FT3: Little going on at the beginning
Only Aston Martin and Ferrari have been on the track so far, and nobody has set a lap time. The eight other teams are still completely waiting. A really tough start here.
But that doesn’t come as a surprise, because the conditions are of course not representative at all because qualifying and the race will take place in the evening. Some drivers are not even in the car.
Call up all current information in the session live ticker!
FT3: Open the session ticker now!
FT3 starts in Abu Dhabi in five minutes. Here at this point you will find the most important information, pictures and voices. You can get the complete coverage in our session ticker with Stefan Ehlen. It’s best to just let both tickers run in parallel.
And if you want to know how to watch Formula 1 live in Abu Dhabi, you can find out here!
special helmet
And just before FT3, a quick look at another special helmet this weekend. However, Kevin Magnussen’s design will not unfold its full effect in FT3, but only in qualifying in the evening.
anniversary
Congratulations go out this weekend to Williams team manager Dave Redding, who is celebrating his 600th Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. To put that in perspective: Abu Dhabi 2022 is 1,079. Races in Formula 1 history.
That means Redding has been to more than half of all the races! In 1988 he started his career at Benetton, later he worked for McLaren, Stewart and since 2017 for Williams. An impressive career in Formula 1!
Magnussen: There are worse circuits than Abu Dhabi
Many Formula 1 fans don’t like the track in Abu Dhabi. But Kevin Magnussen reveals: “I don’t think the track is one of the worst of the year [was das Überholen angeht].”
“Abu Dhabi isn’t among the best, but it’s not among the worst either,” said the Dane, who also thinks that the overtaking situation could get a little better this year with the new cars.
And in fact, overtaking on circuits like Monaco or Hungary is certainly much more difficult than in Abu Dhabi. Still, the circuit hasn’t necessarily delivered the best racing in the past…
Fresh technology pictures
Just over 45 minutes until the start of FT3. Use the time until then, for example, to quickly click through our technology photo series. We’ve uploaded some new snaps again!
Photo gallery: Formula 1 technology: detailed photos at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2022
Horner: Ricciardo contract not yet signed
Helmut Marko announced yesterday that Daniel Ricciardo will be the third driver at Red Bull in 2023. Horner now emphasizes that the contract has not yet been signed, but that they have a plan for the Australian.
“He’ll probably be at some events if he signs a contract,” said Horner, who also clarified that no races were planned. “Daniel’s contract is very specific,” he clarifies.
You will continue to stick to the driver pairing Verstappen / Perez. For Ricciardo, however, the deal is still a good way to stay in the Formula 1 environment and test in the simulator, for example.
Formula 1 sets venues for sprints in 2023
Six sprints are to be held in 2023. And in the meantime it is also clear where these are to take place! The planned list looks like this:
Baku (Azerbaijan)
Spielberg (Austria)
Spa Francorchamps (Belgium)
Losail (Qatar)
Austin (USA)
Sao Paulo (Brazil)
However, a race is still in the balance here. You can find our complete news on the subject here!
graduation photo
Sebastian Vettel had his big farewell dinner on Thursday evening. And yesterday evening there was another meeting of all Formula 1 drivers, namely at the big GPDA final meeting.
As a tribute to Sebastian Vettel, (almost) everyone said goodbye to the four-time world champion with the “Vettel finger” in a befitting manner!
Binotto: Schumacher’s future is open
Will Schumacher stay with Haas Ferrari Junior after his exit? Binotto is asked this question. A decision has not yet been made, he explains. Mick is “a great driver,” said Binotto.
In the career of the German, things have always gone forward. Of course, his departure from Haas is a setback. That’s why you will now sit down with Mick and see what is best for him.
It is clear that Ferrari does not have a cockpit that can be offered to him. Doesn’t necessarily sound like he’s staying connected to Scuderia.
Should the Perez accident be investigated?
The FIA will not re-investigate qualifying at Monaco unless a team complains. And it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen anymore. The team bosses agree that the incident was too long ago.
“The train has left,” Brown clarifies, and Binotto also says there is no reason to open the barrel again. “We don’t have the data,” adds Wolff, who also can’t imagine that it was Perez’s intention.
Binotto: Spoken “openly” with John Elkann
Now the Ferrari team boss is finally speaking – albeit somewhat evasively. “I didn’t expect that question,” he jokes when asked about the rumors. He explains there’s always a lot of “passion” at play at Ferrari.
This means that there is always “a lot of criticism and rumours”. That has always been the case. When the rumors about him came up, he spoke “openly” to John Elkann about the situation.
It was decided to release a statement to end the rumours. These are “without basis” and you do not want the team to be “distracted” at the weekend.
But he doesn’t say anything about whether he will continue to be Ferrari team boss in the future.
Wolff: Brazil victory was “important”
Part 2 of the PK is running and Wolff talks about the Brazil victory, which he wasn’t there himself. He stressed that he was “proud” of the team and that the win was “important” because it confirmed the progress made this year.
But he also makes it clear that he still sees Mercedes in P3 behind Red Bull and Ferrari in terms of performance. Red Bull had the best package overall this year, and Ferrari also had the fastest car at least in a few cases.
The Mercedes works well on the routes where you can get the car into the “sweet spot” – but not everywhere.
Aston Martin: Own engine is currently no longer an issue
Some time ago it was said that Aston Martin could build its own engine in the future. But that’s off the table for now. Krack explains that the situation has been “evaluated” for the coming years.
One had come to the conclusion that one was “very happy” with the current partner Mercedes. Therefore, your own engine project is no longer an issue.
Horner dodges
The Red Bull team boss is asked what happened between Verstappen and Perez earlier in the year – but dodges. “It was discussed privately between the drivers and the team,” he clarifies and does not want to give any details.
When specifically asked about Monaco, he also avoids it. He talks for several minutes, but does not answer the specific question of whether the team looked at the Perez crash in qualifying again.
He says that something like this is of course not ideal, that it costs a lot of money, that the drivers in 2022 generally crashed very little and so on. But that doesn’t answer the question.
Continue free ride at Alpine
The Brazilian weekend was also somewhat controversial for Alpine. On Saturday, Ocon and Alonso clashed twice. Rossi emphasizes that the drivers are free to race against each other – as long as the team does not suffer.
That is exactly what happened in Brazil. Rossi then reminded the drivers of their contracts and emphasized that they did not want to end the season with other drivers because someone was not behaving on the track.
In the case of Alonso, of course, a rather empty threat, because tomorrow will be his last race for Alpine anyway…