As McLaren and Ferrari go head to head for the title, Hamilton and Mercedes end the most successful partnership in F1 history and multiple drivers take their final bows. Here are the milestones and the records which could be broken at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix!
THE 2024 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX MILESTONES
The 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be the 1,125th World Championship event in Formula 1 history.
This will be the 16th time that Formula 1 has raced in the United Arab Emirates. It will be the 16th Abu Dhabi Grand Prix held at Yas Marina Circuit since the event was first held in 2009.
Yas Marina Circuit will extend its record for hosting the final race of the season on the most occasions. It will be the 13th time that the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has been the season finale.
The 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix sees the United Arab Emirates overtake the United States as the country which has hosted the season-ending event on the most occasions.
This will be the first time that there has been a 24th round of the season.
Alex Albon will make his 66th start with Williams at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. That sees him move ahead of Damon Hill and into eighth on the list of most starts with Williams in their Formula 1 history.
The 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is the first Formula 1 race to take place on December 8. It will be the fourth time that the event has been held in the month of December, after 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Lewis Hamilton is set to maintain his record of being the only driver to start every Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to date. The 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix marks his 16th appearance at Yas Marina Circuit.
With Max Verstappen already crowned World Champion, he will lead the Drivers’ Championship after a 78th round following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. That will see him equal Alain Prost for third on the list of most rounds after which a driver has led the championship.
FIRST ENTRIES AND LAST APPEARANCES
Jack Doohan will make his Formula 1 debut at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, replacing Esteban Ocon at Alpine. He will become the 15th Australian driver to start a Grand Prix in World Championship history.
With Doohan joining the grid, 2024 becomes the first season since 2016 in which as many as 24 different drivers have started a Grand Prix.
Doohan is the second driver, after Will Stevens in 2014, to make his Formula 1 debut at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Doohan will race in car number 61 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. This will be the first ever Grand Prix appearance for car number 61. The number has been used in the World Championship before but only at the Indianapolis 500, when it was a round of the championship between 1950 and 1960.
This will be the first race to not feature Esteban Ocon on the grid since the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It ends a streak of 106 consecutive starts for the French driver.
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes close the curtain on the most successful team and driver partnerships in Formula 1 history. This will be Hamilton’s 246th and final Grand Prix appearance with the team. Hamilton holds the record for most starts with a single team.
The 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is also set to be Hamilton’s last race in a Mercedes-powered car. Hamilton has made all of his 355 starts to date using Mercedes power.
Carlos Sainz makes his 88th and final race start with Ferrari at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix before moving to Williams in 2025.
Valtteri Bottas is set to bid farewell to Formula 1 after a 246 race career. This weekend, he will equal David Coulthard as the driver who has started the 13th most Grands Prix in F1 history. This will be Bottas’ 208th consecutive start – the fourth-longest such streak in F1 history.
As it stands, the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is set to mark the end of a 300 race streak with at least one Finnish driver on the starting grid.
Zhou Guanyu will make his last F1 appearance at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He’ll be hoping to score points at consecutive races for the first time in his career.
Kevin Magnussen is set to make his final Formula 1 appearance at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. This will be his 145th and final appearance with Haas – sixth on the list of the most starts with a single team. In total, this will be Magnussen’s 185th race start.
Nico Hulkenberg also makes his final start with Haas this weekend before moving to Sauber in 2025.
McLAREN vs FERRARI FOR THE CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
At the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, either McLaren or Ferrari will be crowned Constructors’ Champions. This will be the first time that a Constructor other than Red Bull or Mercedes have won the title since Brawn GP won in 2009, as well as only the second time in the last 15 years – after 2021 – that the Constructors’ Championship has been decided at the final round of the season.
If McLaren win the title, it would be their first Constructors’ Championship win since 1998. It would be their ninth title win in total seeing them equal Williams as the team with the second-most title victories.
A title win for McLaren would make this the first time in either of their drivers’ lifetimes in which they have won the Constructors’ Championship.
If Ferrari win the title, it will be their first Constructors’ Championship win since 2008. It would be their 17th title win in total, extending the record for most Constructors’ Championship wins.
If Ferrari overtake McLaren at the top of the Constructors’ Championship, it would be the first time since the 2022 Miami Grand Prix that the Scuderia have been top of the standings.
If either team wins the title by fewer than three points, it would set a new record for the smallest title winning margin in the history of the championship. Ferrari won in 1964 having finished three points ahead of BRM.
THE FORMULA 1 RECORDS WHICH COULD BE BROKEN
A victory for Max Verstappen at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix would see him equal the record for most consecutive victories at a single circuit. Verstappen has won all of the last four Yas Marina Circuit races. The record for most successive wins at a track is currently shared by Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton. Senna took five wins in a row at the Monaco Grand Prix from 1989 to 1993, while Hamilton secured five wins in a row at the Spanish Grand Prix between 2017 and 2021.
Furthermore, a win from pole position for Max Verstappen at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix would make him the first driver to win five consecutive races at a single circuit from pole position.
All of the last nine races at Yas Marina Circuit have been won from pole position. If the polesitter wins the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it would be only the second time that 10 consecutive races at a circuit have been won from pole position. The only other time this has occurred was at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, when the polesitter won all ten Spanish Grands Prix between 2001 and 2010.
Max Verstappen could record his fifth pole position at Yas Marina Circuit. It would be the second circuit at which Verstappen has recorded as many as five pole positions, after the Red Bull Ring.
A win for Max Verstappen at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix would make the United Arab Emirates the fifth country in which he has won as many as five races, after the United States, Austria, Mexico and Italy.
