Formula One

Hamilton racing for more records in Abu Dhabi

26 November 2017 - 00:00 By sportsslive.com and AFP

It has been another successful season for Lewis Hamilton and the newly crowned Formula One world champion has more records in his sights in Abu Dhabi today.
Hamilton now only trails Michael Schumacher for Formula One titles, and the Mercedes man has already overtaken the German's record for pole positions and front-row starts this year.
Further opportunities lie in wait at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix today as the Briton looks to end the year on a high.
Here we take a look at the best numbers ahead of the final weekend of the 2017 campaign at the Yas Marina circuit.
1. Hamilton is enjoying his best run of points-scoring finishes (24 races in a row), equalling Schumacher's best run and only bettered by Kimi Raikkonen (27).
2. Hamilton needs one more pole position to equal his record in a single season (12 in 2016).
FORCE INDIA CHASING MILESTONE
3. Sebastian Vettel - who won his first in Abu Dhabi in 2010 - is the driver with the most wins in Formula One on the Arabian Peninsula (six, one more than Hamilton).
4. Raikkonen has gone 94 races without a win. The longest run from one win to the next is held by Riccardo Patrese (99).
5. Force India need 23 more points to reach 1000 in Formula One; they'd be the eighth team to reach this milestone.
6. Mercedes have won the last three races in Abu Dhabi (twice Hamilton, once with Nico Rosberg), the longest run of any team there.
7. Valtteri Bottas needs to win at Yas Marina and Vettel finish ninth or worse to secure second place in the Championship.
8. If Max Verstappen (20 years, one month and 24 days) secures pole in this race, he would be the youngest driver to do so in Formula One history. Vettel, whose first pole position came at 21 years, 2 months and 11 days, currently holds the record.
9. Abu Dhabi will be Felipe Massa's last race in Formula One - it will be his 269th outing, putting him sixth on the all-time list.
10. In Brazil, Pierre Gasly gained the joint most positions in the first lap of any driver in a first lap of a race this season (same as Verstappen in China, nine positions).
11. If Carlos Sainz finishes ninth, he will equal in four races, and with the same car, the same number of points that Jolyon Palmer earned in his first 16 (8).
Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff said the team are determined to win in Abu Dhabi for the fourth year in succession.
"Regardless of what stands in the trophy cabinets back at base, our focus is always on the next race and the next championship," Wolff said. "Our goal in Abu Dhabi is quite simple: to give the best of ourselves...
"We saw promising pace in Mexico and Brazil, circuits where we'd expected to struggle, and this is a positive sign of the progress we've made in understanding our difficulties this year."..

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