Lewis Hamilton IS THE 2014 WORLD CHAMPION! he wins after Nico Rosberg made a poor start. Rosberg suffered an ERS failure but still finished. Daniil Kvyat and Kamui Kobayashi retire after cars stop. Pastor Maldonado out after fire. Don't forget to tweet using the hashtag #VAVELF1.
Well what a season! what a race! Lewis Hamilton is your race winner and 2014 World Champion. We've had a stunning season and it's been a marvellous fight. Stay tuned with VAVEL as we will be publishing a report, and soon a season review. Thank you so much for joining us this season, we'll be back for the next race in Melbourne in 2015! We'll continue to bring you live and up to date news! I've been Aaron Irwin, and I thank you for joining us. See you in Melbourne, and congratulations Lewis!!! Good Night!
Martin Brundle is the interviewer on the podium. Hamilton thanks the fans, his family and his team. He then talks about his start, which was 'like a rocket' according to the Brit.
A tearful Hamilton on the podium, he drove amazingly well all race. 'God Save The Queen' rings out at Abu Dhabi.
Nico congratulated Lewis over the radio, true gent behaviour from Rosberg, he needs to come back stronger for next year.
Hamilton, Massa, Bottas, Ricciardo, Button, Hulkenberg, Perez, Vettel, Alonso and Raikkonen is your top ten.
Button is fifth in what may be his final race. He wins the race battle 15-4. Food for thought Ron. Rosberg deserves credit for the challenge as Lewis arrives in parc fermeand celebrates with the team.
He gets a British flag and drives it home, got to feel for Nico right now.
LEWIS HAMILTON IS WORLD CHAMPION! HE WINS THE RACE AND THE TITLE HERE! Williams get a double podium for the first time since 2005, Rosberg finishes 14th.
Final Lap! Lewis starts his final lap as he is essentially the World Champion!
Lap 54/55. Rosberg told to box and retire the car, but he refuses and wants to finish the race, good lad Nico. The celebrations are about to kick off in the Hamilton garage.
Lap 52/55. Rosberg going slowly! this appears to be the end of it! Massa still catching Lewis, but can he do it in three laps?
Lap 50/55. Strong fifth for Jenson Button here, this must persuade Ron Dennis? Massa still catching Lewis as we enter the final few laps of the year!
Lap 48/55. Ricciardo pits and comes out just ahead of Button in fifth. Massa making decent strides towards Hamilton.
Lap 47/55. Massa catching Hamilton here, can Felipe steal a march on Lewis and take victory? Ironically Massa won the race the last time Lewis won the title. Of course Massa was fighting him for the title that year.
Lap 46/55. Into the last ten laps here, Hamilton on course for title and Rosberg is falling down the order, this is the worst way to end the season. I'm sure even Hamilton didn't want to win it this way.
Lap 44/55. Massa pits so Lewis inherits the lead. But it appears Williams are mounting a charge for the race win here! Kobayashi is out as his car is pushed a.way
Lap 43/55. Rosberg in all sorts of trouble, his brakes are failing now as Hulkenberg overtakes Alonso. Lewis has just told his engineers to leave his car alone as he sits in second place.
Lap 41/55. Nico pushing hard as he tries to get up into the fifth place he so desperately needs. Bottas is told to save tyres so he'll be planning to outstop Ricciardo in third place. Problems mounting up for Nico, this isn't the way the title should be won.
Lap 39/55. Ricciardo doing well in third place. His pace is strong and he could be battling Bottas for the final podium place. Hamilton looks focused as he is cruising towards the title.
Lap 38/55. Bottas sets a 1:46.3, the fastest lap of the race so far.
Lap 37/55. Nico told to go flat out and that there isn't much more he can do. He needs to be at least fifth to be in with a chance of the title. But as it stands Lewis is Champion.
Lap 36/55. Bottas pits and looks good for a podium finish. Maybe even a double podium for the Williams team, the first since Monaco 2005!
Lap 35/55. Rosberg is to pit and do a manual pull away, like th one in Singapore where he lost power. He comes out behind both the Force Indias. He sits seventh.
Lap 33/55. Bottas is up into third as Rosberg yields, this looks like game over for Nico, what a shame.
Lap 32/55. Hamilton into the pits, apparently they've detuned the engine to take pressure off of the internal combustion chamber. Rosberg is just ahead of Lewis as he comes out the pits.
Lap 31/55. Hamilton posts 1:49's in the last two laps! Massa is catching, is there a problem for Lewis too?
Lap 30/55. After a great battle Alonso has overtaken Button, Button went wide and this allowed Alonso to get past, potential team mates next season?
Lap 29/55. Pastor Maldonado suffers a huge fire on his car. Tubo failure suspected. poor end to the season for the Venezuelan as Jenson Button pits.
Lap 25/55. Nico reports losing engine power! now if he stops Lewis Hamilton is champion! it's a reported ERS failure, which is a loss of around 160hp. Oh this is the latest twist!
Lap 24/55. Nico locks up and loses over a second to Hamilton. As well as probably suffering a huge flat spot on his tyre. Ricciardo's tyres starting to wear now, is a pit stop imminent?
