As we approach the final race of 2023, Dan Fallows looks back at our performance in Las Vegas and ahead to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – and the 2024 season.
How do you reflect on our competitiveness at the Las Vegas Grand Prix?
"Over the last couple of races, we've been experimenting with parts on the car and we've found a good envelope for the car to work in. Brazil and Las Vegas are two fairly different circuits, yet we've managed to be relatively competitive at both. We're pleased to have found a happier place with the car."
Lance recovered brilliantly from P19 to P5 and so did Fernando from a Turn One spin to finish P9. How do you rate our drivers' performance in Las Vegas?
"It was an extraordinary race. Going from Qualifying, where we actually believed we could have qualified a bit better than we did – we thought the pace of the car was a bit stronger – to a race where Fernando was effectively last by the first corner – to turn that around into a double point-scoring result is an extraordinary effort from everybody.
"The Safety Car played into our hands a little bit, but the team took full advantage of the circumstances and the strategy was on point. It was a flawless race from Lance; making it from the back row to the top five was an impressive feat."
As we approach the final race in Abu Dhabi, how do you reflect the hard work and effort from everyone in the team, both trackside and at the AMR Technology Campus?
"It's been a huge amount of work and we shouldn't underestimate how difficult it is to start the season with a strong car and see the field catch up by the middle of the season.
"Then, to find the reserves and motivation to respond and pull that back by the end of the season speaks to our team's talent and resilience. That's a testament to the huge amount of work that people have put in behind the scenes back at the Technology Campus. We still have the hunger and motivation to secure those results, and it's been a real pleasure this season.
"This is also a good indication that we're in a solid place to grow and work towards our goal of fighting for race wins in the years ahead."
We've done a lot of work on next year's car. We've already released some of the main components for production, and we're putting the final touches to the aerodynamics package for launch.
Dan Fallows-Technical Director
In Abu Dhabi, we're looking to secure more points but we're also in the running for P4 in the Constructors' Championship.
"We can only focus on ourselves and do the best job we can. I think we've proved now with the last two races that we shouldn't be worried about the challenge of Yas Marina Circuit. It's a circuit that might suit some of our competitors, but we've proved that we can also compete.
"It's very tight and that can play to our advantage as well. We have to be ready to take advantage of any opportunities."
How is development of next year's car progressing?
"We've done a lot of work on next year's car. We've already released some of the main components for production, and we're putting the final touches to the aerodynamics package for launch.
"The work continues after that. We have a winter shutdown coming up soon and we have to account for that, but as soon as we've got the initial launch car out of the way, it's full steam ahead with the developments for next season. It's non-stop."
Our driver line-up remains unchanged for 2024. How important is that continuity?
"It's really important for us. Lance and Fernando are getting the best out of the car at the moment and that's what we want to continue to do.
"They've been pivotal in helping us to understand where we took some missteps mid-season and how we turned that around. Their feedback has helped us identify where the car was strong, where it was weak and how it can be can improved.
"Having them in the cockpit next year, having that continuity, is really important for the team in terms of developing and understanding the car."
There have been three Safety Cars in the last five races at Yas Marina Circuit, and three Virtual Safety Car deployments in the last five races – despite ample run-off throughout much of the circuit.
02
Overtaking
Two DRS zones between Turns Five and Six and Turns Eight and Nine provide plenty of opportunity for overtaking. Last year, there were 60 overtakes – higher than average.
03
Strategy
The C3, C4 and C5 tyres are allocated for this weekend's race – the same allocation as the Las Vegas Grand Prix. One- and two-stop strategies are common at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The pit loss, at 22 seconds, is slightly higher than the season average.
How can the last race of the year influence the next season?
The work has already begun on next season's car. With regulations largely staying the same for 2024, the development work on this year's AMR23 will prove useful as we aim to hit the ground running next season.
Therefore, the hard work of everyone trackside and at the AMR Technology Campus – who have been pushing relentlessly to improve the car since well before this season began – plays a huge part not only in deciding this season's results, but next year's.
This will continue at the Abu Dhabi GP and post-season test, where we'll aim to hone the AMR23 and maximise the result on track, but broaden our understanding of how we can shape next year's machine to be even more competitive. It's not easy – every team will be working day and night to unlock performance – but every moment of development between now and the start of next season counts.
The short run to Turn One leads drivers through a medium-speed corner where any understeer will see them missing the apex, compromising the run through the following left-hander and the long right-hander. This is a fast first sector that culminates in a rapid run to the Turn Five hairpin.
The exit from Turn Five is crucial as it sends drivers down the first long straight, which also features a DRS zone. It's easy for drivers to outbrake themselves into the chicane at the end of this straight. Drivers need another strong exit from the chicane as another long straight and DRS zone follows.
The straight and the second sector ends with the wide Turn Nine left-hander. Drivers then accelerate into a tricky complex of right-hand bends that are followed by a hard-braking 90-degree corner in Turn 12, which takes drivers under the hotel in the middle of the circuit. Turns 13 and 14 are simple bends that almost make up one long left-hand hairpin.
The final corners of the circuit, Turns 15 and 16, are perhaps its most challenging: drivers blaze through the first right-hander then brake hard and aim to hit the apex of the final corner to set up for a strong exit down the start-finish straight.
We look at the weather conditions at Yas Marina Circuit together with Global Partner NetApp, a global hybrid cloud storage partner with solutions that perform across a diverse environment, allowing us to gain insights on weather-related data as well as telemetry data.
Friday is set fair in Abu Dhabi with mostly sunny and dry conditions expected all day. Drivers might have to contend with a light northerly breeze throughout the day. Temperatures are set to drop from 29 degrees Celsius in Free Practice One to 26 degrees Celsius in Free Practice Two.
On Saturday, conditions are partly cloudy – but it is expected to be dry all day. The northerly breeze remains and temperatures mirror those of Friday with a similar drop from Free Practice Three to Qualifying.
Race day is expected to be cloudy and dry all day with the same breeze blowing across the track. The official chance of rain is zero per cent and temperatures are expected to hover around 26 degrees Celsius for the Grand Prix.
In Formula One, you're constantly learning. Every lap, every mile, every second, is an opportunity to further your understanding and, ultimately, discover ways to unlock performance. In partnership with XP Inc., here are some of the key points for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
0.5
The winner of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has started P1 every year since 2015, showing just how pivotal pole position is here.
4.5
The average winning margin in seconds at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix since 2009. This much lower than the average across all tracks.
5
The number of times since 2009 that drivers have secured a podium place from fourth or lower on the grid. The last time this happened was in 2021.
125
The distance in metres from pole to Turn One, which is very short and offers little in the way of overtaking opportunities.
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