Forget the build-up, the hyperbole, the stats and the tabloid guff. The 2010 Formula One title gets decided today, right here in Abu Dhabi.
Armed with our trusty paddock pass, we’ll be coming at you live from Yas Marina Circuit all day long, filling you in with all the trackside action from the climactic F1 showdown.
May the best man win….
18:50: It’s all over – Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel is Formula One World Champion! It was a race fairly devoid of drama in the end, with a poorly worked pit stop strategy from the Ferrari team leaving Fernando Alonso stuck behind the two Renaults of Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov. Still, a completely mind-blowing occasion and a well-deserved victory for the young German driver. Here’s the top ten: Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Rosberg, Kubica, Petrov, Alonso, Webber, Alguersuari, Massa. Thanks for staying with us – enjoy the Prince gig if you’re going!
5:10pm: Horrible accident in the first lap involving Schumacher and Liuzzi. That puts a fitting end to a miserable first season back in F1 for the five-time champion. At the front, Button started well and got the jump on Alonso, who currently sits fourth – enough to make the Spaniard champion.
5:03pm: And we’re off
4:35pm: Drivers are now all on the grid, having just crossed over from the paddock to widespread whooping from the gathered media. Biggest cheers were for Alonso, with Lewis getting a lot of support too. Unbelievable scenes down on the grid now – stars from all over the world gathered to share in Abu Dhabi’s big moment and witness just how brilliantly the city can host an event of worldwide significance. Undoubtedly one of the biggest moments in the city’s history so far, with everyone in the paddock and grandstands all looking thrilled to be a part of it. Fifteen minutes until the moment we’ve all been waiting for is finally here. Time for us to take our seats…
4.15pm: Seriously, how do people manage to stay looking so impeccable in this heat? Totally beyond us. With less than an hour until the race starts, the drivers are now in their garages getting their game faces on. Paddock now incredibly busy. Pristinely groomed men and women everywhere. But where’s Boris Becker? He stopped for a chat with us last year, but still not a star in sight today.
3:39pm: Drivers are currently waving to the crowds from the back of a flatbed truck making a slow tour of the track – we’d imagine there’s some fairly frosty exchanges going on between the big title rivals. Plenty of motorsport royalty wandering around the paddock now – Jackie Stewart and his tartan trousers included – but A-list celebrity megastars are still playing it cool. Just over an hour to the green light now.
3:15pm: Lotus driver Heikki Kovalainen has made it clear that he doesn’t wish to talk to Time Out. Probably needs to spend his time thinking about the race. What with not scoring any points at all so far this season. Not that we’re bitter. Just saying.
Have you checked out our galleries from the weekend’s mega-concerts yet?
Click here for red carpet glamour at the Chequered flag ball.
Click here to see Linkin Park on stage shots.
Click here to see our Kanye West concert gallery.
Click here to se the highlights from Beats on The Beach.
1:32pm The first support race has just kicked off, with GP2 cars currently tearing around Yas Marina Circuit and getting the tarmac nice and warm for the main event, now just three and a half hours away. Time to head up to the media centre’s swanky roof terrace and check out the view…
1:06pm: Less than four hours until the final race of the 2010 Formula One season gets underway and the paddock’s starting to buzz. Chairs are being set out in front of some of the garages in preparation for some end-of-year team photos and the glamorous folk are starting to emerge (stilettos, gigantic sunglasses and all). Grandstands are starting to fill out and the atmosphere in the media room is starting to build, as journalists from around the world take their seats to report from the front line of what promises to be one of the most exciting climaxes to an F1 season for a good few years. We’ve even spotted a couple of scribes from sister website www.arabianbusiness.com so you know today is an important day – they don’t usually leave their lair for anything less than a financial crisis. Time to head back out to the paddock and see if we can snap any famous faces…
12:33pm: Just saw Mark Webber striding confidently through the paddock, receiving a hefty slap on the back from F1 head honcho Bernie Ecclestone. He’s got his work cut out for him today from fifth on the grid, but the championship’s second placed man could still have a decent shot on the title if he can get the jump on Alonso when the lights go out. Four and a half hours and counting…
11:48am: In other news, the site’s still fairly quiet so anyone heading in now shouldn’t face too many traffic issues. Remember the sun lotion though – there’s a few clouds up there but it’s a scorcher. Time to head down to the paddock to see who we can spot…
11:44am: Of course the actual race is just one part of the day’s entertainment. As if that were not enough there is something of a fairground atmosphere with performers and attractions to keep even the most petrol-headed of enthusiasts away from the grandstands for a while. We just chatted to beatboxer Killa Kella. ‘I’m having an amazing weekend – F1 is such a spectacle. It’s a bit like beatboxing in a way, in that it’s one of those things that you really have to see live to appreciate. The noise is absolutely incredible,’ said the Snoop Dogg and Justin Timberlake collaborator. You know what – he’s not wrong.
11:16am: Just under six hours until the green light and the site’s very quiet. Currently having a wander around the F1 Village and fighting the urge to blow our hard-earned dirhams on some pricey McLaren merchandise.