If both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finish on the podium, Mercedes will reach the milestone of 300 podium finishes in Formula 1. They will be the fourth team to reach 300 podiums, after Ferrari (at the 1985 German Grand Prix), McLaren (at the 1999 Hungarian Grand Prix) and Williams (at the 2014 German Grand Prix).
A 1-2 finish for McLaren would mark the 50th 1-2 result in the team’s history. They would be only the third team – after Ferrari and Mercedes – to record 50 1-2 finishes.
If Max Verstappen leads from start to end, this will be the 15th Grand Prix in which he has led every lap. That would see him equal Sebastian Vettel for third on the list of most races led from start to end in Formula 1.
If Nico Hulkenberg scores more than seven points this weekend, Germany will become the second nation – after Britain – to have scored 8,000 points in Formula 1.
If either Red Bull driver sets the fastest lap, Red Bull will become the fifth team to have recorded the fastest lap at as many as 100 Grands Prix.
BACK TO THE TOP FOR FERRARI?
A victory for a Ferrari-powered car would make this the 250th Grand Prix to be won by Ferrari power. Of the 249 wins for Ferrari power, only one has not been for a Ferrari car. The single exception is Sebastian Vettel’s victory for Toro Rosso at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.
If Charles Leclerc wins one more race in the 2024 season, 2024 will become the season in which he has won the most Grands Prix. Leclerc matched his record for most wins in a year at the 2024 United States Grand Prix, taking his third victory of the season. He also won three races in 2022.
If either Ferrari driver wins another race in 2024, it would be the first time since 2018 that Ferrari have won as many as six races in a single season.
Should Lando Norris score a point, the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be his 100th points-scoring Grand Prix. He reached 100 points-scoring race weekends in Las Vegas, though two of those – the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix and the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix – were weekends in which he scored only in the Sprint and not in the Grand Prix.
THE ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX RECORDS TO BREAK
Lewis Hamilton currently holds the record for most Abu Dhabi Grand Prix victories, having won at Yas Marina Circuit on five occasions. Hamilton could extend the record this weekend, while Max Verstappen has the opportunity to equal the existing record.
Victory for Max Verstappen at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix would see him extend the record for most consecutive wins at Yas Marina circuit to five.
Red Bull have the most Yas Marina wins of any team, with seven. They could extend that record to eight at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, or their record could be equalled by Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton could equal Sebastian Vettel’s record of four Fastest Laps at Yas Marina Circuit if he sets the Fastest Lap in the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Mercedes or Red Bull could become the first team to score 400 points at Yas Marina Circuit. Mercedes need to score 15 points in the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to do so, while Red Bull need to score 14 points.
Mercedes lead the way for most laps led at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with their drivers spending 341 laps at the front of the field. If Red Bull lead 18 more laps of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix than Mercedes, Red Bull will take the record for most laps led by a team at the event.
If he completes the first 40 laps of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton will become the first driver to have raced 800 laps at Yas Marina Circuit.
British drivers have the most wins at Yas Marina Circuit, with five. Their record could be equalled at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by the Netherlands or Germany.
McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are in a group of just four drivers – the others being Felipe Massa and Paul di Resta – to hold a 100% points-scoring rate at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. A top ten finish will secure their place in the group for another year.
A retirement for Lewis Hamilton from the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will see him record a record-breaking fourth DNF at Yas Marina Circuit. He’s currently tied with Kimi Raikkonen for the most non-finishes here. Carlos Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez could equal the existing record.
A DNF for Carlos Sainz would make this the fifth time that a driver has recorded consecutive retirements at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Sainz has done so once before, retiring in both 2016 and 2017.
2024 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX: QUALIFYING RECORDS
Max Verstappen will equal Lewis Hamilton’s record of five Abu Dhabi Grand Prix pole positions if he sets the fastest qualifying lap time on Saturday.
A pole position for Max Verstappen would make him the first driver to record five consecutive pole positions at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Mercedes can equal Red Bull’s record of seven Yas Marina Circuit pole positions if they take pole position at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
British drivers hold the record for most poles at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but their record of five could be equalled this weekend by the Netherlands or Germany.
Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will be hoping to hold on to their 100% Q3 appearance records at Yas Marina Circuit in qualifying for the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Sergio Perez holds the record for the most Q2 exits at Yas Marina Circuit, with six. That record could be equalled in qualifying for the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by Fernando Alonso or Lance Stroll.
Kevin Magnussen is currently tied with Romain Grosjean for the most Q1 eliminations at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He could set a new outright record this weekend, while Magnussen’s existing record could be equalled by Pierre Gasly or George Russell.
LONGEVITY RECORDS FOR ALONSO?
A win for Fernando Alonso at any Grand Prix in 2024 would make him the oldest driver to win a Grand Prix since Jack Brabham at the 1970 South African Grand Prix.
A podium finish for Fernando Alonso would see him overtake Alain Prost as the driver to have taken the fourth-most podiums in Formula 1 history.
A podium finish for Fernando Alonso would make him the third driver – after Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton – to record podium finishes in 15 different Formula 1 seasons.
If Fernando Alonso leads a lap of any race in 2024, he would become the first driver to have led Formula 1 races over a period longer than 20 years. Alonso first led a Grand Prix in Malaysia in 2003. He most recently led at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, just a week short of the 20th anniversary of him leading a lap for the first time in Formula 1.
Pole position at any race for Fernando Alonso in 2024 would make him the oldest polesitter since Jack Brabham at the 1970 Spanish Grand Prix.
