Drama of thrilling season set to finish in the desert

In between, five continents have been visited, with four spanned in the last week alone as the Formula 1 cavalcade packed up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and headed across the Atlantic Ocean, Europe and North Africa to the Middle East.

The 2010 Formula 1 season has been a rollercoaster of drama and emotion from Hockenheim to the Hungaroring, Melbourne to Monaco.

The purpose of so many grand prixs – 19 this year with a stop in India swelling the calendar further in 2011 – was to determine the greatest driver of the year.

And the big triumph of this marathon season is that despite 18 grands prix having already been run, four drivers still have a chance of lifting the crown come the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi tomorrow.

Lewis Hamilton is requiring an equation of results of the minor miracle variety, but that the Briton has competed all season long in a car considerably slower than the Red Bulls, is a testament to his ability.

The in-fighting at Red Bull between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber has entertained all season, while the steely-eyed, single-minded focus of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso has dragged the Spaniard back into the picture, at the cost of the occasional sporting moral, but to the great delight of those who revel in the two-time champion's driving genius.

It was Alonso who kicked it all off in Bahrain with a debut win in the famous prancing horse.

All eyes may have been on the returning Michael Schumacher, but it was Alonso who set the tone for a season of twists and turns.

Finishing in the top two at the Yas Marina circuit tomorrow will guarantee the Spaniard his third title, regardless of where Vettel and Webber end up.

Should that happen Alonso will become only the ninth driver in F1 to do so, and at the age of 29 he would be the youngest as Ayrton Senna and Schumacher currently hold the record at 31.

"There is nothing we can do, other than to try to finish first or second," said Alonso, whose mind has not been on the gruelling journey to Abu Dhabi, only the sprint finish ahead.

"Mathematically I'm in a position to win the championship, so from tomorrow our preparation will be to reach that target.

"If we are not first or second then we will see where the others are, but it's not my job to believe, or not to believe in what Red Bull might do."

Webber, who has emerged from the middle of the pack to launch his first title challenge amid an inferiority complex brought about by Red Bull's apparent favouring of his young German team-mate, was more reflective on a season that he will forever be proud of, title or no title.

"To have had some of the victories I've had this year, and even some of the second places to be honest, they are not as sweet as the wins, but some of the seconds," said the Australian.

"I've had quite a few podiums, the team has won the constructors' title – we could obviously put the icing on the cake on Sunday which would be nice – but it's been an absolutely incredible year for me and for the team.

"If we don't get the championship there's going to be a little bit of a small hole there, but there will still be a lot of great memories."

It has also been the year of the rookies, with particular interest this year paid to Virgin Racing, who from the humble surroundings of a business park in Dinnington, South Yorkshire, have attempted to challenge the Formula 1 establishment.

Success has been relative, but the journey has been one to cherish, as their team principal John Booth agreed this week.

"I'm very proud to look back and see how the team has developed into a cohesive unit on our first, season-long journey in Formula 1," he said.

"In particular this last week, dealing effortlessly with challenges like moving all of our equipment from Brazil to Abu Dhabi in such a short space of time.

"Now we're looking forward to this race as an opportunity to show how we can perform – in Brazil we were a little unlucky at the start and our race was compromised.

"We are looking for a good performance both in qualifying and in the race to give everyone a true impression of how we can perform."

But there is no time for Booth and his team to sit back and reflect. "After the race we won't be resting," he said. "We'll be going straight into tyre testing with Pirelli as well as the young driver tests, before heading home and concentrating on next year's car."

Away from the race for the title, attention has long been turned to 2011, with Schumacher, who will be 42 when the engines are gunned again next March in Bahrain, summing up the constantly unravelling drama that is Formula 1.

"I am looking forward to next year's car, to get going with this as soon as possible in order to understand if all our views and ideas are going in the right direction," said the seven-time champion.