Here are all the facts and statistics you need to know about the Yas Marina Circuit ahead of the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix!
?? RACE WINNERS
There have been ten F1 Grands Prix held at the Yas Marina Circuit. During that time, there have been five different winners of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel is the only driver to have taken back-to-back wins at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He did so in 2009 and 2010.
Four of the five previous Abu Dhabi Grand Prix winners are on the 2019 grid, with Nico Rosberg being the only former winner who is absent. Aside from Hamilton’s four wins, Sebastian Vettel has won four times, while Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas have each taken a single victory.
The largest win margin at the Yas Marina Circuit came in 2013, when Sebastian Vettel won by 30.829 seconds. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has been won by less than five seconds on five occasions, including in all of the last three events. The smallest win margin here was Lewis Hamilton’s victory in 2016, which he tactically took by 0.439 seconds.
From the ten races held here so far, the average win margin has been 9.592 seconds.
?? ON THE PODIUM
Ten different drivers have finished on the podium at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton are currently tied for the most top three finishes, with seven each.
Mercedes have had more podium finishes here than any other team, with nine, while Britain and Germany are tied as the most successful nations in terms of podiums, with ten top three finishes each.
There are five drivers on the 2019 grid who have previously finished on the podium at the Yas Marina Circuit. Aside from Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas have each taken two podium finishes here, while Max Verstappen made his debut top three Abu Dhabi appearance last season.
There have been four occasions where the polesitter has failed to finish on the podium. There’s only been one occasion where the polesitter here has gone on to finish on the podium without winning the race. That happened in 2013, when polesitter Mark Webber finished second.
The furthest back podium finish at the track came in 2012, when Sebastian Vettel finished third having started from the pit-lane. That’s the only time a podium finish at the track has come from outside the top six on the grid. 2012 is also the only time when none of the top three qualifiers have gone on to finish on the podium.
All of the top three qualifiers have gone on to finish on the podium at Yas Marina on three occasions – in 2013, 2015 and 2017. The top three finished in the order in which they started in both 2015 and 2017.
Both second and third on the grid have had more podium finishes here than the pole slot.
?? POLESITTERS
Five different drivers have started from pole at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton has taken more poles here than any other driver, with four starts from the front of the grid. Mercedes have taken the most poles for a team at Yas Marina, with five. British and German drivers are tied for the most poles at the track, with four apiece.
There are three previous Abu Dhabi Grand Prix polesitters on the 2019 grid. Lewis Hamilton has taken four, Sebastian Vettel has taken two and Valtteri Bottas took his first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix pole in 2017.
The slowest pole time here was in the race’s inaugural event, when the fastest time set in qualifying was a 1:40.948. By 2018, that time had improved by 6.154 seconds!
The largest gap between the slowest and fastest cars in qualifying was 7.197 seconds, which happened in 2015, when Nico Rosberg’s pole time was 7.197 seconds faster than Roberto Mehri’s time for last on the grid.
The largest pole margin at the track came in 2009, when Lewis Hamilton took pole by 0.667 seconds. Meanwhile, the smallest pole margin was in the following season, when Sebastian Vettel took pole by 0.031 seconds. It’s the only time pole has been decided by less than a tenth at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
From the ten Abu Dhabi Grands Prix held so far at the Yas Marina Circuit, the average pole margin has been 0.271 seconds.
?? SATURDAY TO SUNDAY
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has been won from pole on five occasions, including in all of the last four races held here.
The 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is the only race at the Yas Marina Circuit which hasn’t been won from the front row of the grid. That event was won by Kimi Raikkonen, who started from fourth.
?? SUNDAY STATS
Only three races at this track have featured less than ten drivers finishing on the lead lap of the Grand Prix; including in both of the last two seasons.
The Safety Car has made an appearance in only three races at the track – in 2010, 2012 and 2018. The 2012 race is the only one which has featured more than one Safety Car stint, while 2018 also saw the Virtual Safety Car deployed in addition to the actual Safety Car.
There has never been a rain-affected race at the Yas Marina Circuit. Rain did fall during the 2018 event, but not enough to affect the race or make the track wet.
Sebastian Vettel has set the fastest lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on more occasions than any other driver. He’s done so four times.
From the 216 cars which have started a race here, 182 have reached the end of the race. That gives an overall finish rate of 84.3%.
The 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is the Yas Marina race which has seen the most cars finish. 21 of the 22 starters crossed the finish line on that occasion. Last year, just fifteen cars reached the end of the race; a new record low for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
There is yet to be a red-flagged race at the Yas Marina Circuit.
So far, there have been 550 racing laps completed at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
?? CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY
A World Champion has been crowned at this track on three occasions – in 2010, 2014 and 2016.
The winner of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has also gone on to be crowned World Champion in the same season on four occasions. The leader of the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has never failed to go on to win the title.