Abu Dhabi GP: Record-equalling race beckons for Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton can round out a superb 2019 in style in Abu Dhabi, while Max Verstappen goes in search of a personal best.
Published : Nov 27, 2019 22:37 IST
The 2019 Formula One season comes to a close this weekend with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
World champion Lewis Hamilton has had a year to remember and could still equal a personal best in terms of race victories if he takes the chequered flag at a venue where he has enjoyed success before.
Constructors champions Mercedes has the chance to match its own record, too, should Hamilton and team-mate Valtteri Bottas manage to claim a podium finish.
While the big prizes have already been won this year, Red Bull's Max Verstappen will be chasing a career high, while Ferrari will hope to avoid matching an unwanted feat last set in 1996.
Using Opta data, we look through the key stats ahead of the final race of the 2019 season in the United Arab Emirates.
4 - The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix takes place on December 1, the fourth-latest race in a Formula One year after the United States Grand Prix in 1959 (December 12), the South Africa Grand Prix in 1963 (December 28) and the 1962 in the same country (December 29).
3 - Lewis Hamilton has won three of the past five Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (2014, 2016 and 2018) although he has not managed to win back-to-back editions of the race. The only driver to have won in consecutive races at Yas Marina was Sebastian Vettel, for Red Bull, in the first two races in Abu Dhabi (2009 and 2010).
7 - Hamilton (four) and Vettel (three) have won seven out of 10 races in Abu Dhabi, also finishing top in qualifying six times overall.
1996 - Vettel and Charles Leclerc failed to finish the Brazilian Grand Pix after a collision. The last time two Ferrari drivers failed to finish back-to-back Grands Prix was in 1996 (three in a row).
5 - Mercedes has won the five Abu Dhabi races in the Hybrid Era (Hamilton has won three, Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas once each).
33 - If Hamilton and Bottas finish on the podium, it would take Mercedes to 33 top-three finishes in 209, equalling the record for a single season it set back in 2016.
2 - After winning in Brazil, Red Bull could claim back-to-back grand prix victories for the first time since Daniel Ricciardo's wins in 2014 (Hungary and Belgium). McLaren, meanwhile, could secure consecutive podium finishes for the first time in the Hybrid Era.
11 - If Hamilton wins in Abu Dhabi, it will equal his best year for total wins in a Formula One season (his personal best is 11, set in 2014 and 2018).
7 - Of drivers to not win a world championship, only Ronnie Peterson (nine in 1973) has taken more pole positions in a year than Leclerc this season (seven, level with Juan Pablo Montoya in 2002).
9 - Only Niki Lauda in 1974 (nine) has taken more pole positions than Leclerc in a maiden season for Ferrari (seven).
3 - Red Bull's Max Verstappen has never won back-to-back races and also has the chance to record three podiums in a row for the first time this season. A top-three finish will secure third place in the drivers' standings for the 22-year-old, the best finish in his Formula One career.