Title outcome still unknown says Webber

Alonso would take the title if the race finishes in grid order on Sunday - which means the man under pressure to move up the order is Webber, who could manage no better than fifth in qualifying following a disappointing session.

Yet despite the challenge he faces, the Australian remains bullish about his title prospects - and thinks there are still so many possibilities open for all the four title contenders in the final event of the season.

"The script is impossible to predict," said Webber who needs to outscore Alonso by nine points tomorrow to stand a chance of winning the championship. "Let's have a look at the end, and the world champion - one second after the race they will give it to him, whoever he is."

Webber admitted that he had simply not been quick enough in qualifying at the Yas Marina, with his Red Bull Racing team electing to take just one longer run on option tyres as opposed to two efforts.

"I did not expect to be fifth, I expected to be further up. But that is what happened," he explained. "The stop watch starts at the beginning of the session, it ends at the end of the session and that is where I am. Of course I am not rapt with the qualifying today. Q1 and Q2 and P3 all looked okay, it was the crucial session that did not come together for us, which is a shame for us."

He added: "In the end, if I was on pole, I am still not world champion. Tomorrow is the day when they are going to hand out what happens so I am still perfectly positioned to capitalise on any misfortune or someone has big tyre degradation, pit stops, safety cars - I can get amongst anything there still. So let's see how it goes. At the moment of course I am still disappointed but that is human nature."

Webber also denied that his recent form - which has seen him outraced by Vettel since the Italian Grand Prix - was the result of a lack of confidence in the car.

"I think people forget that I was six hundredths off winning Suzuka qualifying," he said. "Brazil was very close and every time Sebastian has won a race I have been two seconds behind him. We live by the sword and it is not like he is 25 seconds down the road and I've forgotten how to drive.

"Obviously I would love to have had some victories of late, but I have done everything I can do get those. In the end, I haven't got them because I haven't deserved them. It is as simple as that.

"We won in Budapest with quite a nice drive, we won at Silverstone so not a bad drive. I could be sitting here with no victories, like Felipe [Massa] but I have a few. So it is not too bad."