McLaren preview Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Yas Marina is one of the most advanced racetracks in the world. Constructed on a man-made island on the eastern side of Abu Dhabi, the 5.554km/3.451-mile track has three unique features: a pitlane exit that passes underneath Turn One, air-conditioned pit garages and the largest permanent lighting system in the world.

The track has hosted the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix since 2009, during which time the race has always been run in twilight conditions. It starts in daylight at 17:00 (local) and ends after sunset, the night skies being lit up by spotlights that are more powerful than any in a conventional stadium.

The day-night nature of the race presents an interesting technical challenge for the teams because the track temperature drops by as much as 15 degrees when darkness falls. That has a big effect on the performance of the tyres, even though Pirelli takes its two softest compounds, the Soft (Prime) and the Supersoft (Option), to the race. The car balance shifts as the track cools and drivers have to improvise as the race progresses.

The track is one of only four circuits on the 2015 calendar that runs in an anti-clockwise direction and it’s relatively slow, with an average speed of just 200km/h (124mph). Six of the 21 corners around the lap are taken at less than 100km/h (62mph), of which only Monaco and the Marina Bay circuit in Singapore have more, and there is only one high-speed corner: Turn Two, which is taken at 260km/h (162 mph).

As with many Hermann Tilke-designed tracks, the circuit has three distinct sectors. Sector one contains the fastest corners on the lap; sector two is made up of two long straights; sector three has more of a street circuit feel, with some tight corners. As a result, car set-up is a compromise between aerodynamic grip and straight-line speed.

McLaren has a good record in Abu Dhabi: it’s one of only four teams to have won the race and it has taken two pole positions around Yas Marina. Both Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button have finished on the podium on numerous occasions.

Fernando Alonso: “Abu Dhabi is a race I enjoy and, once again, we’ll give it everything to get the maximum result possible to end the season. The configuration of the track won’t necessarily suit our package, but everything we learn now will make us stronger in the future.”

Jenson Button: “The number of slow and medium-speed corners at Yas Marina means it’s quite a technical racetrack. To be quick you have to be very precise and you mustn’t overdrive the car. This will be another hard race for the team, but we’ll aim to end the year in the best possible way.”

Technical words of wisdom, Tim Goss, technical director: “If we – the engineers – have one specific challenge in Abu Dhabi, it’s predicting how the tyres will perform in the evening because we don’t get much opportunity to experience those conditions during free practice.

“We set up the car in quite hot temperatures during the day, but qualifying and the race are at cooler temperatures during the evening, when the behaviour of the tyres is very different. The grip you get from them changes, as does the balance and the amount of degradation.

“As a result of these factors, we go about setting up the car differently in Abu Dhabi. The final free practice session, for example, is not that relevant to qualifying because it takes place in the heat of the day, so we look to free practice two for qualifying simulations because it happens a bit later in the day.”

Our most memorable Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: 2011
This proved to be the MP4-26’s sixth and final victory of 2011. Lewis Hamilton qualified second, but took the lead at Turn Two when pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel spun into retirement with a right-rear puncture. Lewis was untroubled for the remainder of the race, crossing the line 8.0s ahead of Fernando Alonso.

Jenson Button drove a hard-fought race to third place in the sister McLaren. He qualified third, but was overtaken by Alonso on the opening lap. Thereafter, he had to fend off Mark Webber, which he did so convincingly to come home 25.0s behind team-mate Lewis.