F1 Tickets

Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA

1st Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1h34m03.414s; 2nd Mark Webber (Red Bull), 1h34m21.271s; 3rd Jenson Button (Brawn), 1h34m21.881s.

Q: Sebastian, you took the fight to Lewis Hamilton in the early stages. You managed to get ahead of him. It was another powerful performance today.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it was. A fantastic race. First of all the start and we had a very good launch. Obviously not good enough to out-accelerate Lewis, but I was very close. I was surprised. Then going on the long back straight he pushed a button and that’s it, he disappeared in the distance. But I was able to stay close enough. We knew that we were a little bit heavier, so the key was to catch up, especially the last sector where the car was a dream today. I was always catching him up quite a lot and I think that was the secret, to stay with him, then with the pit stops and a lot of pressure entering the pit lane, I nearly went a bit wide at the entrance. Then that scary exit through the tunnel but on the limit and enough to get past him. Unfortunately, he then had to retire but up to that point it was a fantastic race. After that I had a little bit of a cushion to Mark and Jenson behind and I was able to pace myself a bit but until the end the car was fantastic and was working brilliantly on both tyres, both compounds. I think the prime was the favoured tyre today but also on the option towards the end it was a pleasure this evening to sit in the car. To sum up the season, it is up and down. I think the second half we have been very strong with four one-two finishes for Red Bull Racing, so congratulations to the team. They have been pushing, working a lot back in the factory, and we can see that the car is getting quicker. It is a shame now that the season ends but it is a perfect day to finish the season on a high.

Q: Mark, fantastic fight with Jenson in the closing stages. Tell us all about it.
Mark Webber: Well, first of all from the start I made a pretty good launch and had a bit of a look on the outside of Seb but the main game was really trying to get back on the inside and getting a clean exit as I knew it was a long run down to turn five. I got hit quite hard in the left rear at the first corner and was worried about a puncture but the team kept telling me the tyre had enough pressure, so I was quite relieved I didn’t have a puncture. It looked like Lewis was struggling a little bit in the first few laps, so both of us were able to sit a little bit closer than we expected. Then it started to stabilise and I was pretty happy on the primes. Seb was just that little bit quicker today on both stints, all three stints, especially the last one. I had not much of a feeling on the option and it was the same for me on Friday. I was quite slow on that tyre, so I preferred the stability of the prime. I thought at the end we had a bit of a short fuel, so fortunately JB could do some good laps on the overlap and close the gap down on me. I thought ‘yeah, this is going to be quite tight at the end.’ I just had to make sure I was accurate with my braking points. We know he had a slight top speed advantage but not much and it is a credit to how he has driven all year. We had a good clean fight, on the limit, but I just want to congratulate the team for their patience with me at the start of the year coming back from what happened. It has been very enjoyable driving with Sebastian this year. Renault have given us a fantastic engine and overall Red Bull can be incredibly proud for what they achieved. We have had 16 podiums together, so it is good.

Q: Jenson, that battle from your perspective and also a battle again with Kamui Kobayashi.
Jenson Button: It was a fun race. For me the prime tyre was not my favourite tyre in the race and I had a lot of understeer in the car. But when Kobayashi was on a one-stopper I came out and the first big stop is turn eight and when you have got that much fuel on board it is always very difficult to judge the braking point. I slightly outbraked myself and locked the rears and the fronts and ran a bit wide and he got past. In reality it didn’t make a difference to my race as he was quicker than me at that point. Then I was struggling a little bit with the prime tyre but I tried to make the best out of it. After the second stop I found I had very good grip with the option tyre. I got back the front issues I had with the prime and had very good initial turn in which meant I could carry a lot of speed through. That’s why I was able to close down Mark. The last couple of laps were a lot of fun. I couldn’t make the move stick. I was very excited by the battle and I thought I could pull it off but Mark is always a very difficult person to overtake. We were clean but on the edge, so it was perfect. Disappointed not to get that second place but I really enjoyed the fight today and today for me has been a bonus after winning the championship in Brazil. I have really enjoyed driving this weekend a car that has been very competitive, so I need to thank everyone at Brawn and Mercedes Benz for all their hard work. After Brazil it would have been easy to say ‘right, let’s just enjoy ourselves and not concentrate on Abu Dhabi’ but we did and we have come away with a podium which is a nice way to end the year and everyone should be very proud of themselves for what we have achieved. But lastly I would like to say congratulations to Seb. He did a sterling job today. They had the legs on us and we just couldn’t challenge them which is a pity but all round I think the first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was a good one and I am looking forward to coming back.

Q: Sebastian, Red Bull has won the last three races of the season, so let’s look forward a little bit. What does that say about where you are going to be going into next season.
SV: It would be very good to continue like that. Now we will face a long winter, especially for all of us drivers, a long break without any testing. Back in England, back in the factory, the guys are pushing very hard. The cars do not change that much next year. The biggest change is that you are not allowed to refuel. But we will see. It is a bit unknown. I think this season was very special. I remember a couple of years back these two were driving and I was watching and it was pretty much set after the first couple of races who was going to win each race. Fair enough there were only two teams. This year it was totally different, very exciting and a lot of overtaking. Different teams on top, so I think a special season all around and hopefully the next one will be as exciting as this one, even a bit more, we will see. Definitely looking forward. I think to sum it up we had a very good season, a lot of positive things, but also some things we probably did wrong. But it is not a shame. We just need to know and understand why that happened and we should come back stronger next year.

Q: Mark, Red Bull a top team. Are you here to stay?
MW: Yes, absolutely. We have got an incredible team back at the factory. We know that we have got under Adrian Newey someone that with him leading these type of regulation changes, particularly with what we had at the start of this year, it was clear as soon as we saw the car that it was going to be a bit of a weapon. Unfortunately in a way Brawn got the start with the double diffuser and things like that but in the end our team responded well with great character and next year there is absolutely no reason whatsoever for us not to be starting at the front again. I would much, much prefer to be in our position than quite a few other teams but we can never get too complacent. This is Formula One and things can change quickly but we are positive about next year, no question about it.

Q: Jenson, no win to round off the season but obviously an upbeat ending for you.
JB: For sure. It is always nice to end on a high but it is the same for everyone out there. It is a very competitive field. It is not just one team at the front. All season it has been up and down for us and for these guys and also for McLaren and the Ferraris. It is a very competitive and challenging season for us all, so for all three of us to be up on the podium at the last race is very enjoyable and it is a great way to round out the year. Now I am going to enjoy myself and celebrate what I have achieved this season.
SV: I hear you are getting married.
JB: Are you proposing?
SV: I heard you will get married.
JB: You know, they write great things in the press. Thank you for that one Seb, but I am going to enjoy this as we often look too far into the future and I want to just enjoy this moment and then I will look to the future after that.

