“Abu Dhabi Grand Prix” by eren ileri is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Details of the Yas Marina lap record and fastest F1 lap times at the Abu Dhabi circuit since its layout was changed in 2021.
Can the F1 lap record at Yas Marina be beaten during this year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this year? My thoughts below.
Contents
Qualifying or race laps?
For a lap record to become official it must have been set during a race.
Lap times set during free practice or qualifying sessions can’t be classified as official lap records, but are often faster laps than those set in the race.
Why? Well during qualifying the F1 cars are set up to be as fast as possible for a single lap. They’ll be running minimal fuel to save weight and will be running brand new sticky tyres.
The driver’s don’t need to worry about making their tyres last for a long stint. They push them as hard as possible for that single lap to get maximum performance out of them.
Yas Marina Circuit
In 2021 the Abu Dhabi track layout was modified significantly to make the track faster and more flowing. That reduced lap times compared to the original Yas Marina circuit by about 13 seconds.
All the Abu Dhabi fastest lap times and lap records listed on this page will be for the post-2021 Yas Marina track.
Yas Marina Lap Record F1
The Yas Marina lap record for an F1 car is 1:26.103 set by Max Verstappen driving for Red Bull during the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Max set the lap record on lap 39 of the 2021 title decider between him and Lewis Hamilton. Lap 39 was just after a virtual safety car period had ended, during which Max pitted for a fresh set of hard tyres. He was in 2nd place, behind Lewis, and pushing as hard as he could to catch him.
There were no other cars ahead of him on the circuit on lap 39, so Max set the Yas Marina lap record without using any of the Abu Dhabi DRS zones.
The overall fastest F1 lap at Yas Marina circuit is 1:22.109 also set by Max Verstappen, this time during qualifying for the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
That’s almost four seconds fastest than the official race lap record, showing just how much quicker the Formula 1 cars are in qualifying trim.
As this lap time was set during the final part of the qualifying session it doesn’t count as an official lap record. But not only is it the fastest F1 lap time around Yas Marina, it’s the fastest ever lap at the circuit.
Abu Dhabi F1 fastest lap times
The table below shows the fastest lap times from all F1 race and qualifying sessions since the Yas Marina circuit was updated.
The Dutchman Max Verstappen has been almost unbeatable at Abu Dhabi over the last few years. Let’s see what he can do this year.
| Year | Fastest Lap - Race | Fastest Lap - Qualifying |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1:28.391 Lando Norris - Mclaren |
1:23.824 Max Verstappen - Red Bull |
| 2021 | 1:26.103 Max Verstappen - Red Bull |
1:22.109 Max Verstappen - Red Bull |
Can the Abu Dhabi lap record be broken?
As the table above shows, in 2022 the F1 cars were a couple of seconds slower than they were the year before.
This year the cars seem to be around a second a lap faster than in 2022. So should the weather conditions be favourable, there’s every chance that the lap record could be broken. Chance are it’ll be Max who does it again.
Abu Dhabi F1 average speed
The average speed around the Abu Dhabi F1 circuit achieved by Max Verstappen on his official 2021 race lap record was 137.2mph / 220.8kph.
On his even fastest qualifying lap from the same year, Max achieved an average speed of 143.9mph / 231.6kph.
Other Yas Marina lap records
As well as Formula 1 a number of other high profile motorsport series race on the Abu Dhabi circuit. Some of these include Formula 2 and GT3 cars.
Below are the lap records for these other series
F2 Yas Marina Lap Record
The lap record for a F2 car around Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi is 1:37.445 set by Roy Nissany driving for the DAMS racing team. That record was set during the 2021 F2 feature race, supporting the Formula 1 series.
The overall fastest lap for an F2 car around the Yas Marina circuit is 1:35.077 set by Oscar Piastri driving for the Prema Racing team. Piastri, now an F1 driver with McLaren, set that lap in qualifying for the 2021 F2 race to put him on pole position.
These lap times show the F2 cars are around 11 seconds a slower than the F1 cars at the Abu Dhabi circuit.
“Oscar Piastri” by Joachim Hofmann is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
GT3 Yas Marina Lap Record
Each year the Yas Marina circuit hosts the Gulf 12 Hours, an endurance race for GT3 class cars. This race is also featured as part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge so often sees packed grids featuring the best GT drivers in the world.
The GT3 lap record at Yas Marina circuit is 1:52.045 set by Casper Stevenson driving a Mercedes AMG GT3 during the January 2022 Gulf 12 Hours race.
The overall fastest GT3 lap time at Yas Marina is 1:51.170 set by David Fumanelli driving a Ferrari 488 GT during qualifying for the same race.
