Felipe Massa says that he reckons last year’s race was the best he has had with the Grove based squad since he joined them at the end of 2013: “Abu Dhabi last season, I think this was the best race I’ve had in my time at Williams”.
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With McLaren stating it will use the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP as a head start on its winter testing schedule by bringing new parts to the race weekend, Alonso wants this weekend to draw a line under its hard 2015 season and begin afresh.
Hulkenberg is now 10th in the standings with 52 points, three ahead of his Toro Rosso and Lotus rivals going into the Yas Marina finale.
Organised by Abu Dhabi Striders, in partnership with Gulf Multi Sport, the half marathon and 10km event takes place on a mostly flat, IAAF-measured course. “It’s quite easy to come into a corner too hot and make a mistake, and finding a good flow is a big challenge”, said the 28-year-old.
Hulkenberg has had a topsy-turvy season with five retirements and one Did Not Start (DNS) while his best finish was sixth in Austria, Japan and the last race in Brazil.
The 2015 championship concludes at a venue that is very familiar to Pirelli: the spectacular Yas Marina circuit at Abu Dhabi, which has been used for testing and a pre-season launch by the Italian firm, including the world’s first wet-weather test run at night.
“Although we’ve had some difficult weekends over the past few races, the mood back at the McLaren Technology Centre is still very upbeat, and everyone is already working hard for next year”. We can realistically aim for a similar performance this weekend.
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“If we can push for some points in Abu Dhabi, it’ll definitely be a boost for the team to end the season, and will reward all the efforts from every single member of the team over the past year”.