Q: Sebastian, you are the first winner of the first day-night race in Abu Dhabi. Sum up the weekend for you.
SV: Unbelievable. We came here and we tried to prepare as much as possible, looking at the lay-out, doing some laps in the simulator. But driving the first couple of laps it was extremely slippery. It is a new track but it has rubbered in perfectly well. Really enjoyable all race. It is a challenging circuit. Every lap you need to focus and keep up the concentration. It is pretty easy to do a mistake and it can cost a lot of time. There are some corners that are quite tricky and they are made to lead you into mistakes, so you really need to be careful but all in all, starting at day, finishing at night is special. We have a dark tear-off and the moment you rip it off it is like someone has switched on the light, so it is quite unique. All in all a great place. Amazing what they have done here in that short period of time, so winning the race, one-two for Red Bull Racing, I think it cannot be much better.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Sebastian, this gives you an excellent position with second in the championship. What are your feelings about that?
SV: I am very proud. First of all I think there was a misunderstanding in Brazil and didn’t have the chance: so congratulations to Jenson, to Brawn. I think they truly deserve it. Over the season they did the better job. But after Brazil coming here we knew that we had a very, very strong package and the priority for myself was to secure second in the drivers’ championship and we succeeded. To do it with the victory is the best possible result. I am very, very happy. It was a fantastic race. It was a good start but not enough to catch Lewis but good enough to stay close. When we went on the back straight he pushed the button and disappeared. It was quite shocking to see how much it is worth, but we were a little bit heavier but still able to go his pace, stay with him. It is not easy when you follow another car. Even though you are a couple of seconds behind you still feel it is not as if you are on your own in clean air. But that was the key, pushing very hard and then obviously when I had the two overlaps on him it was quite exciting to leave the pits through the tunnel. It was very slippery and on new tyres you have silicon on the surface and it takes a little while. You go through the tunnel and it is very easy to make a mistake. Knowing I am fighting for the lead I knew I had to push. It was enough to get him. Unfortunately he then had to retire. I heard he had a braking problem, but up to that point I enjoyed it very much. It was a nice fight even though it wasn’t wheel-to-wheel but both of us were pushing very hard. After that I had a bit more of a cushion and was able to set my pace according to the pace of the guys behind, so all in all the car was fantastic, both compounds worked surprisingly well. I think the majority favoured the prime, so did we, but even on the option the last stint was great and to win here I am very proud. Starting the race at day time and finishing at night is very special. Great circuit. A great job they did here. Now I think I have said enough.

Q: Mark, tremendous amount of pressure at the end; what was the circuit like to race on, especially as you were having to defend. We also saw you make a little mistake and go off the circuit; how difficult was it to race on?
MW: Well, it was pretty dusty off-line, not massively but a little bit dirty. I got a little bit hot into turn one on one of the laps. Once you get on the Astroturf you just have to open the steering and get behind the kerb. And then at the end, fighting with Jenson, I knew that the two big stops were key to the lap – obviously he wasn’t going to do much anywhere else but Jenson’s form in overtaking this year has been pretty good, so I knew I had to be perfect with my braking points and do the best I could with the last few laps. I turned out to be OK. My last stint clearly wasn’t one of my best this year in terms of I didn’t have a great feeling on the option and that made it a bit more difficult, a few more grey hairs for everyone, but the option was difficult for me on Friday as well, so in the end, second place was as good as I was ever going to get today. Congratulations to Sebastian on the win, he’s had the measure of me in the last sector probably most of the weekend, so I presumed it to be the same again in the race. We did the best job as we could as a team, capitalised on other people’s lack of preparation and we delivered a one-two which is exactly what we came here to achieve. As I said before, I think that’s 16 podiums for the team and that’s something that everyone can be extremely happy about. I’m certainly happy, obviously, off the back of my best season ever. Of course, I would have liked to have had some more points here and there but it could have been a hell of a lot worse for me, so I will take this season, let me tell you.

Q: Jenson, for you, interesting that you mentioned that the option was the better tyre. Do you think that if you did two stints on the option you might have been closer to Red Bull?
JB: Yeah, for sure but we didn’t expect that to be the case. All weekend we’ve been running through our practices thinking that the prime was the better tyre. We’ve been using the prime like the option: for example, saving it for the end of practice two and practice three, so we could get a feel for it for qualifying. It was the best tyre for qualifying but in the race I was really struggling for a balance on the harder tyre. I had a lot of understeer in the car and the colder the circuit temperature got, the more difficult it was for me to get heat into the fronts. So I was suffering with that, especially in the second stint and I don’t know if you could notice, but Rubens was quite close behind me at the start of the second stint, he was sitting right on my tail, but I was able to put a little bit of a gap on him before the second stop, and then when we put the soft tyre on, the car was transformed, it felt great. The lap times were reasonably good and I was able to pull Mark in. The big issue for me on the hard tyres was understeer, so putting the option on… suddenly I had this great front end that I could just carry so much more speed into the corners. I don’t know if you saw on TV, but it was a little bit loose on exit but that’s the way you have to drive the car round here. It was a great race, I really enjoyed it and as I said in the unilateral, this race is a bonus to me, because I got the championship in Brazil, so I came here to enjoy myself and that’s exactly what I did. Qualifying wasn’t perfect but the race was pretty much as good as we could have expected, I think. I had a good tussle with Mark on the last lap, a fair fight but obviously very close and enjoyed it a lot. I didn’t make that move stick but I had a lot of fun. So I’m a little bit disappointed not to be second but I’m on the podium at the last race of the year, a year that’s been exceptional and I’m very happy with what’s happened this season and the way the team has performed. Probably when it’s been toughest, I respect the team for the effort that they’ve put in then, so they should all be very proud of themselves and that’s Brawn GP and Mercedes-Benz for what they’ve achieved. At the moment, I’m just going to enjoy this, this is big and I’m not going to concentrate on next year, I’m going to relax and enjoy this moment.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Sebastian, now that the season is over, do you have any regrets from the previous Grands Prix?
SV: No. We can’t change yesterday, we can change tomorrow. The key now is obviously, looking back, five races where we didn’t finish. Sometimes we should have brought some points back home and we didn’t, so we need to understand why that was and as I say, change tomorrow, obviously learn, learn a lesson and try to come back stronger for next year. Overall, I think the circumstances sometimes weren’t easy to accept. Sometimes that happens, sometimes it’s just not supposed to be. Sometimes little mistakes happen from whoever’s side. I’m not here to blame anyone in particular. Nevertheless, I think it was a very, very strong season. If anything, I think Mark and myself and the whole team got very, very strong towards the end, we have won the last three races as a team. I think we have learned already, but there is still a lot we can improve for the future, and hopefully we will do so and come back stronger next year.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Mark, you struggled on the options at the end; was it because you had a busy out lap where you had overstressed the tyre or what could have been the reason?
MW: Not really. I think the movement of the tyre was the same on Friday for me. I didn’t really feel the tyre that well. It was just not as stable as the prime and I felt that immediately on Friday and I was hoping that it would be a lot better with a rubbered-in circuit but I couldn’t commit. It was half a tenth every corner, one tenth every corner and it adds up to be a lot, compared to the prime. And then, when you’re getting caught you obviously have to really make sure that you’re not making any mistakes to give him even more of a chance to pounce, so I had to then go into a bit more of a conservative mode and make sure that I didn’t give it too easily. He had to make sure he worked for it. That’s what happened in the last 15 laps.

