OSPF areas with two ABRs

Question

With the following hypothetical network (each link between routers is /31 and configured as OSPF point to point)

Do R1 and R2 need to be neighbors inside area 1 considering their interfaces are all in different subnets

Answer 1

As you've drawn the network, R1 and R2 don't need to be neighbors in either area. The only reason they might need to be neighbors is for redundancy in case one ASBR fails. But since the routers in area 1 are connected to both ASBRs, this isn't a problem.