2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Race day at Yas Marina

Lewis Hamilton leads the pack through the opening series of curves and onto the 1.2 km back straight.

The formation lap begins at Yas Marina. All 20 drivers peel away without problem with Hamilton leading them round.

The harder tyres are the choice of the field for the start.

The engines begin to fire with a minute to go before the formation lap.

The safety car roars around the circuit, moving in to position for the start.

The sun is beginning to set in the distance. The early laps of the race will prove difficult for the drivers as they fight to see as day turns into night.

The teams are fitting their final choice of tyres to the cars. Both compounds have proven durable here, although the harder tyre did deliver better speed in qualifying.

There are five minutes to go until the formation lap begins at the Yas Marina.

The drivers are getting prepared to get into their cars for a hot final race of the season.

As the sun begins to set overhead, the track temperature has dropped to 34 Celsius with a 30 degree ambient.

An Etihad Airways Airbus A340 is now performing a flypast directly above the Yas Marina circuit with 11 minutes to go before the formation lap.

The United Arab Emirates national anthem rings out over the Yas Marina for the first time in Formula 1 history.

In sad news, Donington Park owner Tom Wheatcroft has died at the age of 87 after a long illness.

Donington owner Tom Wheatcroft dies

Romain Grosjean arrives on the grid quite late after taking several trips through the pitlane.

Photographers surround Jenson Button as he prepares for his first race with the championship pressure off.

Romain Grosjean is on track in the Renault, making his way round to the grid. He starts from 19th this evening and looking for a good finish.

Lewis Hamilton rolls up to the back of the grid in the polesitting McLaren and is pushed towards the pole slot by his mechanics.

World champion Jenson Button launches out of the Brawn pitbox and out for a lap to the grid.

Nick Heidfeld is the first man out of the pits, taking his BMW Sauber to the grid for the final time.

The pitlane is now open for the cars to head around to the grid.

Awards 2008

This may be the final race of the Formula 1 season, but it is not the end of the fun here on AUTOSPORT Live.

On Sunday December 6th, the great and the good of British and world motor racing will gather together for a special evening for the 2009 AUTOSPORT Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel in central London, celebrating the outstanding achievements and moments of the year.

Join us for a great evening of exclusive live coverage as the Awards are presented and the McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award winner is announced.

Barrichello vs Vettel

There are still a few battles to be resolved in both the drivers' and constructors' championships, entering this final round of the year.

• Second place is up for grabs in the drivers' standings. Sebastian Vettel currently holds a two-point advantage over Rubens Barrichello. The Brazilian will be looking to cap a wonderful season for Brawn by securing a one-two in the title race, but Vettel has the pace and the fuel load to clinch the runner-up spot.

• Lewis Hamilton looks set to take fifth in the table as his private battle with Kimi Raikkonen comes to an end, at least for this season. Lewis has a slender one point lead over the Finn and he starts the race from pole while Raikkonen is way down on the grid in 11th place.

• The Hamilton versus Raikkonen battle is mirrored in the constructors' championship. McLaren hold a one point lead over the Scuderia going into today's race and the Woking-based team is likely to maintain that position if the polesitter finishes the race in the top six.

• The final battle of interest is between Williams and BMW Sauber as they scrap over sixth. Williams has a two-and-a-half point buffer over the German marque, but Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica start in front of the Williams drivers today.

The pitlane opens in 15 minutes' time, allowing the drivers out on to the track for the first time today as they bring their machines around to the grid.

Grip levels will need to be established, team radio links checked, a feel for the general car set-up established and of course, making sure that the car is running well are all jobs on the drivers' list, in just one single lap to the grid.

Fuel

Lewis Hamilton has been on scintillating form all weekend at Yas Marina and the outgoing world champion left them all in his wake in qualifying yesterday with a sensational performance.

The fuel weights show Hamilton's closest challenger, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, has a couple of laps more fuel but - even correcting for that weight difference - Hamilton was still around half a second quicker.

With KERS both helping his launch and in defence of any overtaking moves developing on the straights, this is clearly Hamilton's race to lose as the circuit layout plays to the strengths of the 2009 McLaren.

Behind Hamilton, unless Vettel can make a move for the lead off the start, a fascinating scrap between the Red Bull and Brawn drivers is in prospect, with the former having both weight and grid position advantage over the championship winners.

The BMW pair, at the team's final race, are looking to score a few points to demote Williams in the constructors' series, but Kubica's relatively light strategy means he in particular will need to be wary of the one-stop threat from outside the top 10.

Those missing the Q3 cut have universally opted for a single stop, with the tyres proving durable on this perfectly smooth new surface. Some may opt to convert onto a two stop plan, with a short middle stint before a final splash of fuel and run to the flag.

However, the unusual tyre durability means most are likely to stay on one stop as refuelling plays its final part in a grand prix for the foreseeable future. Those at the front of the one-stop pack, such as Raikkonen, Kobayashi and Nakajima will certainly get in the mix with the slower of the two-stop runners in a scrap over the final points.

