After eight months and 18 races that have seen two childhood friends battle it out for the greatest prize in motorsport, the season finale in Abu Dhabi will take place this weekend with Formula 1's driver's world championship still to be decided.
Britain's Lewis Hamilton is on the verge of his second world title, six years after his first, with a 17-point lead over Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Hence, it is Hamilton’s race to lose!
Formula 1 heads to the desert for the season finale with Abu Dhabi's spectacular multi-million pound venue playing host and nice warm and bright weather awaits the teams. Built on a man-made island, Yas Marina's 5.554 km track features three distinct elements - fast and flowing turns followed by two long straights and finishing with a tight and twisty section. It is a twilight race too, so the grand prix starts in daylight and finishes in darkness under the floodlights.
Unless he cracks under pressure, with a 17 point lead, Lewis Hamilton surely has one hand on the world title. However, with controversial double points on offer in Abu Dhabi, Nico Rosberg can certainly disturb Hamilton’s apple cart. Though Rosberg can’t win it, but Hamilton can lose it. What it means is, that even if Rosberg wins the race, it does not guarantee him the championship, because even if Hamilton comes second, he will win the championship. For Rosberg to win he should finish first and hope Hamilton finishes third or lower.
There are two different battles going on in Abu Dhabi. One is for this year's world title and the other is for supremacy in the Mercedes team going into next year. If a driver can mentally have his team-mate under his thumb after one season, it takes a lot for him to build back up before he gets another chance to get that momentum going back the other way. If Hamilton loses the title, he will have the consolation that he won more races than Rosberg this year, but he won't have the world championship.
So, on 23rd Nov, it will be battle between two Mercedes drivers, and things can certainly go down to the wire, with Lewis Hamilton having a slight edge over Rosberg. However, one thing is for sure, winner will be Mercedes, as Hamilton and Rosberg have already secured the constructors' championship for Mercedes and they will finish with 11 one-two finishes, 15 wins and 30 Podiums in a season which is quite an achievement!