Q: (Anne Giuntini – L’Equipe) To all three of you: considering there is a long break before February, I suppose you won’t be on holiday all the time. What is your working programme?
SV: Jenson’s getting married, we heard. So he’s busy.
MW: And we’re all invited as well.
SV: Yeah, everyone.
JB: Next question.
MW: But Japan’s a long way.
SV: Obviously I have a pretty stressful week, following up, stress and fun at the same time. We are going to Beijing, so I am looking forward to that. I’m trying to kick his (Jenson’s) arse. And after that, some things to do back in Germany, yeah, and at the end of the month we will have a big party back in Milton Keynes, with all the team, so I’m looking forward to that. So November is a bit the time probably to be a bit lazy, but back in December and January obviously trying to focus on next year, on the new car. As I said, we will have time and meetings to discuss and obviously analyse what we can do better in the future and then we put our focus on next season. Obviously it’s a long, long time without any testing, any driving for us, so I reckon I will do some karting, that’s for sure, even though it’s cold.
MW: Yeah, similar to Sebastian. Next week is very busy. I’m going to Austria tomorrow, doing some work over there for Red Bull and then also some stuff for Renault next Thursday, so the next few weeks I’ve got some PR work which we’ve put on the backburner during the season, so a few photo-shoots here and there. Then I’m potentially going to drive the GP3 car, the new category car, do a bit in that, to see how that’s going along. It’s a very exciting championship next year which Christian (Horner) and I are involved in, so I might do a little bit of driving in that, but not much, just to get a little bit of press and a little bit of feeling for how it is. And then I think the third week of November I’m going to open my leg up again and get a bit more metal out, and then that’s the end of that problem, so it will be a few weeks relaxing after that and then I go to Australia for Christmas, a few barbecues on the beach and go to the cricket as well, which is 100,000 Australians at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) which is a big highlight at the Boxing Day test match, so I’ve got a few good things to look forward to and then in January, come back to a European winter which is always a test, but anyway, we will do that and get ready for February.
JB: Wow, that’s a lot.
SV: Wait until you start…
JB: I have got nothing planned this winter. I’m going to the RoC (Race of Champions) tomorrow which takes place Tuesday, Wednesday. If you’re interested, head down to the Bird’s Nest in Beijing. The only thing is that I am going to go and enjoy myself with the team tonight, so we will see how I perform on Tuesday and Wednesday. But I’m looking forward to that, it’s always good fun. And then I’m heading to Japan to spend some time there with my girlfriend and then I will have a few more days off and then sort myself out and start thinking about next year. It’s amazing how early it starts, 2010 comes up on you in a flash. I’ve got to sort myself out and focus on that. I’m looking forward to the new challenge, for sure, but it can wait a couple of weeks. Oh, I’ve got my 30th birthday in January as well. Thirty! Imagine that, Sebastian.
SV: It’s a long way to go.
JB: Trust me, it goes by very quickly.

Q: (Chris Lines – Associated Press) Guys, you sit up there as two representatives of the two most dominant teams this season. If we go back a year ago, it was Ferrari and McLaren and they were nowhere in the early part of this year. How confident are you guys that you will be able to carry this form into next season and not pay a price for going all the way through developing the car?
SV: Well, I think we are a team, we are professional. You might read here and there that other teams stopped developing for this year, looking ahead to next year, but as I said earlier on, I think the regulations aren’t changing too much. Obviously the biggest change is no refuelling but other than that the cars will remain similar, similar shapes. I think the people know what they are doing back in Milton Keynes. Obviously this year was a great chance for us and as Mark said, we were able to build quite a weapon. So I’m very confident. I think we can only get stronger. Obviously it was the first time that we were in that position for us, Mark, myself and the team that we were in that position and I think we handled it quite well. We made some mistakes here and there but that’s what happens. We are not the only ones who made these mistakes and if you are fighting and trying to push and trying to get the last bit out of yourself, out of the team, out of the car, then sometimes you might step over the limit. I think it’s totally natural to go through that progress, so we have definitely learned a lot and the important thing is, as I’ve said before, to do it much better next year.
JB: Ferrari and McLaren are going to be competitive next season. They have the resources, they have the expertise, they have competitive drivers. For sure they are going to be quick. They’ve had a different approach over the last few races. If you look at Ferrari, they’ve said that they’ve had no development which is unusual to hear that, as there’s not much that changes for next season. But it seems that McLaren have thrown everything at the car and have been very competitive over the last couple of races. So going into next year, yeah, they’re going to be quicker compared to the start of this season but I don’t think they’re suddenly going to be stronger than Red Bull and Brawn. I think there’s going to be a big battle at the front which is going to be a new thing for all of us, because having four teams fighting it out at the front, that hasn’t happened – could you just keep… ‘scuse me, I’m just trying to talk – you might want to listen to this.
MW: We’re just talking about your wedding day, mate. We’re just trying to clear our schedules.
JB: But with four teams at the front, eight drivers fighting out for wins, I think that’s exciting, so, yeah.

Q: (Bob McKenzie – The Daily Express) What’s the date for the wedding, Jenson?
JB: It’s my birthday, did you say? By the way, I’m looking forward to my present, thank you very much, Bob. What did you call me before?
BMcK: The World Champion?
JB: That’s the one, thank you. I’m not getting married this year.
SV: Why not? You don’t love her?
MW: Clear up January, clear it up.
JB: I think some things need to be kept private in your life and that’s one of them. Thank you very much.

