How to watch: Sunday’s race begins at 7:55 a.m. Eastern time and can be seen on ESPN2 in the United States, and can also be streamed live on the ESPN app and on SlingTV.
In Canada, viewers can watch the race on TSN4 and RDS (French language). The pre-race coverage in both the U.S. and Canada is scheduled to start at 6:30 a.m., with the checkered flag expected to drop closer to 10 a.m. (The race’s end time is an estimate and reflects the conclusion of the broadcast window.)
A little about the race:55 laps on the 5.281-kilometer (3.281 miles) Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island.
Who to watch: For only the second time in Formula 1 history, two drivers — Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and Max Verstappen of Red Bull — go into the season finale tied for the championship.
“It is a dream scenario,” Daniel Ricciardo of McLaren told Ian Parkes, writing in The Times.
Hamilton, 36, is chasing a record-breaking eighth title, while Verstappen, 24, seeks his first. There is tension between them on the track, and they have had a number of incidents, including crashes in the British and Italian Grands Prix.
Parkes also wrote about Kimi Raikkonen, a 42-year-old driver who seems ready to walk away from the track.
Over the past two decades, Raikkonen of Finland has devoted himself to Formula 1. Even during a two-year hiatus from the series in 2010-11 after leaving Ferrari, he never left motorsports.
But since 2001, Formula 1 has dominated his career. After what will be his 349th career start in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday, Raikkonen, now driving for Alfa Romeo, bows out. And as Parkes says, this time maybe for good.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is ending a unique Formula 1 season, as Luke Smith wrote. The coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of many longtime races — in China, Canada, Singapore, Japan and Australia — although races were added in Portugal, Turkey and Qatar.
It made for the longest season in the series’ history.
Revenue jumped, rising 12 percent in the third quarter, compared with the same period last year, but the longer season, added workload and constant travel, has taken a toll on teams.
