The season has been building up to this for a long time, the final battle between teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg as they go head to head for the 2014 Formula One World Championship. The Mercedes team have had their title wrapped up for several races, and they know that one of their drivers will take top honours by the time the weekend is over - but which will it be? Abu Dhabi probably isn't the first choice for a championship showdown that most fans would select but it'll have to do as F1 enters the final round of the 2014 season.

Event schedule

With Hamilton 17 points ahead of Rosberg, he's got the advantage going into the final race but anything can happen. And with double points, the scope of that anything expands even further. There are plenty of drivers who would want to get in the mix if anything occurs up front to present them with an opportunity, but in reality, all eyes are on those two.

Caterham have managed to get themselves together and return for the final race of the year, although it seems unlikely they can make any headway on Marussia or Sauber in the championship this year. In the driver's fight, the battle for fourth place is a close one, with fourth down to sixth split by just three points.

It's also worth keeping an eye on the drivers who still have something to prove. Lotus have sealed their driver lineup for next year, but McLaren have said they won't announce anything until December. Are they still looking or are they just raising the anticipation?

Support racing for this event includes GP2 and GP3.

Expected conditions

Yas Marina island always tends to offer up some of the most incredibly consistent weather conditions in the world - not necessarily a good or a bad thing, but a string of sunshine, always near 30 degrees, clear skies and humidity at 55% or thereabouts. It's unlikely to rain, although temperatures could start dropping towards the end of the race as it heads towards twilight.

Track information

Yas Marina is another anti-clockwise track which does provide a challenge for the drivers, along with the changing light conditions that a sinking sun creates. The lap starts on the smallest of three straights, with the first corner a difficult left hander that is deceptively fast. The pit lane exit goes underneath this section of track which has caused some safety concerns. The exit tunnels under the existing tarmac, which hasn’t yet created a problem, but there is always the spectre of a crash in the underpass causing some serious difficulties.

The track continues uphill, getting faster with a sequence of flowing corners to the left and right, until things slow down for the hairpin. The long back straight follows, with a hard braking corner at the end of it. The third sector features a slow chicane, and the section of track that dips under the hotel bridge, through some technical and challenging corners, and then back onto the straight/finish straight.

Circuit history

Qualifying is crucial around Yas Marina, but pole position hasn’t always been fair to the drivers. Three of the five polesitters have gone on to retire from the race. In 2009, Hamilton retired with a brake issue, and he suffered a fuel pressure problem in 2012. In 2011, Vettel had pole position but lost it in the first corner after developing a puncture.

Of the five races that have been held in Abu Dhabi, three of them have been won by Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull. The other two were a win for Lewis Hamilton in 2011, and for Kimi Räikkönen in the Lotus in 2012.

Kimi’s victory was his first since he made an F1 comeback, and it was the first for the Lotus/Renault team since Fernando Alonso drove for them in 2008.

Tyre compounds

Pirelli are bringing the two softest compounds to the track this year, opting for the softs (yellow sidewalls) and supersofts (red sidewalls) to deal with the relatively smooth and street circuit nature of the Yas Marina track.

The strategy is normally greatly affected by the unusual track evolution, due to the falling temperatures caused by the late afternoon start. This was the case in Bahrain as well, which turned out to be one of the most exciting and unpredictable races of the season earlier this year.

- Paul Hembery

Press conference schedule

Official press conferences are organised by the FIA and happen four times during the weekend. The qualifying and post race press conferences will take place after the television unilateral interviews.

Race stewards

The FIA stewarding process includes a former F1 driver to offer added insight. These stewards are overseeing the weekend's action.