Hassan Ammar/Associated PressFerrari employees take a break on the marina behind the Formula One paddock in Abu Dhabi.
ABU DHABI — Formula One has arrived in Abu Dhabi to prepare for the penultimate race of the 19-race season, and only now does it really feel as if the season is really winding down. After Sebastian Vettel won the drivers’ title at the Japanese Grand Prix last month with several races left to run, the season started to feel like it was running on beyond its sell-by date.
Yet in some ways, the end of the season feeling had not truly been in the air. The battle for second places in the series continues; several drivers have not yet announced where they will race next year — and the constructors’ title had to be won after Vettel took his title. The season also finishes up with five races far from the series’ home base in Europe — Japan, Korea, India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil.
Thursday as the paddock returned to life in these now more familiar settings – after the extraordinary Indian Grand Prix two weeks ago – there was a clear sense of closure. Questions at most of the media meetings with drivers centered on contracts for next year, achievement this year, and what the prospects were for the racing next year.
It was announced that Nico Rosberg had signed a new contract with Mercedes through to 2013, while Michael Schumacher fended off questions about whether he will remain to race alongside Nico at Mercedes next year. Two seasons after his return from retirement, Schumacher said he has to assess how things have gone, and where they could go from here. His return has been very successful from the point of view of a 42-year-old racing in a series where most of the drivers are almost 20 years younger, but less successful by the standards the German set for himself as the most successful F1 driver ever.
Both Adrian Sutil and Rubens Barrichello were grilled with questions by the media about whether or not – and if so where – they would race next year. Sutil said he knew things he could not yet say, but that he could not feel worried as he was doing a good job driving, while Barrichello said he simply knew nothing for the moment.
The buzz was stronger that Kimi Raikkonen would return from rally racing to race for Williams year, and questions were asked frequently about how drivers felt about his eventual return.
Aside from that, a very important meeting of the team directors to clear up a few problems about the future of the series was canceled.
So it was all about the future. In the meantime, the race this weekend remains a preoccupation: Will the overtaking devices on the cars this year make the race more exciting than last year’s procession? We have to wait and see on that one.