Much like you, we’ve been following the F1 for a long time, and we know that the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix holds some of the most anticipated action of the entire season. Although every year is guaranteed to be an adrenaline-fueled race as we watch the racers battle for their pole position, some of the races through history have stuck out to us as some of the best Abu Dhabi Grand Prix’s to rewatch.
The Yas Marina Circuit is the place to be every December, when the drivers take the ultimate race around the tight corners and fast straights. Read on to see our favourite races to look back on.
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Abu Dhabi hosted the 18th round out of 20 in the 2012 season with the championship battle still tightly contested between Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. Vettel's car failed a post-qualifying check, which resulted in him being sent to the back of the grid for the race. However, he battled his way up to third on the Sunday race, despite several incidents with fellow drivers on the way back up the grid which necessitated a front wing change.
The race was almost chaotic with Hamilton retiring from the lead and therefore allowing Kimi Raikkonen to take the first win of his comeback at the start of the 2012 season for Lotus - it was his first win since Belgium 2009. Alonso drove a great race in an uncompetitive Ferrari once more, finishing in second ahead of Vettel and closing the gap back down to ten points in the championship – a thrilling race to look back on.
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The final race of the 2010 F1 season had an unprecedented four drivers racing that were all in with a chance of winning the world championship. Alonso was the championship leader heading into the race by eight points from Mark Webber, with his Red Bull teammate a further seven points adrift. Hamilton was the outsider being 24 points behind with 25 available for a win.
Michael Schumacher’s teammate, Nico Rosberg, managed to convince him into a spin on lap one and his Mercedes got collected by Tonio Liuzzi's Force India, narrowly missing Schumacher's head. The safety car resulted in Alonso and Webber deciding to pit for new tyres in an attempt to get their pit stop out of the way while the safety car was on track. Vettel and Hamilton remained on track up front with a plan to pit later in the race. Alonso and Webber's plan failed because of them getting caught up behind slower cars at a circuit where overtaking is difficult.
Alonso spent most of his race staring at the rear wing of Vitaly Petrov's Renault. Vettel made his pit stop later in the race but maintained the lead and took the title by four points from Alonso, who could finish no higher than seventh, due to Ferrari's strategic error.
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Although it was the penultimate round of the season, Vettel had already sealed the championship early after a dominant season. Despite taking the 14th pole of his season, Sunday was a rare off day for Red Bull with Vettel spinning out at the first corner due to a right rear puncture. This gave the lead to Hamilton who led home the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso who had overtaken Hamilton's teammate Jenson Button earlier in the race - great from a neutral perspective given the fact that Vettel had won the vast majority of the other races in 2011.
The race-long battle between Button and Alonso kept fans on the edge of their seats, and the Mercedes drivers of Schumacher and Rosberg came close to contact on a couple of occasions on their way to seventh and eighth, come the flag in Rosberg's favour.
F1 supremo, Bernie Ecclestone, made Abu Dhabi the sport’s first ever double points race in 2014 in an attempt to make the championship race last longer. This was not needed in 2014 with the Mercedes drivers of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg heading into the final race split by 17 points in favour of Hamilton (25 points for a win ordinarily, but in Abu Dhabi it would be 50 points).
Rosberg took sensational pole but didn't make as good a start as Hamilton who took the lead from second on the grid, heading into turn one. Rosberg kept Hamilton honest through the race up until lap 23 of 55, when he started to lose power. The German driver decided to fight until the end but dropped dramatically down the order. With Rosberg struggling, Hamilton decided to lift off to look after his car. This allowed the Williams of Felipe Massa to close up on him, but Hamilton had enough in hand to win the race and the championship.
Perhaps the most controversial race in F1 history, the repercussions of which still haunt F1 to this day. After a tough and often fraught year-long title fight, Hamilton and Verstappen headed into the final race, tied on points. Verstappen took pole from Hamilton but, like in 2014, the British driver got the jump at the start. Verstappen tried to retake the lead into turn seven with a late dive down the inside, pushing Hamilton off the track. Hamilton cut the corner and remained in the lead, arguing that Verstappen had forced him off the track which the stewards accepted.
He continued up front and gradually extended his lead over Verstappen. The only issue he faced was coming out behind Verstappen's teammate, Perez after a pitstop, with the Mexican racer making Hamilton's life very hard with some quite aggressive defending. He eventually found his way past and started to extend his lead again up until lap 53 of 58, when the Williams of backmarker Nicholas Latifi crashed. This brought out the safety car which resulted in Hamilton losing his gap over Verstappen, who had taken advantage of the safety car period to make a pitstop for new tyres without losing his second place.
The race was restarted at the beginning of the 58th and final lap. Hamilton still stood a chance of taking the win even on old tyres given the backmarkers that sat between him and Verstappen in the queue. However, race director Michael Massi decided to allow the backmarkers to pass Hamilton and make their way to the back of the pack, giving Verstappen a golden opportunity to attack Hamilton, take the lead and win the championship on the final lap. It was later confirmed that Massi had not followed the correct procedure in the circumstances and was removed from his role. Ultimately, the damage was done as Verstappen had already benefitted from the call to take the title.
Each year, the F1 racers bring nail-biting drama and excitement to the Abu Dhabi Yas Marina Racetrack. Because of the race being the last of the season, we’re bound to see some excitement!
You can see this first-hand from an excellent vantage point with Spectate's F1 travel packages. We offer a Platinum Hospitality Package, where you can watch the action from a private balcony whilst revelling in the VIP treatment.
Hear all about it from our Travel Specialist, Simon, who talks about everything there is to know about the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Watch our Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2024 Guide video below:
Get in touch with us today to learn more about our Abu Dhabi F1 holidays.