhabi is a challenging one for the drivers and they generally find overtaking difficult there, hence Domenicali stressed the importance of Saturday's qualifying session.
"We need to do a perfect qualifying, as you know that is very very important, fundamental, and we need to do the best that we can. We need to wait up until the last metre because reliability is a big point that everyone will be
worried about, not on the engine on everything, so that will be a very long race in Abu Dhabi," he said.
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