Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Statfile

25 November 2016 08:09

The Formula One championship heads to Abu Dhabi for the season finale and title showdown between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

Here, Press Association Sport runs a rule over the key statistics and trivia ahead of the 21st and concluding round of the 2016 season.

* Championship leader Rosberg is 12 points ahead of Hamilton and will be crowned champion on Sunday if he secures a top-three finish.

* Hamilton, who claimed the 52nd victory of his career at the recent Brazilian Grand Prix to move ahead of Alain Prost into second on the all-time winners' list, will have to win, and hope Rosberg fails to finish on the podium to seal an unlikely title.

* But in four of the nine races Hamilton has won this year (Monaco, Canada, Austria and Germany), Rosberg crossed the line outside of the top three.

* Hamilton is on a roll having won the last three races. Indeed he could claim his 10th victory of the season here - one more than Rosberg - and still lose out on the title to his Mercedes team-mate.

* Hamilton also has more pole positions (11) this year than Rosberg (nine).

* The title showdown will be the third seen in Abu Dhabi. Sebastian Vettel triumphed at the Yas Marina Circuit in 2010 to seal his maiden championship, while Hamilton won the 2014 edition in a controversial double points race to rubber-stamp his second world crown.

* There have been four different winners of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix since it was introduced on to the calender in 2009: Vettel (2009, 2010 & 2013), Hamilton (2011, 2014), Kimi Raikkonen (2012), and Rosberg (2015).

* Brazilian driver Felipe Massa will compete in his 250th and final grand prix on Sunday before he bows out of the sport at the end of the season.

* Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion, also insists he is treating Sunday's outing as if it were his last in Formula One as he prepares to step down from racing next season. Button, although it appears unlikely, could return to the grid in 2018.

Venue: Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi

Circuit Length: 5.554km/3.451miles

Laps: 55

Race Distance: 305.355km/189.738miles

Lap Record: 1min 40.279secs (Sebastian Vettel, 2009)

2015 pole position: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1min 40.237secs

2015 winner: Nico Rosberg

2015 fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1min 44.517secs

Number of corners: 21 (12 left/nine right)

Tyre compounds to be used: Soft/supersoft/ultrasoft

Bumpiness: Low

Overtaking chance: Into turns eight and 11

Engine severity: Medium

Brake wear severity: Medium/high

Number of safety cars deployed since debut in 2009: Two

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Schedule

Friday November 25

Free Practice 1: 13:00-14:30 (UK time: 0900-10:30)

Free Practice 2: 17:00-18:30 (UK time: 13:00-14:30)

Saturday November 26

Free Practice 3: 14:00-15:00 (UK time: 10:00-11:00)

Qualifying: 17:00 (UK time: 13:00)

Sunday November 27

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: 17:00 (UK time: 13:00)

Source: PA