F1’s final four eye title showdown

THE spectacular Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi plays host to the climax of the 2010 Formula One World Championship this weekend, and for the first time in history four drivers still have a chance of lifting the crown (1pm, BBC1 and Setanta Ireland).

It’s advantage Fernando Alonso and Ferrari, primarily down to the Spaniard’s three wins in the last five events and Red Bull’s decision not to pick a lead driver between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

Alonso declared himself “100%” confident of adding another crown to his collection earlier this week and to an extent at least the two-time champion knows exactly what he has to do. Should he finish second or higher, the title is his.

The tension in the Red Bull garage has been well documented. Theirs is the best car on track. That begs the question: why is Alonso in the position he is? He won the season-opener but did not win again until the German GP over four months later, a time in which Red Bull won on five occasions.

One of the factors is the new points system. All top 10 finishers are now awarded points on a sliding scale from 25 for victory down to one awarded for 10th. The idea was to prevent one driver or team from dominating, like Michael Schumacher’s time at Ferrari. In this respect the rules are working.

Like the title battle of 2007 – when team-mate Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were both in line for the crown – all eyes will be on Webber and Vettel.

Vettel’s win in Brazil last week kept him in the game. He signalled this week, however, that he is prepared to support his team-mate should his own hopes be over, saying: “If the situation occurs, we know we are driving for the team.”

Lewis Hamilton was quickest at the end of the day’s two practice sessions yesterday and was quick to declare himself very happy with the set up of his car. Vettel was second, two tenths slower, with Alonso and Webber, split by just a thousandth of a second, back in third and fourth respectively.

Alonso’s engine tally – he moved on to his final alloted power unit of the season several races ago – remains a concern. But the Spaniard declared: “We can only depend on ourselves to win the championship. I will not lose even a second of energy thinking of what will happen on Sunday.”