Family came first for Webbah in Abu Dhabi. His first championship might have to wait.
Webbah missed the race for a last-minute dinner, leaving Kat with the opportunity she had spent three rounds creating. She took it: victory from third on the grid by 5.985 seconds, her second win in a row and third of the D2 season. A two-point deficit became a 28-point lead. Webbah's absence may yet prove to have decided the championship.
Walter finished second and moved five points ahead of Webbah himself. TheMDog followed 0.856 seconds later, adding fastest lap to pole and giving Ferrari a double podium that leaves both D2 championships pointed firmly in its direction.
| Pos. | Driver | Grid | Gap | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaтю́shа Snowstorm | 3 | Winner | 30 |
| 2 | Walter9500 | 2 | +5.985 | 23 |
| 3 | TheMDog | 1 | +6.841 | 21 |
| 4 | ForestalWaif1 | 4 | +12.761 | 15 |
| 5 | Lord DabFoot | 5 | +16.816 | 13 |
| 6 | Trident65 | 11 | +25.058 | 11 |
Kat leaves her best track with the championship in hand
Kat called Abu Dhabi her best circuit after the race, and her description of the win was strikingly calm.
Abu is my best track, nvr had to push just constant tyre saving
— Kaтю́shа SnowstormAsked how much energy she had available on the main straight, Kat said her battery had never fallen below 80 per cent and had stayed at 100 throughout the hard-tyre stint. The margin agrees with the confidence: Walter and TheMDog were separated by less than a second, but neither got within five seconds of the winner.
Abu Dhabi completes a title reversal that began long before Webbah's absence. Six rounds ago Kat was 14 points behind him, with Walter only two off the lead. Webbah still led after Japan, but Kat's Monza win reduced the deficit to two. Another 30-point afternoon has carried her past both rivals.
Six rounds that overturned D2
Cumulative D2 drivers' championship points from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
175 pts
152 pts
147 pts- AustraliaTwo cover the topWebbah led Walter 78–76; Kat was 14 points back.
- JapanWebbah plus 29His 144 points after Japan put Kat's 115 in the distance.
- MonzaKat closes to twoA 30-point Monza cut Webbah's advantage to 147–145.
- Abu DhabiKat leads by 23Kat reaches 175; Walter is nearest on 152 and Webbah stays on 147.
Walter's second place keeps this from becoming a two-driver conclusion. He reaches Brazil on 152 points, 23 behind Kat, while Webbah has 147. All three remain in contention; nine points in the finale will guarantee Kat the title on countback even if Walter takes the maximum 32.
Ferrari turn a 20-point cushion into 53
Walter could not match Kat's pace, but second place was enough to move him ahead of Webbah and keep his own title chance alive. TheMDog's contribution was just as valuable to Ferrari: pole, fastest lap and third place took the team's Abu Dhabi return to 44 points.
Williams scored 11. Trident supplied all of them after stepping in as a reserve and climbing from 11th to sixth; OnlineGuy99 retired from seventh on the grid.
Before the session, Trident had joked that he would keep the back of the grid warm. His reaction at the finish was rather different: I can't believe P6. It was the kind of substitute drive Williams needed, but not enough to contain Ferrari.
Ferrari rebuild the gap before Brazil
Cumulative D2 constructors' championship points from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
- QatarWilliams within eightQatar closed Ferrari's advantage to 205–197.
- BakuFerrari answerA 51-point Baku stretched the lead back to 41.
- MonzaGap down to 20Williams arrived in Abu Dhabi within one strong round of Ferrari.
- Abu DhabiFerrari plus 53Ferrari's 44 points against Williams' 11 transformed the finale equation.
Only 55 points remain available to a constructor in Brazil. Ferrari need three to make the title mathematically safe; Williams need something close to a perfect one-two and still require Ferrari to score almost nothing.
Wadz waits for a Safety Car that never arrives
Forestal held fourth from start to finish, with Lord DabFoot doing the same in fifth. Behind Trident, CONNOROCE, Martim, jazzy-draught9 and Jan completed the top ten.
Wadz had qualified sixth but finished 11th after underfuelling in the expectation of a Safety Car and reporting a late puncture. No fuel, no tyre, only vibes, was his summary. Two points were a lean return from another afternoon that he felt had promised far more.
Brazil now carries a title fight that looks nothing like the one Webbah seemed to control after Japan. Family came first in Abu Dhabi; next Sunday, his own conclusion is that only a win will do. That is true as far as his side of the equation goes. The harder fact is that nine points will make everything else irrelevant for Kat.
