Date: 26/11/2023
Venue: Yas Marina Circuit
The Max Verstappen-dominated 2023 Formula One season draws to a close this weekend with the Dutchman red-hot favourite to extend his win record to 19 in our Abu Dhabi Grand Prix predictions.
Verstappen has been on top all season long and continued that with a thrilling victory in Las Vegas last weekend, where he put aside his complaints about the new race to see off Charles Leclerc and team-mate Sergio Perez to rack up another win.
The triple world champion is 2/7 to win in Abu Dhabi – the scene of his stunning 2021 maiden title win – and has long since had the championship wrapped up.
But there is plenty still to be settled in the gulf state, none more so than the lucrative battle for second in the constructors’ championship between Mercedes and Ferrari.
Ferrari edged ahead thanks to Leclerc’s dramatic late move to snatch second in Las Vegas while team-mate Carlos Sainz claimed sixth place.
Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished seventh and eighth respectively, with the seven-time world champion affected by a puncture and his team-mate hit by a penalty for colliding with Verstappen.
Ferrari have shown improved race pace in recent grands prix while Leclerc has claimed three pole positions in the last four races.
The Scuderia believe they have the impetus in the battle.
“We must keep the momentum going into Abu Dhabi, both drivers are doing a fantastic job and I believe we can catch Mercedes in Abu Dhabi,” Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur said after Las Vegas.
“We won in Singapore when Red Bull was off the pace but this time we were fighting them right up to the final corner.”
Leclerc is 14/1 to take his first win of the season, with Sainz available for a second win at 20/1.
Mercedes’ tough season shows little sign of improving but both drivers could have sealed a podium in Vegas if things had worked out differently.
Team principal Toto Wolff said: “We now need to refocus ahead of Abu Dhabi. It’s a tight battle in the constructors’ championship and we hope to be able to deliver a strong result there.”
A double podium is priced at 10/1 for both teams. Two cars in the top six is likely to be enough to secure second in the standings, with Mercedes 9/10 and Ferrari 4/6 to do that.
Perez has got second place in the drivers’ standing secured but the Red Bull driver underwhelmed again in Vegas when presented with the chance for victory and he needs to end the season with a morale-boosting drive. He is evens to make the podium again.
Three drivers are split by just five points in the scrap for fourth. A podium would be pivotal for Sainz (7/2), Fernando Alonso (13/2) and Lando Norris (17/20).
Previous Abu Dhabi winners
2022: Verstappen (Red Bull), Leclerc (Ferrari), Perez (Red Bull)
2021: Verstappen (Red Bull), Hamilton (Mercedes), Sainz (Ferrari)
2020: Verstappen (Red Bull), Bottas (Mercedes), Hamilton (Mercedes)
2019: Hamilton (Mercedes), Verstappen (Red Bull), Leclerc (Ferrari)
2018: Hamilton (Mercedes), Vettel (Ferrari), Verstappen (Red Bull)
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