Where F1 title may be won and lost in three-way fight
Where F1 title may be won and lost in three-way fight
Lando Norris (centre) leads the drivers' championship by 12 points from Red Bull's Max Verstappen (right) and 16 from McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri
The Formula 1 drivers' championship will be decided in a three-way showdown that takes place this weekend on Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina circuit.
Lando Norris leads Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 12 points and McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri by 16 as they head to a track that has hosted a number of dramatic climaxes in the past.
This weekend has all the ingredients to be another.
Norris, with his significant points advantage, goes into the weekend as an on-paper favourite.
But Verstappen has won five of the eight races before Abu Dhabi and is in a far simpler position than two drivers operating out of the same McLaren garage.
Who has the best car?
McLaren's drivers have combined for a total score of 800 points in the constructors' championship, allowing them to seal that title with six races of the season to spare
The McLaren has been the fastest car on average over the season. It has a significant advantage on average qualifying pace - 0.274 seconds over the season, and 0.203secs over the past eight races.
But wins are split evenly between all three drivers this year - Norris, Verstappen and Piastri all have seven each. The other two grand prix victories have been taken by Mercedes' George Russell.
McLaren have dominated the constructors' championship, which they clinched at the Singapore Grand Prix on the first weekend in October, with six races remaining.
But that is a reflection of having two competitive drivers in a consistently race-winning car. No other team has had the luxury of those two factors together.
Verstappen, by contrast, has scored more than 92% of all his team's points this year - team-mate Yuki Tsunoda has been nowhere near him and of no help whatsoever in the Dutchman's title campaign, and has been dropped by Red Bull for next season as a result.
Competitiveness has ebbed and flowed through the season, and each car has specific strengths.
Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix last weekend only because of McLaren's strategy error. Otherwise, that track's long-duration medium- and high-speed corners were perfect McLaren territory.
Abu Dhabi also has some long corners - especially the hairpin on to the first long straight and the long Turn Nine at the end of the second main straight.
But the McLaren is not at its best in the sort of short-duration, 90-degree corners that comprise the final sector around the marina and hotel, or when braking into chicanes.
And the Red Bull has the best straight-line speed.
So, in terms of track characteristics, the fight looks finely balanced.
McLaren have taken pole position at the past four races. Over the season, Norris and Verstappen are tied on seven poles each, with Piastri scoring six.
Who has the best history on this track?
Verstappen has won four times in Abu Dhabi, taking every race victory from 2020-23.
But his win in 2021 was extremely controversial - that was the title showdown with Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes, where Verstappen won only after the then-race director made up the rules during a late safety-car period.
It's also not a fair comparison between the three drivers.
For a start, this is only Piastri's third season in F1. Norris has been in F1 since 2019 and Verstappen since 2015.
But Norris did not have an even vaguely competitive car until 2023, whereas Verstappen has been winning races on and off since 2016.
And Norris was dominant on his way to victory in Abu Dhabi last year.
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