Heikki Kovalainen is set to receive a five-place grid penalty from the Yas Marina race stewards after McLaren decided his car needed a new gearbox following Saturday’s qualifying. Kovalainen, who had qualified in 13th, will now start Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from 18th.

The Finn had looked strong during practice and the early stages of qualifying, but as he was preparing for his fast laps in Q2 his MP4-24 was struck by transmission problems.

“What a disappointing outcome to my qualifying,” said Kovalainen. “I got stuck in second gear during Q2 and that was it. I already had minor problems with the gearbox yesterday when it jumped out of gear, so it’s frustrating when you have a car you can easily take into Q3.

“But I’m looking at the positives: the balance of my car has been good throughout the entire weekend, and it’s been great to drive on this fantastic circuit. You can absolutely guarantee I’ll be giving it my all in the race tomorrow and I’ll be fighting from the first lap to the very last.”

This season the regulations state that gearboxes must last four race weekends.

The first day/night qualifying session proved a complete success on the dramatic new Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, where Lewis Hamilton’s pace in the McLaren surprised Red Bull duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. This trio seems to have a small but crucial advantage over the Brawn duo of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button.

For the record, the fuel weights were: Hamilton, 658.5 kg; Vettel 663, Webber 660, Barrichello 655, Button 657, Toyota’s Jarno Trulli 661, BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica 654.5, BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld 664, Williams’ Nico Rosberg 665 and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi 661.5.

McLaren
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 40.948s, P1
Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 40.983, P13, will start P18
Hamilton was delighted with the MP4-24, saying it felt the best it had all season. He used KERS for all it was worth, and said things just got better and better as he regained the advantage from the speedy Red Bull duo. Kovalainen’s chances were damned straight away in Q2; he had just set the first fast time when he suffered a gearbox failure. The unit required replacement, leaving him with a grid-place penalty that dropped him from 13th to 18th.

Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 41.615s, P2
Mark Webber, 1m 41.726s, P3
Vettel admitted that he and Webber were surprised by Hamilton’s pace, especially when it transpired that he wasn’t that much lighter on fuel. Both felt they got the best from their RB5s and said the cars were working well. They also thought that McLaren’s KERS was particularly advantageous here.

Brawn GP
Rubens Barrichello, 1m 41.786s, P4
Jenson Button, 1m 41.892s, P5
Barrichello said he was happy with the way his car improved as the temperatures dropped for qualifying. Button was very quick all through practice and Q1 and Q2, but with a fuel load in Q3 he started to get serious vibrations which led to debilitating understeer.

Toyota
Jarno Trulli, 1m 41.897s, P6
Kamui Kobayashi, 40.777s, P12
Trulli felt he got things right in all of the sessions and was happy with sixth, especially as Button only marginally improved on his time. Kobayashi had hoped to make Q3 in his first fully dry Formula One qualifying. In the end he was philosophical to miss out by just a couple of tenths.

BMW Sauber
Robert Kubica, 1m 41.992s, P7
Nick Heidfeld, 1m 42.343s, P8
Kubica rued Friday’s loss of time after his second session engine failure and said that the lower track temperature in qualifying had a deleterious affect on his F1.09’s handling. Heidfeld was quite happy on the greater fuel load and said that his marginal chance of a final improvement might have been frustrated when he came across Webber late in the lap.

Williams
Nico Rosberg, 1m 42.583s, P9
Kazuki Nakajima, 1m 41.148s, P14, will start P13
Rosberg made the top 10 again in his final race for Williams, and felt that ninth was the best he could have expected as his FW31 struggled on the open sections of the circuit. Nakajima didn’t manage to get his last lap together in Q2.

Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, 1m 42.583s, P10
Jaime Alguersuari, 1m 41.689s, P15, will start P14
Buemi admitted that he had hoped for better than 10th after shining all through practice, but said he was happy overall given his fuel load. Alguersuari lost valuable track time when he didn’t run at all in the morning, for reasons the team didn’t divulge, and never managed to catch up.

Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 40.726s, P11
Giancarlo Fisichella, 1m 42.184s, P20
Once again Raikkoinen got the most out of the ageing F60, and Fisichella didn’t, and prospects for regaining third place in the constructors’ championship from McLaren appear weak.

Renault
Fernando Alonso, 1m 41.667, P16, will start P15
Romain Grosjean, 1m 41.950s, P19
Renault struggled throughout practice and qualifying here, and 16th and 19th indicated the depth of the problem.

Force India
Vitantonio Liuzzi 1m 41.701s, P17, will start P16
Adrian Sutil, 1m 41.863s, P18, will start P17
Liuzzi was really happy with his VJM02 on his first run in Q1 and believed he had the pace to get through to Q2. But the second set of soft tyres changed its behaviour for the worst as it lost grip. Sutil also complained of oversteer.

There are a lot of farewells going on in the paddock this weekend. BMW says goodbye to Formula One racing and many drivers are bidding adieu to their respective teams in favour of new cockpits for 2010. One of the most interesting changes will see Fernando Alonso move from Renault to Ferrari. After many seasons together, and two world titles, Alonso is leaving the French team with mixed feelings, despite his relatively poor showing in Abu Dhabi on Saturday…

Q: Did you expect to finish qualifying here in Abu Dhabi at the back end of the grid?
Fernando Alonso: Well, actually somehow yes. We’ve spent most of this season’s qualifying like this, in very difficult conditions. But at the last couple of races, we managed to get through Q1, and even sometimes to get into Q3. Also a few times the conditions have helped us, like in Suzuka where we had the first couple of laps in dry conditions. Or in Brazil, where we had the wet conditions. And we have also had some luck, too. Whereas today, where we have had no surprises and are at a circuit that is new to all of us, we have dropped out in Q1. This is more or less what we expected. Of course it would have been nice with it being the very last race with Renault to get into the position of being able to win a race. In this case this is more like a dream, as we know where we are, and we have not been competitive for the last part of the championship. I know that Romain (Grosjean) and myself are doing the maximum. Also the team knows that I have done 100 percent throughout the last seven years, so this has for sure not changed for the last race.

Q: You’ve now had your last qualifying for Renault. Is it getting emotional for you, the engineers and mechanics?
FA: Of course, the closer you come to the last race the more emotions are involved. Today when we arranged my overall and helmet and went for the last time into qualifying, there are a lot of emotions involved. Also tomorrow I think that this will be the same, when I will be on the grid for the last time with Renault, and do the last interviews there, and then the mechanics leave for the formation lap. That will be a very emotional moment. At the same time it will be a sad and a happy feeling, as I know that this is the last race and I am very relaxed and happy about the past years.

