The 22nd and final Grand Prix weekend of the 2022 Formula 1 season got under way at the Yas Marina Circuit located in Abu Dhabi, the capital and second-most populous city of the United Arab Emirates on Friday, November 18th.

With Red Bull's Max Verstappen's amazing accomplishment of securing his second World Championship four Grand Prix's in the past, all eyes this weekend will be on the battle for second place - a duel between the current position holder, Verstappen's teammate, Sergio Perez, and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. Perez moved into the second place position one week ago at F1's penultimate Grand Prix in Sao Paulo.

Yas Marina is made up of 16 corners as well as some fast sections. Aerodynamics are an important aspect to guarantee a strong performance and optimal tyre management.

According to Pirelli: The teams used a number of different strategies at last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Red Bull's Max Verstappen won his first world title after stopping three times, putting on the soft tyre during a safety car period five laps from the end.

FP1 driver replacements included Pato O'Ward (McLaren), Felipe Drugovich (Aston Martin), Liam Lawson (Red Bull), Robert Schwartzman (Ferrari), Logan Sargeant (Williams,) Pietro Fittipaldi (Haas), Jack Doohan (Alpine) and Robert Kubica (Alfa Romeo.)

Australia's Oscar Piastri, who will be the teammate of Lando Norris for McLaren in 2023, will test for McLaren on Monday's test session at Yas Marina but can not participate in the weekend Free Practice sessions due to contractual obligations between McLaren and Alpine Racing.

FP1 saw Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton finish in P1 and George Russell in P2. According to Mercedes the team was focusing on data collection and set-up experiments ahead of next season.

Max Verstappen ran the quickest time of the second session on Friday afternoon.

"We had quite a few test items squeezed into the first session, which meant we didn't have quite the normal focus on race preparation," said Mercedes Engineering Director, Andrew Shovlin. "That work shifted to the afternoon session and whilst we had a straightforward time in terms of reliability, we're lacking a little pace both single lap and long run."

Teams typically use Friday Free Practice 1 sessions for testing as the hot day conditions are much different than the night time conditions for qualifying and the Grand Prix itself. FP2 sessions, held as the sun is setting, are more closer to qualifying and race conditions.

"For FP2, the track changed completely with the temperature drop. The car felt fast, but I think Red Bull are ahead of us in terms of single lap pace and maybe even more so in the long runs," said Russell. "So, we have some work to do overnight, but compared to Ferrari our performance from what we can tell so far looks reasonable for this weekend."

Russell and Hamilton were second and fourth quickest in FP2, respectively, with Leclerc sandwiched in between. Leclerc ran behind the Silver Arrows with the third quickest time of FP1.

"Overall, our sessions were ok. We struggled a bit with the race pace due to tyre degradation, which was expected," said Leclerc. "Our qualifying pace was a little better, but our competitors seem to be a step ahead."

Logan Sargeant, testing for Williams, spun in FP1, hitting the barrier at Yas Marina's Turn 1. Sargeant was able to drive his stricken FW44 back to the pits. Sargent is scheduled to be Alex Albon's Williams 2023 teammate and is currently trying to gain the points for his Super Licence.

"Despite a spin when braking on the kerbs, Logan completed another good Free Practice session and showed some strong pace on both compounds. He will drive the FW44 again on Tuesday as part of the post-season test day," said Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance for Williams.

On Friday Haas Racing confirmed the team has signed German driver Nico Hulkenberg to contest the 2023 season alongside Kevin Magnussen. Hulkenberg has 181 F1 starts to his credit and raced in Formula One in 2010 with the Williams team. Hulkenberg has one F1 pole position and zero podium appearances.

Also announced on Friday: Formula 1 launch of the F1 Academy in 2023, an all-female driver category aimed at developing and preparing young female drivers to progress to higher levels of competition including W Series, Formula 3, Formula 2 and Formula 1.

About Yas Marina Circuit:

Abu Dhabi joined Formula 1's calendar in 2009 at the Yas Marina Circuit, crafted on the no-expenses-spared Yas Island, around 30 minutes' drive from downtown.

Yas Marina has been the traditional location for Formula 1's curtain closer, holding finales in 2009/10, and then every season since 2014. It has been the venue for several championship deciders, most famously in 2021, when Max Verstappen was crowned World Champion following a last-lap pass on Lewis Hamilton.

The 16-turn 5.2km circuit features two lengthy straights and several medium-speed turns, with the track's showpiece now the long-radius turn 9, which was introduced in 2021 following a renovation to the layout. The final sector, which includes the track passing beneath the latticed W Hotel, was also opened up, leading to lap times approximately 13 seconds faster than the pre-2021 layout.

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FP2 RESULTS
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Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:25.146	138.745 mph
2	Russell		Mercedes	1:25.487	0.341
3	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:25.599	0.453
4	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:25.761	0.615
5	Perez		Red Bull	1:25.852	0.706
6	Sainz		Ferrari		1:25.932	0.786
7	Ocon		Alpine		1:26.038	0.892
8	Alonso		Alpine		1:26.043	0.897
9	Ricciardo	McLaren		1:26.124	0.978
10	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	1:26.300	1.154
11	Norris		McLaren		1:26.377	1.231
12	Vettel		Aston Martin	1:26.395	1.249
13	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	1:26.479	1.333
14	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:26.547	1.401
15	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1:26.680	1.534
16	Albon		Williams	1:26.750	1.604
17	Schumacher	Haas		1:26.839	1.693
18	Magnussen	Haas		1:26.915	1.769
19	Gasly		AlphaTauri	1:27.036	1.890
20	Latifi		Williams	1:27.262	2.116


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FP1 RESULTS
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Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:26.633	136.364 mph
2	Russell		Mercedes	1:26.853	0.220
3	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:26.888	0.255
4	Perez		Red Bull	1:26.967	0.334
5	Lawson		Red Bull	1:27.201	0.568
6	Vettel		Aston Martin	1:27.268	0.635
7	Schwartzman	Ferrari		1:27.429	0.796
8	Ricciardo	McLaren		1:27.619	0.986
9	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	1:27.655	1.022
10	Albon		Williams	1:27.840	1.207
11	Gasly		AlphaTauri	1:27.845	1.212
12	Ocon		Alpine		1:27.891	1.258
13	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1:27.991	1.358
14	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	1:28.064	1.431
15	Sargeant	Williams	1:28.098	1.465
16	Magnussen	Haas		1:28.142	1.509
17	Fittipaldi	Haas		1:28.204	1.571
18	O'Ward		McLaren		1:28.350	1.717
19	Doohan		Alpine		1:28.484	1.851
20	Drugovich	Aston Martin	1:28.672	2.039

(image provided by Renault SAS)