‘Truce’ reached before gloves come off in finale

Organised by the FIA ahead of the final drivers’ press conference of the year, the Mercedes team-mates were asked to take centre stage for photographers.

Rosberg was the first to extend his right hand, with Hamilton pausing for a few moments before reaching out in reply, gripping tightly.

As olive branches go, with Rosberg appearing to smile warmly but with Hamilton playing it more straight-faced, it was an uneasy truce ahead of battle commencing in Abu Dhabi.

At stake is the 65th F1 world title, with just Hamilton and Rosberg in the running.

Holding a 17-point lead, Hamilton has the advantage, insisting that “in terms of the pressure, I don’t feel any”.

Hamilton added: “I’ve had plenty of experience through my racing career – 15-odd years I would say, actually it might be 20 years of racing – to be prepared for this. There’s no special recipe for it.”

A Rosberg victory means Hamilton has to finish third or worse, hard enough when you consider Mercedes have finished the last six races one-two.

Elsewhere in the paddock, the worst-kept secrets in Formula 1 were finally confirmed.

Sebastian Vettel will replace Fernando Alonso at Ferrari after the four-time world champion joined the team on a three-year contract.

The news came shortly after Ferrari had revealed Alonso would be leaving the team after Sunday’s race – paving the way for him to make the switch to rivals McLaren.

The Woking-based marque will not now be revealing their driver line-up until December 1 at the earliest as Group CEO Ron Dennis cannot decide on whether Jenson Button or Kevin Magnussen should be the Spaniard’s team-mate.

“It’s a new chapter in my career,” said Alonso. “It was the time to find new projects – but it was not an easy decision.”