Q: McLaren and Ferrari had a very bad start to this season, and now McLaren has closed the gap, but Ferrari have not. Are you worried about what to expect for next season at your new team?
FA: No, not at all. Both started at the back during this season. I think McLaren started even worst, and now they have possibly the best car on the grid. Here they have been very dominant throughout the weekend, and also in Brazil, where they only had problems during qualifying with the too wet conditions. In the end Hamilton finished on the podium in Brazil. McLaren have pushed with some new developments for this year during the season, and Ferrari did not. If you compare this with last season, we were on the podium in Brazil, and everybody thought that Renault would have a very strong car this year. So the last races do not mean a lot in general. So I think every first race is completely unknown for everybody.

Q: How much will you be involved in the development of the next year’s Ferrari?
FA: Not a lot, as we are only drivers and not engineers, especially for me, as I will not get to drive the car. And this doesn’t give me a lot of chances to give any input up until February 2010, when I’ll get to drive the car for the first time. Up until that point I will try to understand how the team works and prepare for the winter testing as well as I can.

Q: Why do you think the Renault has been so poor this year?
FA: Aerodynamics was the key issue this year, and also for the last couple of years. Especially with the new rules for 2009, the philosophy of the car did not meet the new regulations and has not been good enough to be competitive. But we also have to consider the developments throughout the season. Sometimes when we introduced new parts to the car we were able to be the third fastest car in the field. But then we decided to stop developing the car further this year, and so did Ferrari too, and concentrate more on next year’s car. For sure you are paying back at every race after you make this decision, and now arriving at the last race, with the same car that you had for the last five months, it is just normal that you will end up at the back.

Q: Would developments this year not help you to have a better car next year?
FA: The rules for next year will not change as dramatically as the ones for this year did, but the thinner front tyre and bigger (fuel) tanks will change some things. So we have to prepare the car in a totally different way, with the changed fuel loads, so this did not help us for this year. I am very sure that before the first race of next season we will not know who will have a competitive car. So in this respect I am very happy that my new team stopped developing early and concentrated on next year. Also Renault has stopped and concentrated on next season, so I hope that they will have a quick car for next year, too.

Like Monaco and Singapore, Abu Dhabi drew celebrities and Middle Eastern royalty like a magnet as the dramatic Yas Marina Circuit was adjudged a huge success.

Beyonce returned to Formula One after her appearance in Singapore, and was joined by fellow musical stars Kings of Leon, Aerosmith, the Wailers and Jamiroquai, together with rapper Timbaland. And even US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton paid a visit, as did American basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

England cricketer Freddie Flintoff was a guest at Red Bull, while McLaren’s Ron Dennis made his first appearance at a Grand Prix since Melbourne. Ferrari’s President Luca di Montezemolo and Piero Lardi Ferrari met up with former employee Jean Todt, who made his first official appearance as the new President of the FIA, while Peter Sauber was present as the future of his team remains uncertain, David Richards was having another look at F1 racing, and the entire board of Mercedes-Benz was gathered for key talks about their partnership with McLaren.

Damon Hill, Richard Phillips and Neil England of the British Racing Drivers’ Club were present to discuss the future of the British Grand Prix with Bernie Ecclestone, the former world champion accompanied by son Josh who is currently racing in Duratec Formula Fords as the third generation member of the famed racing family.

Sir Jackie Stewart was back, as were Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa, together with former fellow racers Stefan Johansson, Johnny Herbert, Jacques Villeneuve, Jackie Oliver and Andrea de Adamich.

On the track, iSport’s Davide Valsecchi took an impressive first victory in Saturday’s GP2 race, which opened the GP2 Asia series and inaugurated single-seater racing at the Yas Marina track. The Italian took pole position but lost the lead to Britain’s Sam Bird at the start. He quickly repassed the ART Grand Prix driver, however, and his task was made easier after Ocean Racing Technology’s Fabio Leimer stalled on the formation lap grid and then Scuderia Coloni’s Roldan Rodriguez stalled on the grid.

As Valsecchi pulled away, Luca Filippi (MalyasiQI-Merotus.com) and James Jakes (Super Nova Racing) fought all race over third place. Although he pitted just as a safety car was deployed on lap 12 following a collision between Barwa Addax Team’s Luiz Razia and DAMS’ Christian Vietoris in Turn 12, Filippi managed to stay ahead of Valsecchi at the restart, with Jakes running in third place ahead of Bird, Alexander Rossi in the second Ocean Racing Technology car, Super Nova’s Josef Kral, Arden’s Rodolfo Gonzalez and Vietoris.

Valsecchi was half a second faster than Filippi, however, and after closing the gap the pair of them ran side-by-side through Turns 11, 12 and 13 on the 19th lap before Filippi eventually had to concede in Turn 14. Thereafter, Valsecchi romped to victory which not even a brief second safety car period could jeopardise. Filippi kept Jakes at bay, and they completed the podium as Rossi held on for fourth on his debut ahead of Kral, Vietoris and Trident’s Johnny Cecotto. Bird retired late in the race with brake problems, leaving fellow Briton Oliver Turvey to finish eighth in the second iSport car, and thus take pole for Sunday’s second race.

As the sprint event got underway, however, a slow-starting Turvey was pushed back to fourth with Vietoris seizing the lead from third, ahead of Kral and Rossi. Despite a mid-race safety car, caused by a spin by the Coloni of Will Bratt which in turn collected Ocean’s Fabio Leimer, Vietoris led from start to finish and clinched his maiden GP2 victory.

A charging Valsecchi took second on the last lap from third-placed Kral, while Turvey, Rossi, Cecotto, Piscopo and Filippi made up the top eight. After scoring 19 points over the weekend, Valsecchi now leads the series ahead of Vietoris on nine points.

Once a brake problem slowed McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel had no competition in Sunday evening’s inaugural day/night Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. A brilliant win cemented his second place in the drivers’ world championship behind Brawn GP’s Jenson Button, who enlivened the end of the race with a superb challenge to the second-placed Red Bull of Mark Webber in the closing stages.

Hamilton led from pole and built a lead of 1.4s when he refuelled on the 17th lap. Vettel was able to run until the 20th, and emerged comfortably in the lead. Soon afterwards Hamilton’s challenge ended when McLaren had to withdraw his car after the telemetry revealed a problem with the right rear brake pads which were suffering from excessive wear.

