Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Yas Marina, 2019

Cooler conditions and no support races mean reduced grip at Yas Marina

2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weather

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A slightly cooler Abu Dhabi Grand Prix than usual will take place on a little-used track.

Abu Dhabi’s weather is fairly consistent across any year. Its grand prix normally falls in November. Average temperatures are then are around 30C, lower than the extremely hot summer months but a few degrees warmer than F1 will race in this year.

Temperatures on Friday and Saturday this year will be around the December average for Yas Island, at 26C, falling slightly to 25C for Sunday’s race day. Overall, the skies will be mostly sunny with minimal cloud cover and, as to be expected for Abu Dhabi, low risk of rain or thunderstorms.

Yas Marina sees less running during a season than is typical for a European circuit like Spa which hosts many series. However, in this pandemic-affected year, the track on an artificial island has been quieter than usual, hosting very few races in the past 10 months.

With no support series taking place this weekend, as was also the case at Istanbul, the only running at the circuit will be several R25 demonstration laps driven by Fernando Alonso. This all points towards limited grip on the track, which tends to provoke tyre graining. Expect to hear drivers complaining about poor traction, especially in the repeated acceleration zones at the end of the lap.

Wind could be a factor too, although it’s not expected to be as strong as in Sakhir. The strongest gusts, up to 24kph, are likely to arrive on race day.

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For more updates on the track conditions during each session keep an eye on RaceFans Live and the RaceFans Twitter account.

2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Author information

Hazel Southwell
Hazel is a motorsport and automotive journalist with a particular interest in hybrid systems, electrification, batteries and new fuel technologies....

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11 comments on “Cooler conditions and no support races mean reduced grip at Yas Marina”

  1. I can confirm it is 26 degrees and partly cloudy in Dubai today. The evenings are a few degrees cooler, but not dramatically so.

  2. So Hamilton at the start of P1 is going to be like.. ‘Bono, these tyres are gone already’

    1. And yet will still run a longer stint on them, faster than anyone else. :)

      1. If indeed Hamilton will be in that car, that is @geemac, @Sumedh! Otherwise we will hear “target plus 9” from Bono to Russel instead

  3. Lewis is a fantastic driver but I’m secretly praying that Russell will be sat in his Mercedes this weekend.

    It would make the race that little bit more interesting I reckon.

    1. Hamilton fan here, but I’d like to see Russell too.

    2. @sonnycrockett How does this concern the weather for the weekend?

      1. @jerejj

        So when somebody starts a conversation with you I presume you stick rigidly to the original topic and criticise anybody that moves onto a different subject?!

        The first couple of comments on this page stimulated my own.

        Get a life!

        1. @sonnycrockett LOL. I didn’t intend to hurt anyone.

  4. Cooler than usual, I don’t quite get it. Not the first time temps in the mid-20s range are in the forecast for the Abu Dhabi GP weekend. This might be the latest date for Abu Dhabi thus far, while the earliest is the end-of-October/beginning-of-November for the inaugural event, but still, the same time of year, so no substantial difference in ambient temps. There have been events with high-20s in the daytime and on some occasion(s) even slightly into the 30s (2018 race). The temps for this weekend are more or less the same as in Bahrain over the last two weekends, and, since the floodlit sessions take place from late afternoon to early evening through the sunset and twilight phases, I reckon the ambient figure might remain stable as in Bahrain 1. We shall wait and see. In the 20s and warm as usual nevertheless, so perfectly ideal for F1 in general, although the R25 demo run is fairly pointless, though, since no one is going to be on the grandstands, LOL.

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