Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2014 – The Grid: The Hamilton-Rosberg Duel Judged by Williams?

After the qualifying session that took place Saturday evening, which you can read a summary of on MotorsInside.com, the editorial team offers you a recap of the starting grid.

Only one penalty to report on the grid, that of Romain Grosjean, who receives a 20-place grid drop after changing several elements of his power unit. He will also be given a drive-through penalty during the race.

The two Red Bulls, on their side, were excluded from qualifying due to non-compliant front wings and should start from the pits.

The tires

A two-stop strategy is theoretically the fastest. Ideally, Pirelli indicates that one should start on super-softs, then switch to softs on the 8th lap and again on the 31st lap.

A three-stop strategy remains possible, but it may encounter traffic risks. The plan would be to start on super-softs, switch to softs on the 7th lap, then again on the 23rd lap, and finally on the 39th lap. Without traffic, this strategy would theoretically be less than 2 seconds slower than the ideal two-stop strategy.

The forces at play

For the race, the Mercedes cars are the favorites, even if Bottas’s Williams, from the clean side of the track, could pose a challenge for Hamilton. Behind Massa and following the exclusion of the Red Bulls who will start at the back of the grid, the gap with Kvyat is expected to be significant.

From there, the battle in the midfield with the Toro Rossos, McLarens, and Ferraris could provide us with some thrilling racing duels.

At the back of the pack, we will need to watch Vettel and Ricciardo’s Red Bulls making their way up and the behavior of the Force India cars as they try to join the fight with Vergne’s Toro Rosso.

It will also be interesting to see if the rookie Stevens can challenge Kobayashi in an internal battle at Caterham.