The Abu Dhabi GP isn’t going to be decisive in terms of the driver’s or the constructor’s championship, but it promises to be a memorable one, as multiple drivers would be moving on post the grand prix.
While Ricciardo and Raikkonen will be moving on from their respective teams, Fernando Alonso will be moving on from the sport altogether, after having announced that he is looking for new challenges in life.
Alonso and McLaren have endured a painful season with respect to reliability and performance.
Alonso has often voiced his concern over the team radio, as McLaren have been nowhere close to where they should be on that constructor’s table.
When Alonso had secured P5 in Australia, it seemed as if the switch from Honda to Renault could actually bring about a resurgence in McLaren’s fortunes, after years of frustration with Honda.
However, as and when the season unfolded, Alonso and McLaren were not able to really compete and fell off the radar.
But McLaren wants to give the Spaniard a good send off and preparations are in full swing with respect to Alonso’s final race in F1(for the time being).
McLaren have revealed a new livery for Alonso’s last race, one that is in fact inspired by Alonso itself.
Introducing our special livery for @alo_oficial‘s final @F1 race at the #AbuDhabiGP. #GraciasFernando
See more ➡️ https://t.co/yAB13QvioV pic.twitter.com/XQMqbzyn05
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) November 21, 2018
Zak Brown spoke about the special livery and how it will give Fernando fans something more to look forward to this emotional weekend.
“We’re incredibly pleased and proud to be able to race a special one-off livery for Fernando in Abu Dhabi this weekend. We want his last grand prix to feel special in every way, and this was just one of the ways we could reflect that.
“We worked closely and collaboratively with Fernando, and then with the FIA and Formula 1 to make the change for this one race, and they were all hugely supportive of the move.
“Hopefully, this will give Fernando’s fans a little something extra to look forward to at what is bound to be an especially emotional weekend.” Zak Brown said.
Fernando Alonso reveals why he's fallen out of love with F1https://t.co/aDdkTFxSE4 pic.twitter.com/0jhCojLFZo
— Mirror Sport (@MirrorSport) November 21, 2018
More than 82.000km racing. More than 300.000km on a F1 car. #f1 #life #totaldedication https://t.co/mc3YFXvv5F
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) November 21, 2018
Nice one-off livery for @alo_oficial’s fairwell race, shame these liveries don’t feature more often (Yea, yea, I know they’re not supposed to have different liveries for each driver a la the BAR debacle). @timholmesdesign has done some crackers down the years. pic.twitter.com/gKDN3uYxEo
— Matthew Somerfield Ⓕ① (@SomersF1) November 21, 2018
My two dreams back in the 80s . First Go Kart. #f1 #karting #childdream https://t.co/KTBbeL5aEc
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) November 21, 2018
It's the ultimate "what might have been" career – here we look at three timelines which see @alo_oficial avoid the mistakes which prevented him from capturing the titles and records his talent deserved https://t.co/NUoFSWSkFU
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) November 21, 2018
A very cool special livery from @McLarenF1 to mark @alo_oficial’s final race #F1 #AbuDhabiGP #GraciasFernando pic.twitter.com/s9dOx4DlC4
— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) November 21, 2018
After 17 years and more than 300 races, it could be @alo_oficial's last F1 race on Sunday He's given us a lot over the years… including some superb GIFs!
Here we have a rare example of a GIF you can actually hear. TOMA. pic.twitter.com/dZuFeU6aPP
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 19, 2018
