Night racing suits Red Bull
Racing under the lights at Yas Marina Circuit brought the best out of Red Bull Racing. That was the view of Daniel Ricciardo who qualified fifth for today’s race, and he is hopeful he can do even better in the evening conditions tonight. Qualifying began in daylight and the twilight conditions developed as the session progressed and the Australian believed that as it got darker so the performance of his car got better as the circuit’s temperature began to cool. “When the sun came down it came a bit more towards us,” he said. “In Q1 I was not particularly happy with the balance, and in Q2 it got better, and then in Q3 it got even better.” Looking forward to the race, he added: “It is good for the race as it goes on a bit later into the evening and it should help us.” .
Nasr looks for bigger and better
Starting from 14th after a strong qualifying session on Saturday, Sauber rookie Felipe Nasr is looking to cap a promising season by keeping his standing intact and building the foundation for next year. Nasr said he is prioritising keeping his current “surprising” 13th place in the championship. ”For me it’s a big surprise considering I’m ahead of a few stronger cars than us. That would be a really good achievement if we can hold off those guys.” He also wants to begin building on it for next year. “Everybody is putting a lot of work and thought for next year and hopefully we can extract even more.”
Vandoorne dominates
While Lewis Hamilton has struggled to maintain his momentum since winning the Formula One drivers’ title that has not been a problem for Stoffel Vandoorne. The Belgian won the GP2 title last month and he demonstrated just why he has dominated this season last night as he charged to an emphatic victory in their first race of the weekend at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Starting second, he passed pole-sitter and early leader Pierre Gasly and went on win by 9.4 seconds, with Raffaele Marciello finishing second
[Daniel Ricciardo on the F1 season, his hopes for Red Bull and what the future holds for Ronda Rousey]
Alonso rejects sabbatical claims
Fernando Alonso has played down claims that he is considering taking a sabbatical from Formula One in 2016. The double world champion, has scored only 11 points this season, his worst season since his debut year in 2001, as McLaren have struggled with the unreliable and slow Honda power unit. Ron Dennis, McLaren’s chief executive, had said yesterday that he believed a sabbatical for Alonso as McLaren tried to improve their improve their performance was possible, but the Spaniard, who has qualified 17th for today’s Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, dismissed that yesterday. He told a media briefing: “No” when asked if he had thought of taking a year out. “I will be on the grid. I have been answering the same question to all of your colleagues.” Alonso added he had been encouraged by the speed of the car at Yas Marina Circuit, his hopes of proceeding from the first part of qualifying wrecked by a puncture. “The car has performed better this weekend and it’s really a shame not to go through Q1,” he said. “The puncture came at the worst time. This has been our best weekend so far in terms of how competitive we feel.”
[GP3 showdown
There will be some championship drama today in GP3 when the final round of the support series begins the action at Yas Marina Circuit today at 1pm. Esteban Ocon will take a six-point lead into the race over Luca Ghiotto and the German will be guaranteed the title if he finishes in the top two. Ocon was first home in yesterday’s first race of the weekend, but was demoted to fourth after being given a five-second time penalty by race stewards after they felt he had gained an advantage by running wide, off the track, at Turn 1 after the start but still kept the lead. Marvin Kirchhofer inherited the win. Ocon will start today’s 14-lap race from fifth place, one behind Ghiotto, who could only finish fifth yesterday.
Williams ‘competitive’
Valtteri Bottas believes better is to come from Williams today. He could qualify only sixth, with his teammate Felipe Massa eighth, a disappointment for the British team who had both drivers on the podium 12 months ago. “We expected slightly more from qualifying, but I think we have a competitive car for tomorrow to fight with Force India, Red Bull and hopefully Ferrari,” he said. “The balance felt good today but we were just missing some speed, as we have been all weekend.”