Lap 22/55. Magnussen puts on the super soft tyres as he aims for a quicker stint. Ricciardo still hasn't pitted, is he going for a one stop?
Lap 21/55. Vettel's rears are 'going off' as he hasn't pitted yet. Hamilton is just under three seconds ahead of Nico as we near half distance here in Abu Dhabi.
Lap 20/55. Ricciardo told not to get too much into a fight with Bottas, as it'd ruin his tyres.
Lap 17/55. Nico planning on running longer than Lewis as he is told by engineers to keep the gap manageable.
Lap 16/55. Hulkenberg finally pits after 15 laps on the tyre, getting a really good stint out of the softer tyres. Kvyat appears to be out of te race, as marshals push his car off track, poor end to an encouraging debut season for Kvyat.
Lap 14/55. Hamilton leads here from Rosberg, Massa third as the battle in the midfield is the most entertaining aspect at the moment.
Lap 13/55. Ricciardo finally makes the move stick as he overtakes Vergne. Massa pits from the lead and this gives Hamilton the lead, Rosberg sets the fastest lap of the race.
Lap 12/55. Rosberg pits and is out in second place as it looks like Hamilton benefitted. Massa leads but is yet to pit. Ricciardo makes a stunning move but loses out to Vergne, great wheel to wheel stuff!
Lap 11/55. Hulkenberg given stop/go penalty for forcing another driver off track. Lewis Hamilton pits and is out efficiently. Nico told to push now as he's pitting this lap.
Lap 10/55. Sutil and Magnussen collision uner investigation from the stewards. Hamilton to pit at the end of the lap! Nico is surely hoping there's a bad stop.
Lap 8/55. Will Stevens gives Alonso a run for his money as the Ferrari makes hs way back up after pitting earlier. The Red Bulls are now in the points after starting in the pitlane, good work by Ricciardo and Vettel. Hamilton is slowly pulling away from Rosberg after a 2 second lead.
Lap 6/55. Bottas is next to overtake Raikkonen, using DRS to get past his fellow Finn. Button is to pit his lap, is this an indication that Jenson s on a three stop strategy?
Lap 5/55. Kevin Magnussen looks fine despite reporting suspension damage. He collided with Adrian Sutil coming out of the hairpin. Steady now boys. Daniel Ricciardo takes two cars in DRS range. Fernando Alonso, in his last race for Ferrari has passed Kimi Raikkonen as Alonso pits for the Prime tyres.
Lap 3/55. DRS enabled here, this could make the action a little tastier as the Mercedes cars pull away from Felipe Massa in third. There's an interesting batte unfolding as Button in fourth,all the way to Bottas in eighth are to fight.
Lap 2/55. Grosjean takes his drive through penalty as Magnussen has suspenion damage on his right front. Hamilton aleady has a 1.3 second lead.
Lap 1/55. Hamilton maks a great start! Nico gets away poorly as Lewis flies away off the grid. Bottas also mkes a poor start as Button is fourth, Raikkonen and Alonso fifth and sixth respectively! what a start!!!
Formation Lap. The cars are back on the grid! Here we go! Get ready folks! the next couple of hours are going to be intense!
12:59. Here comes the formation lap! tension rising here as the cars are away.
12:57. Drivers in their cars now, mechanics stood by the cars waiting to get the tyre blankets off and get the formation lap underway! Nico v Lewis, who's going to win it?
12:54. Five more minutes to go! The tension is getting unbearable here!
12:52. Here is the onboard of Nico Rosbrg's pole lap, truly amazing lap from the German!
12:49. There are many ex drivers here this weekend! Gerhard Berger, Jean Alesi, Alain Prost, even Mark Webber has been seen this weekend. Perhaps one of them is to conduct the podium interviews.
12:46. The national anthem has just been played and now the drivers are returning to their cars to make their final preparations for the final race of the season.
12:42. Stratergy could really come into play this afternoon, what will Mercedes do? Will they maintain their 'whoever's ahead pits forst' strategy or are they to mix it up? tough call from the Merc bosses.
12:35. The cars are hitting the track! They're making their way to the grid now as the sowdown is near. Royalty in the paddock as Prince Harry is seen chatting to drivers.
12:29. As it's Sebastian Vettel's final race with Red Bull, the team marked the occasion with this design on his garage floor. 4 World Titles and 38 Wins.
12:27. Red Bull are to start from the pitlane. Team Principal Christian Horner said "we'll have to accept the penalty and learn from it."
12:24. The whole Formula One community is still thinking about Jules Bianchi. The young Frenchman suffered a terrible accident at Suzuka and this week was transported to his homeland in France as he is now breathing unaided. #ForzaJules
12:19. Of course Jean-Eric Vergne's career isn't guaranteed after this season. There is a seat still available at current team Toro Rosso, as Daniil Kvyat is to join Red Bull as Sebastian Vettel's replacement. Max Verstappen has joined Franz Tost's team for next season but with Vergne being 24, he may be outgrowing his team, which is the breeding ground for future Red Bull drivers.