Webber thus moved up to second, with Button at that stage a distant third ahead of Brawn GP team mate Rubens Barrichello. The Brazilian had run ahead of the Englishman on the opening lap but clipped Webber’s left-rear wheel with the right-hand endplate of his front wing, causing understeer. Button overtook, and chased after Webber while, at one stage, unsuccessfully fending off impressive rookie Kamui Kobayashi, until the Toyota driver finally refuelled.

€n the closing stages Button found the softer Bridgestone option tyre cured the understeer he’d had on the harder primes and homed in on Webber like a heat-seeking missile. On the final lap he drew alongside at the end of the 1.2km back straight, but Webber handled the situation beautifully, hogging the inside line and forcing Button to go to the outside where he didn’t want to go. They ran side by side for a while, but the Australian was able to keep his second place by 0.6s.

Behind them, the race was relatively uneventful. Nick Heidfeld signed off BMW Sauber’s tenure as a joint team with a solid fifth place ahead of Kobayashi, who proved to be the find of the second half of the season. Toyota’s Jarno Trulli was seventh, two-stopping where Kobayashi stopped once, and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi survived a challenge and a brush with BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica, which left the Pole spinning, to take the final point.

Nico Rosberg was ninth for Williams with a recovered Kubica 10th. McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen fought up from his 18th place start to take 11th, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen’s uncompetitive Ferrari, Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams, Fernando Alonso who took his Renault until the 34th lap before his sole refuelling stop, and similarly single-stopping Vitantonio Liuzzi whose Force €ndia was the last unlapped runner.

Ferrari’s Giancarlo Fisichella jumped Romain Grosjean’s Renault in the closing laps for 16th, and the Franco Swiss driver was so unsettled that Force €ndia’s Adrian Sutil also sneaked by.

Besides Hamilton, the only other retirement was Jaime Alguersuari. The Spaniard mistakenly tried to refuel in Vettel’s Red Bull pit instead of his own Toro Rosso camp and was frantically waved back round. He stopped soon after out on the track.

€n the constructors’ world championship, McLaren retained third place ahead of Ferrari, while Williams lost sixth at the last gasp by 1.5 points to BMW Sauber.

The British world champions were at it again as the final practice session was held for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon.

Lewis Hamilton set the pace for much of the hour-long session, but right at the end Jenson Button posted 1m 40.625s to go fastest. Hamilton’s 1m 40.627s just came up short for McLaren, as Rubens Barrichello endorsed the Brawn strength with third fastest time of 1m 40.907s. The final runner under 1m 41s was Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi, who earlier had set the pace with 1m 40.934s.

BMW Sauber had a good run too, with Nick Heidfeld taking fifth place with 1m 41.241s and Robert Kubica 1m 41.322s for eighth. Between them came Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren on 1m 41.263s and Jarno Trulli’s Toyota on 1m 41.310s.

Adrian Sutil was ninth for Force India with 1m 41.372s, chased by Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen (1m 41.373s), Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel (1m 41.403s), Williams’ Nico Rosberg (1m 41.478s), Toyota’s Kamui Kobayashi (1m 41.499s), Force India’s Tonio Liuzzi (1m 41.675s), Red Bull’s Mark Webber (1m 41.682s) and Fernando Alonso who continued to struggle in the Renault with 1m 41.897s.

Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima was next on 1m 42.156s, followed by Renault’s Romain Grosjean on 1m 42.213s and Ferrari’s Giancarlo Fisichella on 1m 42.351s. Jaime Alguersuari was last, never completing a lap after his Toro Rosso ran into mechanical problems.

Again, there was plenty of action, with Trulli, Grosjean and Vettel going off the road, and Liuzzi tapping the wall in the final corner.

Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel came alive for Red Bull in the dying moments of the final qualifying session of 2009, but McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton kept his nerve and ultimately decimated their chances of taking pole position for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a lap of 1m 40.948s on Saturday evening. Vettel had moments before beaten Webber’s 1m 41.726s best with 1m 41.615s.

Behind them, Rubens Barrichello finally got ahead of Brawn team mate Jenson Button as they lapped respectively in 1m 41.786s and 1m 41.892s, while Jarno Trulli was also in contention for Toyota with 1m 41.897s.

Behind them the BMW Saubers annexed the fourth row of the grid, with Robert Kubica on 1m 41.992s and Nick Heidfeld on 1m 42.343s. Williams’ Nico Rosberg and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi will share row five, with 1m 42.583s and 1m 42.713s respectively.

As dusk fell in the Formula One world’s first day/night race, and Hamilton set the fastest time in Q2 as he had in Q1, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo looked on unhappily as Kimi Raikkonen fell from Q3 contention with the 11th fastest time of 1m 40.726s. Behind him, Kamui Kobayashi lost his chance when he couldn’t squeeze more than 1m 40.777s from the second Toyota.

Heikki Kovalainen was stranded on 1m 40.983s when his McLaren stopped in Turn 17 with suspected gearbox issues shortly after that had been the first fast time. Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima should have improved after getting two green sector times, but blew it in the third and thus had to rely on 1m 41.148s for 14th, and Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari was 15th on 1m 41.689s.

Both Renaults joined the Force €ndias in stumbling in Q1, together with Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Ferrari. Fernando Alonso lapped in 1m 41.667s, Romain Grosjean in 1m 41.950s, leaving them 16th and 19th. Between them, Vitantonio Liuzzi squeezed 1m 41.701s out of his VJM02 to head team mate Adrian Sutil on 1m 41.863s. Fisichella was last, on 1m 42.184s.

Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA

Drivers: 1st – Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), 1m 40.948s; 2nd – Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1m 41.615s; 3rd – Mark Webber (Red Bull), 1m 41.726s.

Q: Lewis, your fourth pole in seven races. You have been on fire here all weekend in Abu Dhabi. Was it as easy as it looked?
Lewis Hamilton: Like I always say it is never easy but it definitely was as fun as it looked. The car has been I think probably the best it has been all year. It seems to really feel quite comfortable on this circuit. What they have done here is incredible and I think it is just a real pleasure to drive here and when you have definitely got the car beneath you it is just a great drive. That lap for me, we could have thought about going a bit longer, but I don’t think we were particularly too aggressive but it was quite a smooth lap. It just kept getting better and better. I am very happy with it.

