Abu Dhabi GP 2026
Round 23 of 23 runs at Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, UAE, with the race on Sun 6 Dec at 15:00 EET Finnish time. This is a conventional weekend: three practice sessions, qualifying on Saturday, one race. Every session below is given in Finnish time first, with the circuit's own clock beside it.
This is round 23 of 23 on the 2026 Formula 1 calendar, a conventional weekend, with 0 Grand Prixs after it. 6 of the 23 rounds use the sprint format. The full F1 calendar lists every one in Finnish time and the fantasy guide explains how this weekend scores.
Abu Dhabi GP F1 Session Times In Finnish Time
All 5 sessions, converted with the Europe/Helsinki zone rather than a fixed offset — which matters this season because six rounds fall in EET and round 18 straddles the October changeover. The right-hand column is the circuit's own local clock.
| Session | Day | Finnish time | Circuit time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Fri 4 Dec | 11:30 EET | 10:30 |
| Practice 2 | Fri 4 Dec | 15:00 EET | 14:00 |
| Practice 3 | Sat 5 Dec | 12:30 EET | 11:30 |
| Qualifying | Sat 5 Dec | 16:00 EET | 15:00 |
| Race | Sun 6 Dec | 15:00 EET | 14:00 |
How To Watch The Abu Dhabi GP In Finland
Every session of the 2026 Formula 1 season is on Viaplay in Finland, including practice. That is the only Finnish Formula 1 rights-holder, so there is no free-to-air alternative for this Grand Prix. The weekend opens with Practice 1 at 11:30 EET on Fri and closes with Race at 15:00 on Sun — the countdown at the top of this page tracks whichever comes next.
Our Formula 1 desk covers the weekend as it happens, and the F2 and F3 desk covers the support races that share the bill at most Grand Prix weekends.
If you are reading from outside Finland, the countdown adds your own local clock beside the Finnish time rather than replacing it. Every other F1 round is listed the same way on the 2026 Formula 1 calendar, and the F1 results archive carries each Grand Prix once it has run.
The Circuit: Yas Marina Circuit
The Abu Dhabi GP is held at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, at 24.4672, 54.6031. The reference record for this circuit, including its full history of Formula 1 rounds, is the circuit's own entry.
Track knowledge is why an F1 Grand Prix page is worth keeping separate from a season page: a Formula 1 lap at Yas Marina Circuit is not an F1 lap anywhere else, and the pit lane, the grid slot that matters and the corner that decides this Grand Prix are specific to Abu Dhabi.
The most recent championship round here went 58 laps, which is the distance to plan a viewing around.
What This Grand Prix Means For The F1 Championship
Round 23 has not run yet, so there is no post-race table to show. The standings going into it, and every completed round this season, are in the results archive; the full calendar has the rest of the season in Finnish time.
The Standings Going Into Round 23
Where the championship actually stands as this round approaches, after 11 rounds: Andrea Kimi Antonelli on 219 points, 50 clear of Lewis Hamilton. Those are the numbers this weekend will move.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 219 |
| 2. | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 169 |
| 3. | George Russell | Mercedes | 160 |
| 4. | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 138 |
| 5. | Lando Norris | McLaren | 128 |
| 6. | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 109 |
| 7. | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 92 |
| 8. | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 68 |
| 21. | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac F1 Team | 0 |
Constructors Going Into This Round
Mercedes lead the teams' table on 379 points with 8 wins, from Ferrari on 307. The teams' order is the better read on whether a car is actually improving, because it averages out one driver having a bad afternoon.
| Pos | Team | Wins | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Mercedes | 8 | 379 |
| 2. | Ferrari | 2 | 307 |
| 3. | McLaren | 1 | 220 |
| 4. | Red Bull | 0 | 177 |
| 5. | RB F1 Team | 0 | 66 |
| 6. | Alpine F1 Team | 0 | 61 |
| 7. | Haas F1 Team | 0 | 21 |
| 8. | Audi | 0 | 12 |
| 9. | Williams | 0 | 11 |
| 10. | Aston Martin | 0 | 1 |
| 11. | Cadillac F1 Team | 0 | 0 |
Form: What Happened At Round 11
The most recent race before this one was the Hungarian GP, where Lando Norris won for McLaren from grid slot 1. The top five there is the most current read on the order.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Grid | Time / status | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1 | 1:39:56.180 | 25 |
| 2. | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 4 | +15.080 | 18 |
| 3. | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 7 | +18.728 | 15 |
| 4. | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 2 | +23.840 | 12 |
| 5. | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 5 | +24.540 | 10 |
F1 Points Still Mathematically Available
Counting this round, 1 rounds remain, 0 of them sprint weekends. That is 25 points still on the table for a driver who wins everything — 1 race wins at 25 plus 0 sprint wins at 8.
Against a 50-point lead at the top, that means the championship is still arithmetically open to everyone within 25 points of Andrea Kimi Antonelli — which on the current table is 1 of the ten drivers listed above.
The Finnish Angle On This F1 Grand Prix
Valtteri Bottas is the only Finn on the 2026 grid, in his first season with Cadillac after a year out. Whether the seat survives 2027 is the open question, and this round is another data point on it.
Away from Formula 1 the Finnish contingent is larger: 6 Finns are in the World Rally Championship, where Emil Lindholm is 30th on 1 points for Toksport WRT. The driver pages track all of them round by round, and the junior ladder is where the next ones come from.
Next Sessions Across The Season
| Session | Event | Finnish time |
|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Italian GP | Fri 13:30 EEST |
| Practice 2 | Italian GP | Fri 17:00 EEST |
| Practice 3 | Italian GP | Sat 13:30 EEST |
| Qualifying | Italian GP | Sat 17:00 EEST |
| Race | Italian GP | Sun 16:00 EEST |
Previous And Next F1 Round
- Round 22: Qatar GPThe round before this one, with its result and standings.
- The full 2026 calendarAll 23 rounds and 115 sessions, downloadable as a calendar file.
- 2026 results archiveEvery completed round and the current championship table.
This page is currently showing the schedule and the championship going in. It is rebuilt as the F1 weekend progresses rather than replaced by a separate report, so this one address carries the preview beforehand and the result afterwards.
Session times are converted to Europe/Helsinki from the RacingNews365 match centre; the classification, championship positions, sprint result and previous runnings are the official record via the Jolpica Ergast mirror. Both sources agree round for round on the 2026 calendar. Checked 26 August 2026.