News ahead of this weekend's F1 race in Abu Dhabi 2014

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) was quicker in both sessions yesterday during Abu Dhabi practice. Hamilton beat his team mate and championship rival Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) by 0.133 seconds in the first and 0.083 seconds in the second practice. Hamilton leads by 17 points and needs to finish second in Sunday’s race to take the 2014 championship. However a competitive team mate and pressure from Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) might take away his World Championship. These two drivers certainly make this season worth watching, the rivalry is top class so expect a truly amazing race.

What to look out for this weekend besides Lewis Hamilton’s fight for another World Championship; it will be interesting to see Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) race with Ferrari for the last time, Alonso is looking to secure a contract with McLaren.

Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) and Alonso will be fighting for 4th/5th place in the Championship as Vettel is ahead by only two points. Daniel Ricciardo is set to take 3rd place in the World Championship, a great end to the Championship for the Australian.

Next season will see the introduction of a new driver for Toro Rosso, Max Verstappen from the Netherlands, at 17 years of age he’s just of legal age to drive on UK roads yet expect to see him whizzing around on tracks all across the world at speeds of up to 260MPH. So what makes a young driver climb into a F1 car at the age of 17?

Some of the veteran F1 followers might recognise the name Verstrappen and rightly so, his father is Jos Verstrappen former team mate of seven time world champion Michael Shumacher.

His boss Helmut Marko seems to really believe in the youngster, claiming Verstrappen is similar to that of F1 legend Ayrton Senna.
However I highly doubt Verstrappen will even be seen on any podiums in his first couple of seasons. Unlike Vettel or Hamilton who, as soon as they stepped out into the field, became the youngest drivers to ever lead the world championships. I think Helmut Marko is just trying to justify signing on a teenager who’s just starting adult life.

Qualifying started at 13:00 GMT on 22 November
Race starts 13:00 GMT 23 November

An overall report on the race and the World Championship will follow after the race.