The Formula 1 2025 World Championship has so far visited 20 countries, some of them more than once, covering thousands of kilometres across the globe and now it's time for the 24th and final round of the season.

As has been the case for over ten years now, the grand finale is being held at the Yas Marina circuit which has hosted the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix since its inception in 2009. It's been a complicated season for Scuderia Ferrari HP, but everyone in the team is still focussed and determined to end the year on a positive note.

After the modifications made prior to the 2021 edition, the Yas Marina circuit is now faster and more likely to produce exciting racing than in the past, even though it is still a medium downforce circuit where overtaking is quite tricky. The lap begins with a short straight into the first left hand turn where overtaking is practically impossible. The crucial section for moving up the order is the middle one, which ends in the wide turn 5 hairpin and then the 1.2 kilometre straight where DRS can be activated. This is where one is most likely to see wheel to wheel battles before the tricky entry to turn 6 and the following chicane. The final twisty and technical sector goes around the hotel and rarely witnesses any overtaking prior to the finish line.

For Scuderia Ferrari HP, the spotlight will be on Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, although the latter will sit out the first session, with Arthur Leclerc taking the wheel for the second time at a Grand Prix weekend to run alongside his brother. A year ago, Arthur stood in for Carlos Sainz, as part of Scuderia Ferrari HP's commitment to giving young drivers valuable track time, in accordance with the rule that each race driver must twice be replaced during practice by a driver with no more than two Grands Prix to their name, for a free practice session.

At Yas Marina, Pirelli is supplying the usual selection of compounds, C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium) and C5 (Soft). In the past, graining has been seen at this track, but in recent years, it has been less prevalent and the increased resistance of the current tyres means that even the Soft is capable of completing a longer stint than in the past. Degradation is a feature and generally thermal in nature, mainly across the rear axle because of the traction demands, particularly in the final sector.

The race takes place at night, starting at sunset. Temperatures drop rapidly and so the second free practice session, starting around sundown at 17h00 local time, will be particularly relevant as conditions will be closest to those encountered in qualifying and the race.

For the final moments of track action of 2025, one has to wait until Tuesday. As usual, it will be time for the end-of-season test, with teams running two cars, one of them specially adapted to test the 2026 tyres. Charles and Lewis will take turns at the wheel, while the SF-25 in the current configuration will be entrusted to Dino Beganovic as part of the Young Driver Test. Dino has already driven two FP1 sessions this year, in Bahrain and Austria, replacing Charles and he has also taken part in various tests in cars from previous years.

Fred Vasseur: Abu Dhabi brings a long and challenging season to a close, for the drivers and for everyone in the team. At Yas Marina, we will push until the very end, with the whole team aiming to finish the Championship on a positive note.

Ferrari in Abu Dhabi

16 GP Contested
2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (K. Raikkonen 12th, G. Fisichella 16th)
0 Wins
0 Pole positions
3 (18.75%) Fastest laps
12 (25%) Podiums

Three questions to Arthur Leclerc, Development Driver.

How does it feel to be getting back on track in FP1 alongside Charles in Abu Dhabi?
Arthur Leclerc: Charles and I are very happy to be driving again together in FP1. It's very exciting to be in a car on the other side of the garage from him. From a technical point of view, driving the car on track is always useful for us drivers who mainly support the team with our work in the simulator back in Maranello. It helps us to give better feedback to the engineers.

What about the Yas Marina track, is there a section in particular that you like?
AL: Without a doubt, my favourite part is the first sector. That's where you are most aware of the amount of downforce these cars generate. You take turns 2 and 3 flat and they are very fast. It is one of those sections where you truly realise just how quick is a Formula 1 car and I always enjoy tackling it.

How have you prepared for this session and what are you aiming to get out of it?
AL: In terms of physical preparation, I've worked mainly on my neck, which is where you most feel the G forces, and I also did a lot of cardio work. On the technical side, obviously I worked a lot in the simulator to be as well prepared as possible. My job will be to provide useful feedback on what we are testing and gather as much data as possible to improve the correlation between the performance on track and the results we see in the Maranello simulator.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Facts & Figures

7. The years it took from breaking ground to the official opening of Abu Dhabi's Landmark skyscraper, one of the tallest in the city and a feature on its skyline. It is 324 metres tall, with 77 floors, five of them underground. The work of Argentine-American architect César Pelli, who has designed some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world, construction took from 2006 to 2012. The Landmark was opened the following year and is home to apartments and residential areas, as well as shops, restaurants and hanging gardens.

13. The number of times, including this year, that three drivers were still in the hunt for the Formula 1 World Championship title at the final round. The first time was in its very first year, 1950, an all-Alfa Romeo affair between Juan Manuel Fangio, Luigi Fagioli and eventual winner Giuseppe Farina. The last time was in 2010, when there was even a fourway fight, between Fernando Alonso in a Ferrari, Mark Webber in a Red Bull, Lewis Hamilton in a McLaren and winner Sebastian Vettel who took his and Red Bull Racing's first ever world title. Ferrari drivers have twice come out on top in a three-way title fight: in 1964 John Surtees got the better of his fellow countrymen Graham Hill and Jim Clark in a thrilling Mexican Grand Prix and then, 43 years later, in 2007 in Brazil, Kimi Raikkonen, third going into the final round, got the better of McLaren team-mates Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

18. Abu Dhabi's current ranking on a list of cities with the best quality of life, according to the ninth edition of Mapping the World's Prices a Deutsche Bank Research Institute publication. The criteria used to create this list are the usual indicators such as average salaries, in which Abu Dhabi ranks 28th, average house prices (46th) as well as more micro-level indicators such as the cost of mobile phones (29th), the cost of a cappuccino (6th) or the price of a monthly gym membership (16th).

3000. The surface area in square metres of the Ferrari logo on the roof of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, making it the largest in the world. The theme park celebrates its 15th anniversary this year and among its attractions are Formula Rossa, the fastest rollercoaster in the world, which reaches speeds of 240 km/h in under five seconds.

17000. The number of wild animals roaming free in the Arabian Wildlife Park. The protected areas, established in 1970 by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, covers about half of the Sir Bani Yas Island, one of the many islands that make up the Abu Dhabi Emirate. It is around 250 kilometres from the capital and hosts many animal species typical of the Arabian peninsula such as giraffes, oryx, cheetahs, antelopes and many more.