12:15. With Lewis on 334 and Nico on 317, who will have the most points come the chequered flag? But the biggest issue for Mercedes will be reliability. The Silver Arrows have been dire in terms of reliability, with both Hamilton and Rosberg suffering problems thrughout the season.
12:12. By the end of te race oe of these two will be World Champion! But who is it going to be? Hamilton? or Rosberg?
12:08. The pressure he drivers are feeling must be enormous. Lewis Hamilton has the advantage as he's been on both sides of this predicament. He's lost titles (2007, 2010) and he's aon the title (2008). Rosberg however has no experience of this, and must be feeling the heat.
11:58. As we approach the one hour warning mark to this F1 live in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2014, let's have a reminder of the revised grid for today...
1) Rosberg, 2) Hamilton, 3) Bottas, 4) Massa, 5) Kvyat, 6) Button, 7) Raikkonen, 8) Alonso, 9) Magnussen, 10) Vergne, 11) Perez, 12) Hulkenberg, 13) Sutil, 14) Gutierrez, 15) Maldonado, 16) Kobayashi, 17) Stevens, 18) Grosjean, 19) Vettel, 20) Ricciardo
11:52. It's been a mervellous season, and the worry amongst Formula One fans and pundits alike, is the fear that double points are to tarnish what has been an amazing season of racing.
11:44. It must be awful being Toto Wolff this weekend. He can't win, he's going to have one happy driver and one heartbroken driver. How is he going to control either of them? expect fireworks come the chequered flag.
11:39. Sergio Perez was confirmed yesterday to have signed a multi year deal with Force India. The Mexican will partner Nico Hulkenberg for a second season as Force India look to build on a productive season.
11:33. The McLaren fiasco has another twist, McLaren protege Stoffel Vandoorne is to test for McLaren next week as rumours grow that he is the fourth name in contention for a 2015 race seat, alongside Button, Alonso and Magnussen.
11:26. Sauber face the unfortunate stat of not scoring a point in an F1 season for the first time since their inception in 1993. Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez are not retained for next year, so are likely racing their final Grands Prix.
11:18. Caterham made a return to the sport this weekend after administration, Kamui Kobayashi returned but Marcus Ericsson did not, he's signed for Sauber for next season and asked to leave Caterham. So young Brit Will Stevens is racing this weekend, he qualified 20th but hanks to Grosjean's penalty and Red Bull's exclusion, he starts 17th.
11:10. It's Fernando Alonso's final race for Ferrari today, and after five years he's set to join McLaren, or so the rumour mill says, with Sebastian Vettel partnering Kimi Raikkonen at the Scuderia next season.
11:03. The race here at Abu Dhabi is special. It's ran during the sunset time, which means we start at dusk, and end in the night, it's a beautiful track with a combination of everything a driver loves, long straights, sweeping corners, tight sections and a street circuit like sector three.
10:51. As McLaren are yet to announce their lineup, Ron Dennis will need to look at the stats, as Jenson Button has outqualified Kevin Magnussen, he's outraced him 14-4 and he has almost double Magnussen's points. Ron has some thinking to do.
10:38. Now Hamilton only needs to finish second should Rosberg win, as he holds a 17 point lead over the German coming into today. Lewis' only two threats are Williams, and reliability.
10:32. Williams could give a shock today, their cars were incredibly quick yesterday and in Q2, even managed to split the two Mercedes drivers. As their car is fastest in a straight line, this circuit could benefit Bottas and Massa.
10:37. Is this Jenson Button's final race in Formula One? With McLaren's driver announcement not being made until at least December 1st, Jenson won't know if he's raced his last Grand Prix until it's over.
10:30. It's not the first time Vette' has started from the back here, his car was said to have less fuel than required in 2011 and the German started from the pitlane. What a way to start his final race with Red Bull.
10:26. 1) Rosberg, 2) Hamilton, 3) Bottas, 4) Massa, 5) Kvyat, 6) Button, 7) Raikkonen, 8) Alonso, 9) Magnussen, 10) Vergne, 11) Perez, 12) Hulkenberg, 13) Sutil, 14) Gutierrez, 15) Maldonado, 16) Kobayashi, 17) Stevens, 18) Grosjean, 19) Vettel, 20) Ricciardo
10:22. A reminder of today's grid coming up. There were no real surprises in Qualifying as Mercedes power prevailed, with the top ten consisting of five Mercedes powered cars.
10:16. The news overnight was that Red Bull were excluded from Qualifying. This was due to the team having wings that flexed during the session, this of course is illegal and means Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo will start from the back of the grid.
10:09. Of course Brits don't have much luck in title finales. Nigel Mansell lost out in 1986, Damon Hill lost out in 1994, and Hamilton himself lost out in 2007. Hamilton bids to win his second title to add to his 2008 triumph, Rosberg however, is bidding to become the second son of a world champion to win it himself.
10:06. Today we will discover who will be the 2014 World Champion, it can only be one of two drivers. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are battling it out as they have been all season. Nico has pole position with Lewis Hamilton in second.
10:00. Good morning! and welcome to the final race of the Formula One season, I'm Aaron Irwin and I'll be providing lap by lap updates of the 2014 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix!