F1 News
Vettel predicts interesting FP1 and FP3 sessions in Abu Dhabi
Sebastian Vettel predicts an interesting couple of free practice sessions ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Ferrari man who will complete his 14th season in Formula 1, believes lots of teams will be testing for the 2020 F1 season on Friday and Saturday.
"As well as being the last race of 2019, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix marks the start of the 2020 season in many ways, with most teams trying out ideas for next year during Friday free practice. Then, as usual on the Tuesday and Wednesday after the race, there's the test session when we will able to evaluate the tyres for next year and those for 2021," Vettel said.
"Focussing on work for next year is not a problem during the morning sessions on Friday and Saturday as conditions then are so much hotter than those experienced during qualifying and the race that they are less useful in terms of working on set-up and race configuration."
At the start of the season, Vettel expected to be fighting with Lewis Hamilton for the F1 drivers' championship in Abu Dhabi. But the four-time world champion has had a season to forget and could end up finishing behind Charles Leclerc in the standings. Those two drivers collided at the last race in Brazil, and Vettel wants to recover from that low point.
"It is an opportunity for us to finish the season on a high but we know the competition is strong, so it should be an exciting race," Vettel added.