Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2022: Team bosses stay focused in season finale

Toto Wolff says Mercedes in good shape for next year

Christian Horner of Red Bull Racing, centre, Laurent Rossi of Alpine F1 Team, right, and Mike Krack of Aston Martin at Yas Marina Circuit. Victor Besa / The National

With the excitement of the opening day of the Abu Dhabi F1 weekend done, all teams now put their efforts into the final practice and qualifying sessions on Saturday.

The team bosses were universally focused on what had to be done over the rest of the Abu Dhabi weekend just prior to the final practice session. But with the sport’s main prizes already in the bag, they seemed equally concerned about what was going to happen next season.

Christian Horner of Red Bull added little to the ongoing mystery about what exactly was behind the bust up between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in Sao Paulo.

What happened was unfortunate, he said, but it had been sorted out and there was now a good dynamic between the drivers.

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack talked about the tail end of this year’s racing being “damage limitation” in the wake of some disappointing results, but he reckoned they had a “good platform for 2023”.

Meanwhile, Toto Wolff admitted there was still work to be done at Mercedes, but felt the team were in good shape for next year, a view generally shared by Zak Brown and Laurent Rossi, and of their own respective teams of McLaren and Alpine.

Ferrari’s Mattia Binotto appeared unconcerned about speculation with regard to his own future as team boss, saying he was “relaxed and really focused on what we need to do” over the rest of the weekend.

The final practice session at Yas Marina Circuit is at 2.30pm, with the all-important qualifying beginning at 6pm.