The following shows the weight of each car, fuelled for the first stint of today's grand prix: Pos Driver Weight (kg) 1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 658.5 2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 663.0 3. Webber Red Bull-Renault 660.0 4. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 655.0 5. Button Brawn-Mercedes 657.0 6. Trulli Toyota 661.0 7. Kubica BMW-Sauber 654.5 8. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 664.0 9. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 665.0 10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 661.5 11. Raikkonen Ferrari 692.0 12. Kobayashi Toyota 694.3 13. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 704.0 14. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 696.5 15. Alonso Renault 708.3 16. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 695.0 17. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 696.0 18. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 697.0 * 19. Grosjean Renault 710.8 20. Fisichella Ferrari 692.5 * Five-place grid penalty for gearbox change

Drivers photo

The final piece of the pre-race jigsaw has recently been completed, as the drivers took to the circuit for the first time today for the obligatory parade in front of the fans.

With Ferrari World just across the marina, most applause was reserved for Kimi Raikkonen and Giancarlo Fisichella, but both will have to put in supreme performances in order to score points this evening.

Prior to the tour around the circuit on the back of a truck, the drivers were gathered at the start-finish line for the end-of-season photograph. Ironically, Adrian Sutil had to stand right behind Jarno Trulli. We understand that no punches were thrown ...

Jeroen Bleekemolen

Double champion Jeroen Bleekemolen took victory in the final Porsche Supercup race of 2009, despite finishing behind Rene Rast at the flag.

Bleekemolen led throughout, but Rast pushed his rival with increasing vigor as the race wore on in a fascinating battle for supremacy between the dominant pair in the one-make series this year.

Rast tried every possible move, as his rival put up a spirited defence of the lead, before controversially punting Bleekemolen out of his way at Turn 14 on the final lap. Rast took the flag first but stewards soon ruled that the contact was avoidable, handing Bleekemolen his fifth win of the season.

Richard Westbrook took the final podium spot, while Briton Nick Tandy starred once again on his first Supercup weekend, battling with Damien Faulkner and Norbert Siedler before retiring late late in the race while running fourth.

Christian Vietoris

Christian Vietoris scored his first GP2 Asia Series victory in the sprint race at Yas Marina earlier today. The young German surged into the lead off the start as front row men Johnny Cecotto and Oliver Turvey slipped back.

Josef Kral hounded Vietoris for a time before the safety car intervened after Fabio Leimer slewed out of control into Will Bratt, eliminating both cars.

The man on the move was Satuday winner Davide Valsecchi, who started eighth on the reverse grid but quickly surged forwards. After the restart, he soon dispatched Alexander Rossi with a bold move to take third under braking at the end of the second long straight. Valsecchi wasn't finished there and soon closed on Kral, taking second with a repeat of his favourite move into Turn 11 on the last lap.

Turvey completed a late move to take fourth, demoting Rossi to fifth, ahead of Cecotto in sixth.

Abu Dhabi

Motor racing enthusiasts love to debate and discuss the action on track, and the live forum at the bottom of the screen is your chance to let everyone know your thoughts on events as they unfold at the circuit.

• Can Lewis Hamilton do what everyone expects and win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to end the season on a positive note?

• Will the narrow pitlane exit through the tunnel cause problems during the race? There hasn't been a single incident at this spot so far this weekend.

• The final question of the season is a simple one. Have you enjoyed the 2009 Formula 1 campaign?

Tell the world what you think.

Click the SHOW LIVE FORUM link in the red bar at the bottom of your browser window if you'd like to join the debate.

The 'scorchio!' weather weekend continues at Abu Dhabi and we are set for a dry and warm final race of the season.

The weather has thrown up a lot of interest in 2009. Malaysia had the late start and race-ending thunderstorms. We had origami boats floating down the pitlane in Suzuka and of course the disrupted Saturday at Interlagos two weeks ago as no less than five thunderstorms hit the circuit in one day.

There will be none of that here at Abu Dhabi, where it hasn't rained for at least six months!

Temperatures earlier this afternoon peaked at 35 degrees Celsius but, as the sun sets and day turns to night, we can expect the air temperature to drop towards 30 Celsius by the end of the 55-lap race.

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton blew the competition away yesterday with a special lap in qualifying to claim his fourth pole of the season by over six-tenths of a second.

The Brawn pair of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello had looked set to challenge, following strong hard tyre runs in final practice, but instead Brawn faltered and it was Red Bull that that established itself as Hamilton's main threat for pole.

Further down the order, Force India ended the year as it started, with both drivers failing to make it through the first knockout segment - a disappointing to end to what has been a positive season for the Silverstone-based outfit.

Behind the flying Hamilton, Jaime Alguersuari produced a great performance to make it through the tricky first period despite having missed the whole of final practice with a hydraulics failure. Team-mate Sebastien Buemi made it through to Q3 and starts 10th.

So Lewis blazed to pole with a 1m40.948s lap, with Vettel second and Webber third. Rubens Barrichello got the better of team-mate Jenson Button to take fourth, with Jarno Trulli sixth in what is likely to be his final race for Toyota. Heikki Kovalainen ground to a halt with gearbox gremlins and will start 18th following a penalty for changing the unit.

Hamilton flies to Abu Dhabi pole

null

Hello everyone and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for the final round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship - the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The final chapter of a pulsating 2009 campaign takes place at the specially built, man-made island at Yas Marina - and what a facility they have built on the shores of the Gulf.

It's a 5.554 km circuit with almost every type of corner, a pitlane exit that winds its way through a tunnel and features the longest straight on the calendar at 1248m.

The race itself starts at 13:00 GMT, but before then we will review Saturday's action at the circuit in case you missed it, take a look at the remaining battles in the drivers' and constructors' championship, as well as looking at the weather forecast. We'll also analyse the fuel weights and what they may mean for the first stint of the race.