Red Bull expect "fascinating" strategic fight in Abu Dhabi showdown

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Red Bull expect "fascinating" strategic fight in Abu Dhabi showdown

Verstappen was only fourth as Hamilton topped Friday practice

Sam Hall

Friday 10 December 2021 16:50

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is "on the cusp" of being a two-stop race after Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez completed significant soft tyre running on Friday.

Across the season, Mercedes and Red Bull have often run weekend strategies that mirror one and other in order to avoid being disadvantaged later in the weekend.

However, with the championship on the line, the rival teams' paths diverged on Friday in Abu Dhabi with Mercedes completing its race simulation long-runs predominantly on the medium tyre and Red Bull, the soft.

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The reason behind the divergence is largely due to the modifications to the Yas Marina Circuit, which now features two higher speed hairpins the wear down the tyres faster than the previous configuration.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 of the potential for a two-stop race on Sunday, Horner explained: “I think it’s on the cusp with the changes to the circuit layout here.

"I think tyre wear is going to be a real factor, particularly the long left-hander [turn nine] puts a lot of energy into the tyre.

“So it’s sort of 50-50 when you look at it so it’s going to be fascinating to see which strategy prevails.”

Despite Verstappen topping FP1, the Dutchman was comfortably bettered by Lewis Hamilton in the second practice session by over six-tenths.

“They look very competitive here," added Horner. "Certainly the first two sectors, I think sector three we come back at them.

“The damage is done in the first two sectors but we’ve still got 23 hours to find a better set up and a bit more pace.”

Red Bull need answers for Mercedes 'Brazil' engine

Mercedes did not fit the freshest of Hamilton's allocation to his W12 for the two Friday sessions but it is probable the switch will be made in time for final practice on Saturday.

Wary of the threat the engine possesses, Horner explained: “We’ve seen obviously, that engine has given them a significant amount of performance so we’ve got to make our lap time in a different way.

"Obviously, we’ll do the best we can to do that, qualify as high as we can and then get into the race.”