The 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will mark the final race for many drivers and partnerships in Formula 1.
The season finale will be the final time that Lewis Hamilton will drive for Mercedes after an incredible 12 years with the team. The seven-time world champion will be heading to Ferrari in 2025 on a multi-year deal.
With Hamilton moving to the Maranello outfit, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will mark the final race for Ferrari for Carlos Sainz before he makes the switch to Williams.
Franco Colapinto is set to have his last outing for the Grove-based squad, while Kevin Magnussen will drive one finale race with Haas before he leaves F1 for the third time in his career. The Dane will be joining BMW in endurance racing in 2025 before targeting a return to F1 in 2026.
Both Sauber drivers Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas will drive with the Swiss team for the final time before they depart the sport after three years as teammates. And the latter is determined to go out of a high note.
Jolyon Palmer left stunned by Valtteri Bottas’ ‘extraordinary’ Q1 lap in Abu Dhabi
It has been a miserable season for Sauber in 2024 as the team have languished towards the back of the grid all year. Zhou scored the team’s first points of the year last time out at the Qatar Grand Prix by finishing eighth, with Eddie Jordan labelling Zhou’s performance as a ‘trojan effort’.
| Position | Constructors’ Standings | Points |
| 1 |
McLaren Racing |
640 |
| 2 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
619 |
| 3 |
Red Bull Racing |
581 |
| 4 |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas |
446 |
| 5 |
Aston Martin F1 Team |
92 |
| 6 |
Alpine F1 Team |
59 |
| 7 |
Haas F1 Team |
54 |
| 8 |
Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team |
46 |
| 9 |
Williams F1 Team |
17 |
| 10 |
Sauber F1 Team |
4 |
Sauber have struggled to get into Q2 for much of this season, but the Hinwil-based outfit have recently found some performance that their drivers have looked to take advantage of. Both Bottas and Zhou made it to Q2 in Qatar and the former almost joined the latter in the points in the race as he narrowly missed out in 11th.
In Abu Dhabi, Bottas continued that momentum with an incredible performance in qualifying. The Finn set the fastest time in Q1 before Charles Leclerc went quicker in the Ferrari, knocking the Sauber to second.
READ MORE: Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas’ life outside F1 from girlfriend to wine and gin
Bottas went one step further in Q2 as he made it to Q3 for the first time this season and marked the first Q3 appearance for a Sauber into Q3 since the Chinese Grand Prix by going ninth in the session, knocking out both RB drivers in the process.
The Finn will line up ninth for the race on Sunday. Speaking with BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, Jolyon Palmer lauded the ‘extraordinary’ effort from Bottas in Q1 as he puts himself among the frontrunners for tomorrow’s race.
“That is a Sauber [of Valtteri Bottas] in top spot as the chequered flag is nearly waving in Q1, that’s how close the field is, it’s extraordinary,” he said.
What’s next for Valtteri Bottas after his Sauber departure?
Bottas – who has made 245 race starts ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – will be hoping to end his spell with Sauber on a high and score his first points of the season.
The Finn and teammate Zhou will be replaced by Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto in 2025, as the duo sign multi-year deals to become Audi drivers when they take over from Sauber in 2026.
It is not currently known what Bottas will be doing next year, but the 35-year-old is looking to stay in F1 in some capacity.
Bottas is in talks with Mercedes over becoming their reserve driver behind George Russell and Kimi Antonelli next season in what would mark a return to the Silver Arrows after four years.
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