Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix 2022: Odds, Preview and Top Storylines
Red Bull Racing will once again be in the spotlight for a Formula One race, but Max Verstappen is not the driver who needs a result at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Sergio Pérez, Verstappen's teammate, is fighting for second place in the drivers' championship with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
Pérez and Leclerc enter Sunday's race tied on 290 points. The driver who finishes in the best position among the two competitors will take second behind Verstappen.
Red Bull earned control of the front row in Saturday's qualifying session. Verstappen took pole and Pérez landed in second place.
Leclerc and his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz line up third and fourth on the grid, respectively, so the battle between Red Bull and Ferrari should go off from the opening lap.
The other big storyline surrounding Sunday's race is Sebastian Vettel's retirement. The four-time world champion starts in ninth place in his Aston Martin.
Vettel is aiming to earn a points finish in his last start on the Formula One grid. He could also help Aston Martin make up a five-point deficit against Alfa Romeo for sixth place in the constructors' championship.
A few other battles could be waged in the constructors' championship. Alpine leads McLaren by 19 points for fourth, and Haas holds a two-point edge on AlphaTauri for eighth.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Odds
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Max Verstappen (-225; bet $225 to win $100)
Sergio Pérez (+275; bet $100 to win $275)
Charles Leclerc (+1200)
Lewis Hamilton (+1400)
George Russell (+1800)
Carlos Sainz (+2800)
Lando Norris (+10000)
All other drivers (+25000 or higher)
Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc Squaring off for 2nd Place in Drivers' Championship
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Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc are fighting for the second spot in the drivers' championship behind Max Verstappen.
Pérez and Leclerc come into Abu Dhabi tied on points after the Mexican took seventh and Leclerc finished in fourth last week in Brazil.
Pérez earned a slight edge in the race for second, as he took a spot on the front row in qualifying next to Verstappen.
The Red Bull drivers are likely to work better together in Abu Dhabi after the incident that took place at the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Verstappen was ordered to give up a spot to Pérez, but he did not oblige and Pérez remained in seventh place.
Red Bull could place Pérez at the front from the start and use Verstappen to block the Ferraris from gaining second place. In that scenario, Pérez could open up a decent-sized time gap in the lead and then allow Red Bull to dictate the strategy of the race.
Ferrari has been second in pace to Red Bull all season, and the Italian team has to deal with the new-found pace of Mercedes behind it at the start. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell start on the third row.
Every place on the grid matters for Pérez and Leclerc, so we should expect their teams to prioritize them on Sunday no matter where both of their cars are on the Yas Marina Circuit.
Sebastian Vettel Competing in Last Race Before Retirement
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Sebastian Vettel will compete in his final Formula One race on Sunday.
Vettel won four straight championships from 2010-13, and he is one of the most experienced drivers in the 20-man field.
The 35-year-old German will try to turn in a top-10 finish to earn points for Aston Martin in Abu Dhabi.
Vettel qualified ninth, and he is looking for his fourth top-10 finish in the last six races. He took eighth in Belgium, Singapore and Texas and sixth in Japan.
A points finish would be a great way to go out for Vettel, and he could help Aston Martin move up the constructors' standings if everything goes in the team's favor.
Vettel will be ninth on the grid, and his teammate Lance Stroll starts 14th. The pair of Aston Martins need to make up five points on Alfa Romeo to earn sixth in the constructors' championship.
Alfa Romeo starts Valtteri Bottas in 18th and Zhou Guanyu in 15th, so Aston Martin will start at an advantage.
A double points-finish is the minimum expectation for Aston Martin, and the team has to hope Vettel climbs up the grid to make the math easier.
A seventh-place finish would not only be a great result for Vettel, but it would also give Aston Martin six points to jump Alfa Romeo, as long as Alfa Romeo does not pick up any points.
Four points go to eighth place, two go to ninth and one to 10th, so any combination of six points would allow Aston Martin to leap Alfa Romeo in its ideal scenario.
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Constructors' Championship Spots Still Up for Grabs
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The only confirmed spots in the constructors' championship are Red Bull in first and Williams in 10th.
There are still mathematical scenarios for teams to make moves between second and ninth on Sunday.
Ferrari leads Mercedes by 19 points in the race for second place. Ferrari has both cars on the second row, and Mercedes' pair of cars are right behind it on the third row.
Alpine extended its lead for fourth over McLaren to 19 points last week in Brazil. McLaren starts both of its cars in the top 10, but it has to be wary of Fernando Alonso starting in 11th.
Alonso finished inside the top 10 in the last 13 races that he finished. He has three retirements in the last 16 races. The Spaniard will be the key to Alpine keeping its hold on fourth place.
Alfa Romeo leads Aston Martin by five points. Bottas and Zhou need to get off to strong starts in order to prevent Aston Martin from surging ahead into sixth place.
Haas sits in front of AlphaTauri by two points. AlphaTauri starts Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly in 12th and 18th, respectively. For Haas, Mick Schumacher starts 13th ahead of Kevin Magnussen in 16th.
Magnussen and Tsunoda have one top-10 finish each in the last four races, while Gasly and Schumacher finished outside the points in all of those events. The Haas-AlphaTauri competition may come down to one or two points if one of those teams can get a car into the top 10.
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