Q: Sebastian, you said coming into the weekend that you wanted to finish the year on a high. Second on the grid is a great way to start.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it is. Just looking ahead both of us are a little bit surprised by the gap. Lewis has been strong all weekend and generally McLaren is very strong here and we could see already in Q1 and Q2 that it would be difficult to match them. But let’s see later when we get the strategies. I think it was the maximum we could do, so very pleased so far. I think tomorrow we should have a good race. The car is working well here. It just seems that our KERS button which we have on the steering wheel is not working, so it is not an easy one but let’s see tomorrow. I think we do have a good race pace. The car is getting better throughout the distance, so I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Q: Mark, two Red Bulls in the top three and the two Brawns just behind you. A great qualifying performance from you, but do you think you can hold the new champions behind you?
Mark Webber: We hope so. The grid tonight is the story of the second part of the championship. Lewis has been here and there at a lot of venues, clearly they are very strong here and we will see when we get the weights, but also Seb and I are pushing as hard as we can. I enjoyed qualifying tonight and Brawn are there as well, so it is very much a message of how the second part of the championship has gone. I was pretty happy, considering when I did my lap within the session, as obviously other people can run after, so I was pretty happy.

Q: Lewis, new circuit, new country. Your feelings on this Yas Marina track and the job that they have done here to create it?
LH: Coming here I had not really seen any pictures. I had seen perhaps a picture of the hotel or something, but the place is just stunning. They all said it would be a great event, but it is mind-blowing. What they have been able to create here is really fantastic and I expect more and more people will want to come here in the future. It is a great race to come to. I definitely will try to bring my family next time. It is a great country, it’s a great part of the world. We came to Bahrain. I have been in Bahrain. I was there earlier in the week, then we came through to Dubai and then here. The weather has always been great. The people have been so respectful and so welcoming and I am sure we are going to put on a great show for everyone, so fingers crossed it is a great day tomorrow.

PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lewis were you ever not going to be on pole? You have been dominant so much this weekend.
LH: Anything could have happened. Clearly we have been very competitive all weekend and the car has felt great and I didn’t have any particular doubts in my mind whether we could have done it. But it is still finding the gap, getting your tyres up to temperature, all these different things and it is easy to make mistakes but fortunately I didn’t and put a really nice lap together. Very, very happy with it.

Q: What is suiting the car here particularly? The lack of slow corners, KERS worth four-tenths-of-a-second Heikki (Kovalainen) said yesterday.
LH: Yep, it is the same at every race. You ask that question at every race. KERS, when you press that button, is worth four tenths pretty much everywhere. Three to four tenths. Here in qualifying it is around four-tenths, but obviously you have got to use it to optimise it and get the maximum from it but it works really well. The great thing is the car is working and feeling better than it has all year, so it is such a great feeling for me in the car and also for all the guys. What a great job they have done all year and what a great way to finish at least our practice session and our qualifying session and I want to go out and do the job tomorrow.

Q: What’s the circuit going to be like to race on? A lot of people were worried that off line it might be dirty.
LH: It is always dirty off line but it is not going to be somewhere like Montreal with all the bubbles off line. I don’t think it will be a problem. I have been off line a couple of places and it wasn’t too bad. The track surface, I mean we are always trying to improve other circuits saying the kerbs should be good here or we could improve the rumble strip here, but I can honestly say I think they have really done almost a perfect job at this track. They have really done a good job with the layout, with the track. It is very, very smooth. The kerbs are nice and in the right places and I think for the racing it looks very safe. I think there are quite a few opportunities to overtake, so it should be quite an exciting race, especially for the spectators here.

Q: How was the car on the option tyre?
LH: For me the option and the prime are pretty much the same. Normally we see quite a big difference between them with obviously the option being a lot quicker and a little bit grippier. Here I generally find it is very, very close. There is a different kind of warm-up, different way of using them, but I preferred the prime. For me they just seemed to be a little bit more consistent throughout the lap but no doubt the track will get grippier, so who knows what tyre we will use tomorrow.

Q: Sebastian, what was the tyre choice like for you? Is it fairly simple?
SV: Well, I think it was pretty much the same for everyone. It is difficult to point out how much there is between the tyres. I think you could see that we also favoured the prime. Overall, back to qualifying, I think it was the maximum we could do. Just a little bit surprised by the gap in the end. You know, seven tenths in qualifying is quite a big gap. Looking at the sectors, sector two I think, there are maybe a little bit too many straight lines for us, so we don’t have the button. We do have it, but it doesn’t work.

Q: Was there much difference as the natural light changed?
SV: Well, it is a little bit, but you get used to it quite quickly, so you have to deal a little bit with the visor and use a darker one maybe to start and then a lighter one for the end as when the sun goes down it is a little bit darker. But it is not a big problem. I think they have done a very good job here, similar to Singapore. Even though the lights are further away I think they seem to be strong enough to make us see all the track.

Q: Mark, what about this McLaren performance? Do you think you can take the race to them tomorrow?
MW: Easy. We are not stopping tomorrow. We don’t do a pit stop. We just put the option on for the last lap and we jump them like that, so pretty straightforward.

Q: Sounds a great idea. What’s the truth?
MW: No, look, they did good job. No question about it. They are quick. I am a bit surprised by Lewis’s time, both of us are, but we did our best. As I said before it is a reflection on the second part of the championship with Brawn sitting there as well behind us. These are the guys who have been there most of the season and here we are again, ready to go tomorrow. I enjoyed quali(fying) actually. As always you want a bit more out of it, but it was a good job by the team. We want to finish on a high and we have laid the foundations for a reasonable race tomorrow.

Q: Tell us your thoughts on the circuit, particularly for the race tomorrow?
MW: It’s a pretty good track. I would say the first sector is nice. It’s always difficult to make a track with lots and lots of quick corners because obviously you need a lot of run-off, so I can understand it’s easier in terms of space to have a lot more slower speed corners finishing the lap here. So the rhythm of the lap goes a little bit, especially in turns 11, 12, 13 – all that section up there is a little bit Mickey Mouse, but it’s unique in quite a lot of areas, I would say. Yeah, it’s a pretty good track. For overtaking, there’s obviously a very long straight, that’s clear, but I think everyone’s running pretty similar wing levels for their cars, so it’s not like Interlagos or some other tracks where you maybe have a different opinion on end-of-straight speed. It’s not going to be Interlagos, don’t worry about that, but it might be better than Barcelona.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Sana Bagersh – Abu Dhabi Tempo) What are each of you going to do between now and tomorrow’s race, to prepare mentally or physically? Any specially rituals, any relaxation techniques?
SV: Sleep. It’s quite late already. I think everyone has his own way to get prepared. Obviously everyone is trying to get a good night’s sleep, rest, then tomorrow. I don’t know what the others do, if they have a dance or whatever. I think, for myself, dancing for rain would be pretty useless here, but yeah, just trying to go through. Obviously later we will know a little bit more about strategy and then just trying to prepare, to focus on the start and then seeing how the race goes.
LH: Yeah, same for me really. A little bit different to some of the other tracks. The climate change: it’s so much hotter here, so the race will be very tough tomorrow, so you could perhaps focus on the preparation a little bit more in terms of the amount of rest you get, the fluids through the night, drinking plenty. I will probably have to make a pit stop during the night, because you’ve just got to drink as much as you can for the race tomorrow. And then just good food, we’re staying in town and I’m just going to enjoy myself, make sure I enjoy the weather, might sit on the beach, just relaxing things. I’ve got the girlfriend with me, so just relax.
MW: Yup, pretty similar: yeah, good sleep, good food and I get to the track as late possible tomorrow. No point in getting in too early. But generally the GP2 cars have been my wake-up call at the hotel, so I will sleep until they start up. But it’s very easy for us, we’re staying close here, so relax, there’s no hassle with traffic like some other venues we have like Brazil or in Shanghai. We have a lot of tracks like that where there’s a bit of a palaver getting to the track but here it’s a lot more straightforward, so that helps our preparation.

