Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing F1. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Max Verstappen and Red Bull can wrap up Formula One's most one-sided season with a final record-extending flourish in Abu Dhabi this weekend as Mercedes and Ferrari battle to be best of the rest.
The 22nd round of the season -- the equal longest until next year's 24 -- ends at floodlit Yas Marina after an American leg that culminated in a gruelling Las Vegas spectacular last weekend.
There will be some farewells, although fewer than usual, and plenty of looking forward with hope to a more competitive future after a year in which Red Bull have won everywhere bar Singapore.
Verstappen, who secured his third championship with six grands prix to spare, will be hoping to check out with an unprecedented 19th win of the season and Red Bull's 21st of the campaign.
That would leave the Dutch 26-year-old, who has won in Abu Dhabi for the past three years and is on a roll of six successive victories, solo third in the all-time list of winners with a career 54.
Only Lewis Hamilton (103) and Michael Schumacher (91) have won more.
Red Bull retained their constructors' crown long ago and are also sure of a one-two finish in the drivers' standings for the first time after Sergio Perez finished third in Las Vegas last weekend.
That leaves the spotlight on the battle for second place between Mercedes and Ferrari, separated by just four points, and McLaren's fight to stay fourth with Aston Martin only 11 points behind.
"We have a good understanding of our car and we know it won't be as competitive in Abu Dhabi as it was in Las Vegas," said Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur, who had Charles Leclerc finish second from pole position in Nevada.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was expecting a closer fight: "They (Ferrari) have shown good form recently, but we know we haven't maximised our performance in the past few races."
Spaniards Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso, for Ferrari and Aston Martin, are level on 200 points with the former fourth thanks to his win in Singapore.
McLaren's Lando Norris is only five points adrift and hoping to end his season a career high fourth overall.
At the bottom, only 16 points separate last-placed Haas from Williams in seventh. The latter are just seven clear of AlphaTauri while Haas are four behind Alfa Romeo.
Farewells will be said to Alfa Romeo, the title sponsor of Swiss-based Sauber who are due to become the Audi works team from 2026, and to AlphaTauri's long-serving team principal Franz Tost.
"Franz Tost has been the only F1 team boss I've worked with. I feel I've been fighting for him this year, and I really want to beat Williams for him in his last race as team principal. I appreciate what he has done," said Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda.
The only driver yet to be confirmed for 2024 is Williams' Logan Sargeant, who will be equally determined to end the year on a high.
Friday's first practice will have a different look as teams fulfil their obligations to give track time to aspiring youngsters.
Both Red Bull drivers will sit out that session, with Formula E champion Jake Dennis and French F2 prospect Isack Hadjar replacing them. Briton Zak O'Sullivan will make his Grand Prix weekend debut at Williams.
2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Statistics for Formula One's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina, round 22 of the championship:
Lap distance: 5.281km. Total distance: 306.183km (58 laps)
2022 pole position: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull One minute 23.824 seconds.
2022 winner: Verstappen
Race lap record: Verstappen 1:26.103, Red Bull 2021. (The Circuit was modified after the 2020 race)
Start time: 1300 GMT (1700 local)
ABU DHABI
Sunday will be the 15th Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and 12th season-ender at Yas Marina's anti-clockwise track.
Three current drivers have won there, with five-times winner Lewis Hamilton (2011, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019) the most successful. Verstappen won in 2020, 2021 and 2022 and Valtteri Bottas in 2017.
Hamilton has been on pole five times.
Only once has the winner not started on the front row: Kimi Raikkonen from fourth in 2012 with Lotus.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Red Bull and Verstappen have won both championships already, Verstappen his third and Red Bull their sixth. The team are also assured of first and second place in the drivers' standings for the first time thanks to Sergio Perez.
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton is sure of third place overall but is facing his second successive season without a win.
WINS
Verstappen has won a record 18 of 21 races, ensuring a record win percentage for a season, and has 53 wins from 183 starts, putting him third equal with Sebastian Vettel on the all-time list.
Red Bull have won a record 20 races, one more than Mercedes in 2016, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz winning in Singapore. Red Bull have also had a team record six one-two finishes in 2023.
Hamilton has a record 103 victories from 331 starts but has not won since Saudi Arabia in December 2021. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso has 32 wins, most recently in Spain in 2013 with Ferrari, from a record 376 starts.
POLE POSITION
Hamilton has a record 104 poles.
Red Bull have been on pole 13 times this season. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took the top slot in Azerbaijan, Belgium, Austin, Mexico and Las Vegas, Hamilton in Hungary and Sainz in Italy and Singapore.
Verstappen has 11 poles for 2023 and has converted all of them into wins.
Leclerc is one pole short of equalling Rene Arnoux's 1979-82 record of 13 successive poles without winning any of them.
PODIUM
Six teams and 11 drivers have made a podium appearance this season: Red Bull, Alpine, Aston Martin, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari.
Verstappen has been off the podium only once since Brazil last November.
Verstappen holds the record for most podiums in a season -- 20 this year. Michael Schumacher remains the only driver to have stood on the podium in every race of a season (2002).
POINTS
Verstappen leads team mate Sergio Perez by 276 points and is set to end the season with a record margin as well as a record haul, although scoring systems have changed over the years.
The gap between Verstappen and Perez is greater than the amount of points Perez has scored (273). The previous record margin was 155 between Vettel and Fernando Alonso in 2013.
MILESTONE
Verstappen's win in Las Vegas made him the first driver to win three races in one country in a single season.
The Red Bull driver has now led a record 75.06% of all laps in the season and is sure to finish the season beating the previous record of 71.47% set by Jim Clark in 1963.
-Reuters
