Abu Dhabi Preview- Hamilton and Rosberg do battle

Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is the final race in what has been a breathless season.

Noise complaints, engine rows, financial disasters and team-mate scraps have made 2014 truly memorable, and there is still a championship to decide.

Lewis Hamilton has a 17 point lead over Nico Rosberg, and the two will fight it out one last time to decide who will be the 2014 champion. It will be close and it will be tense, just as 2014 has always been.

It should be simple for Hamilton- but it probably won’t be

All Lewis Hamilton has to do is finish second. If he follows his team-mate and title challenger, Nico Rosberg, around the Yas Marina circuit, its job done. But history has a nasty knack of creating far more excitement then there should be at season-ending races.

Lewis Hamilton

Make no mistake, this could turn into the classic race that this championship deserves. Pressure does strange things.

Drivers and mechanics make mistakes, cars break down, tyres go pop and there is always an over eager back marker ready to trip you up.

This title is not a foregone conclusion, even if Hamilton has dominated proceedings since September.

Rosberg is resilient and perseveres; he won’t give up without an almighty fight and a few prayers that something goes wrong with the delicate sister car.

The German has the easiest job of the weekend, he has to win. Stick it on pole tomorrow and he’s more than half-way there.

Realistically, reliability is the only thing that can stop Hamilton. His car is too quick for Red Bull and Williams to interfere with as FP1 has shown. But car failures in Australia, Canada, Germany and Hungary still haunt him. Mercedes have built a brilliant, yet fragile car.

The Englishman will still have nightmares about the season-ending race in Brazil in 2007, where he needed to finish fifth to win the title in his first year. A gear-box problem gave the championship to Kimi Raikkonen. Things can go wrong in the season-ending race, so don’t rule it out here.

Button should get the send off he deserves

Jenson Button

McLaren are doing a disservice to Jenson Button by not taking a leaf out of Ferrari’s book and announcing their driver line-up.

McLaren said they will announce it all in December, and Kevin Magnussen is expected to be Fernando Alonso’s partner.

If the media know, and they believe they do, then what is McLaren gaining by not telling us all now?

If they did confirm the sports worst kept secret then we could celebrate the brilliant career of Button, who has said he is unlikely to sign for anyone else in F1.

Button is a world champion, a winner of 15 grand prix, a veteran of over 200 races. He is not a driver who should disappear in the off-season. He should be celebrated as a modern great, not cast aside as a disappointing rookie. Unless McLaren are re-considering their expected decision they should tell him and us so we can do what is right.

The Track

Abu Dhabi start finish line on the Yas Marina circuit

Sadly, the Yas Marina circuit is not designed to provide a thriller.

Unlike former end of season hosts, Brazil and Japan, Abu Dhabi is largely lifeless and unchallenging.

Long straights are punctured by sharp turns while it also lacks any real flow. For Hamilton it’s the perfect place to wrap up a title.

Track Information

Race start- 2pm (CET) 1pm (GMT).

Track Length- 5.554 KM.

Laps- 55.

Tyres- Soft (Yellow) and Super-soft (White).

Lap Record- Sebastian Vettel (2009) 1:40.279.

Prediction

Lewis Hamilton F1 Champion 2008

It would be mad to suggest that Lewis Hamilton won’t leave Abu Dhabi as a double world champion. But it would be equally as mad to say it will be simple and easy.

Rosberg will be the favourite to take pole and win the race, so it’s down to the Englishman to come second.

In a season where mistakes have been rare, Rosberg will prey something goes wrong. I expect it too, but I also expect Hamilton to put it right in the end.

Williams and Felipe Massa are doing well, they should complete the podium.

1. Rosberg
2. Hamilton
3. Massa

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