Q: (Tomas Richter – TV Nova) It looks like the most difficult corners are those before the hotel and turn one. The race will be long and hot; first of all do you agree and secondly do you expect some difficulties during the race?
MW: Yeah, you’re right, there are some difficult corners in the last sector, there’s no question about it, it’s easy to get in there a little bit deep and not hit the apex cleanly. Turn one, you’re right, is the same. It’s easy to get a little bit out of the track there but all the guys are fit these days, there should be no problems tomorrow night. It’s a pretty long race but we’ve had worse. There are a lot of straights you can relax on, so this track is not that physically demanding, it’s just a bit warm.
SV: As Mark said, there are some difficult corners, not only turn one and 15, 16, 17. Turn one is still outstanding; it’s quite quick and it’s blind, so it’s very easy to overshoot, to make a mistake at the entrance and you have a long straight following, obviously turn two, three, four which is flat, but whatever you lose there you pay the price for. 15, 16, 17 is easy to lose the car on the entrance and if you go wide it’s very easy to go off-line and then it’s quite dirty, like everywhere else, but you lose a lot of time easily. Let’s see tomorrow. I think the start is the key, turn one, and then it will be interesting going down the long straight. Obviously I hope I will be ahead of Lewis or at least right on his back, and then have a good space. I hope that Mark and myself will have good space to whoever comes behind us.
LH: I don’t particularly want to comment just on those corners. I think turn one is obviously very important for the beginning of the race but it’s fairly straightforward. The great part of this track is that even though we do have a couple of high speed corners, maybe it will be tough to follow through two, three, four but it’s not difficult to stay behind someone through five, six, seven, so that means you can be close to them and have a good chance of towing them down the back straight. Also braking into eight and nine, again it’s easy to be quite close and then relatively easy to have another shot going down the other back straight. Clearly, then, it gets a bit tighter and a little bit harder to follow, but I think it should provide some good racing, being able to be a little bit closer than normal. You normally have the long flowing corners and you lose a little bit and then you have this long straight and you never really catch up. I hope – I feel it’s designed quite well.

Q: (Vajta Balazs – Autosport Es Formula) For all three drivers: the last two or three days we’ve basically heard only positive words about the track: how great it is, the facilities and everything else. I know it’s also very hard to name negative aspects about yourself, but can you name or point out some negative points about the track?
MW: We’re paid lots of money to say good stuff, obviously. You know that we get backhanders to say that it’s a great track, so we’re not going to say anything negative. The deal is done before we all arrive, so 20 drivers, we get a backhander, easy from there! It’s a great facility, it’s a good track.
LH: (to the journalist) You should try and get in on it!
SV: I think probably the worst thing is that you get a wake-up call from the GP2 cars, if you’re sleeping at the track. Other than that: similar. Just to sum it up as well, and what we all agreed on in the drivers’ briefing: we come to many new circuits, more and more and there are always bits and pieces which can be improved, but here everything is pretty much spot on: kerbs, everything.

Q: (Vajta Balazs – Autosport Es Formula) But were you expecting a boring race because of the track layout?
SV: No, I don’t think so. As they said, you have a very long straight here and the key is that you don’t have high speed corners leading onto that straight like in Shanghai. You have a tight corner leading onto the back straight, but it opens up and then it’s difficult to follow other cars, whereas here you have the complex of five, six, seven which is quite low speed and then obviously the longer straight, leading into another low speed section, eight and nine, which gives you another chance if you’ve used the tow and then stay close to whoever is in front for turn eleven. As we’ve seen in the GP2 race and also the Porsche SuperCup race it should be a good race tomorrow. You are always smarter after a Grand Prix distance but it looks promising so far.

Formula One Management CEO Bernie Ecclestone is not known for being overly verbose, but when he expresses his opinions they tend to stick. And he clearly has an opinion on the new Abu Dhabi race venue, labeling it a ‘monumental’ achievement…

Q: Bernie, two and a half years ago when you signed the contract for an Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this area was a desert. How impressed are you when you look around?
Bernie Ecclestone: I am overwhelmed and I think everybody felt the same when they saw this. It is monumental. When I came here in April a lot was not finished but I definitely knew that there would be race in the autumn, although it was hard to believe it at that time. But look around. Look what they’ve done. It’s almost a miracle come true thinking about where we started. As you said – it was a desert!

Q: Has Formula One racing come to the land of plenty?
BE: I don’t know anything about the land of plenty. We’ve come to a country where people are determined to achieve their goals. It’s that simple.

Q: Does Abu Dhabi support your efforts to bring Formula One racing to new countries and regions?
BE: Absolutely! I sometimes get criticized for taking Formula One to places with little or no motor racing heritage, but look what happens in countries with that much-trumpeted heritage!

Q: For a long time you’ve said you could imagine a 20-race calendar. Now that we have very little testing over the winter, more and more drivers seem to find that idea appealing…
BE: Yes, I always said that it is possible and obviously now there are more and more people falling for that idea. Nobody needs testing. It was always, in my opinion, that testing costs money while racing brings money. Or let them test on Monday after the race when everybody is at the track, the hotels are paid for and that huge logistical effort is eliminated.

Q: Coming back to this weekend’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, what do you expect is going to happen in the race?
BE: I never have any preference as to the winner, but I hope it will be an exciting race because this is what we owe to Abu Dhabi for what they’ve done for us.