For one last time this season, it’s time to delve into the history books as we prepare for the 21st and final round of the year at the Yas Marina Circuit. Here are all the stats you need ahead of the 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix!
?? ABU DHABI RACE WINNERS
There have been nine races at the Yas Marina Circuit since the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was introduced to the F1 calendar in 2009. From those nine races, there have been five different race winners at the track.
Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton are currently tied for the most number of wins here with three each. Mercedes are the team with the most wins at the track, having taken victory on four occasions.
Sebastian Vettel is the only driver to have taken back-to-back wins at the circuit, having done so in 2009 and 2010.
From the 2018 grid, there are four previous winners of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Aside from Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel’s three wins, Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas have each taken a solitary victory at the track. Nico Rosberg is the only driver to have won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix who isn’t on the grid this season.
The smallest win margin at the track came in 2016, when Lewis Hamilton won ahead of Nico Rosberg by 0.439 seconds. The largest victory margin was in 2013, when Sebastian Vettel took the win by 30.829 seconds.
From the first nine races at the track, the average win margin here has been 9.260 seconds.
?? ON THE PODIUM IN ABU DHABI
Nine different drivers have finished on the Abu Dhabi podium.
Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton are tied for the most podiums here, with six each.
There are five previous podium finishers at the Yas Marina Circuit on the 2018 grid. Aside from Vettel and Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas have each finished on the podium twice here.
?? ABU DHABI POLESITTERS
There have been five different polesitters in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix’s history.
Lewis Hamilton has taken the most pole positions at the track, with three. Mercedes are the team with the most poles here. They’ve set the fastest Saturday lap four times.
There are three drivers on the 2018 grid who’ve started from pole at the Yas Marina Circuit. Aside from Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel has two poles here and Valtteri Bottas took his first Abu Dhabi pole last season.
Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg are the only drivers who’ve taken back-to-back poles at this track. No driver has taken more than two poles in a row in Abu Dhabi.
The largest pole margin at this track came at the inaugural event, when Lewis Hamilton took pole by 0.667 seconds. The smallest pole margin came in the following year, when Sebastian Vettel took pole by 0.031 seconds. That’s the only time where pole has been decided by less than a tenth of a second at this track.
The average pole margin at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is 0.255 seconds.
?? SATURDAY TO SUNDAY
Four of the nine races here have been won from pole position, while all but one of the races has been won from the front row of the grid.
The 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is the only time a race at this circuit hasn’t been won from the front row. Kimi Raikkonen won that race from fourth on the grid.
?? SUNDAY STATS
Just two races here have featured a Safety Car period. The 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix featured the most Safety Car periods in a race here, with the Safety Car appearing twice.
There has never been a rain-affected race at this track.
The longest and shortest races at the Yas Marina Circuit have a time difference of just under twelve minutes. The longest Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was in 2012, when Kimi Raikkonen won in a time of 1:45:58.667. The shortest race at the track was the first Grand Prix here, which was won in 1:34:03.414.
The highest number of cars to finish an Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was in 2013, when 21 cars reached the chequered flag. The lowest number of finishers is seventeen, which has happened three times – in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
On average, nineteen cars cross the finish line at the Yas Marina Circuit.
There has never been a red-flagged Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
?? CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY
There have been three World Champions crowned here in the past – Sebastian Vettel in 2010, Lewis Hamilton in 2014 and Nico Rosberg 2016.
The winner of this race has won the title in the same year on three occasions. Given its place near the end of the calendar, the leader of the championship after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has never failed to win the title.