Abu Dhabi is a place of palaces and pearls, deluxe hotels and gaudy opulence – apart from the desert, that is, the rippling, drifting sands that speak only of desolation.
On Sunday evening either Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg will know that feeling. One will be the Formula One champion of the world, the other will feel as cast out as Cain, lonely and dispossessed.
After one of the most engaging tussles in the history of the rowdy race game, a high-speed feud that dates back to the beginning of the year, the destiny of the title will be decided in the final race at the Yas Marina circuit, a rather bland, undemanding track that must feel a little flattered by all the attention.
It is not only Hamilton fans who want the British driver to win. He deserves it, surely, having won 10 rounds to his opponent’s five, having been consistently faster in race mode and having shown the greater ring craft when the two have traded blows at close quarters.
Most neutrals will have a slight feeling for the more emotional Briton because he is the more exciting and obviously skilled driver. Rosberg can often look unexceptional: worthy but forgettable, like a Kevin Costner movie.
But he is some driver too, constantly in Hamilton’s vibrating rear-view, and he has beaten his more gifted rival on Saturday afternoons, at least, with 10 pole wins to seven. If Rosberg wins the race and the championship on Sunday, he cannot be described as an unworthy champion.
The one hope, the yearning, of a sport desperately in need of some sort of redemption after a chaotically stupid year, is that the destiny of the prize will not be decided by the ridiculous double points issue. If that is the case Hamilton will feel he has been the victim of a rather extreme case of larceny; leading by 17 points, he needs to finish in the top two to ensure ultimate victory, rather than merely in the first six.
The desire of both men is intense. Hamilton wants the title because it is a long time since he was champion; Rosberg has never won it and is more than intelligent enough to know this might be his only chance. He may just get blown away next year.
Hamilton would become only the fourth British driver to win more than a single championship. Would he feel fulfilled? “One, two, 10 times – I don’t know what the others feel like. I don’t arrive here thinking like that. I don’t remember much about my first championship, it was such a long time ago. I don’t come here thinking I’ve got one in the bag. I feel I’m chasing my first.
“I haven’t thought about being in the elite group. I feel I’m in an elite group already. Not a lot of us get to race Formula One. I don’t think about it.”
For weeks now, and especially as he compiled his run of five consecutive wins between Monza in September and Texas earlier this month, Hamilton has appeared relaxed to the point of serenity. Here, though, the monumental size of what he is on the brink of achieving dawned on him, along with the sometimes bitter memories of what has befallen him since his last and solitary title in 2008.
Hamilton insists he is still relaxed. “Why shouldn’t I be?” he asked. I’m in the best place in my whole life. I’m with the best team, I’ve got the best car, I’m in the best shape.
“I’m excited, man. The last times I went into the championship, the last two times, I was probably nervous. It’s a lot different. Now I’m excited about it. That’s a huge difference.”
Maybe the memories of 2007 and 2008, when he went into the final race leading the championship, like here, have caused him to blink and swallow, though he still looks well prepared.
In 2007, in his thrilling rookie season when he spooked the double world champion Fernando Alonso with his sheer pace and considerable cheek, the title was there for the taking. But Hamilton suffered a gearbox problem, allowing Kimi Raikkonen to steal the title from McLaren.
In 2008, when he became the youngest world champion at 23, he only got there with an overtake on the final corner of the last lap. Many more championships beckoned, it seemed, but he was let down by a sequence of dud cars and in 2011, when he was beset by personal problems, by himself.
Did he reflect on 2007 and 2008? “I haven’t thought about those two races,” he said, surprisingly. “I was much younger, I was in a different place as an individual. I’ve come a long way since then. It was a different time, a different period, a different chapter in my life. Of course, having those experiences has helped shape me and brought me here today – but I don’t see them having an impact on my weekend.”
This year, though, he has been driving better than ever before. He is 29 and must be considered to be at his peak. He has the best car too. Only Rosberg can possibly get in his way.
The German, though, knows exactly how to do that. He got in his way in Monaco in May when – apparently deliberately – he prevented him from completing a potentially pole‑winning lap. Less obviously, but more infamously, he crashed into Hamilton at Spa, effectively taking him out of the race. Then there was that dog-fight of a race in Bahrain, where the Briton, as usual, came out on top.
But for all Hamilton’s superiority he has never been able to close out his Mercedes team-mate. And Rosberg, for his part, has shaken Hamilton with the imperious nature of his victory in Brazil two weeks ago.
There is something impressively resilient about the German, who is a better driver and less extrovert personality than his Finnish father, Keke, who won the 1982 title by winning just one race.
Hamilton is a sometime table-tennis player and now he ping-pongs questions back at his interviewers. “You can crash on Sunday,” said a beaming soothsayer. “Have I crashed all year? I’m pretty good at what I do,” Hamilton replied. “Why would I crash?” He looked incredulous.
“Do you need to win?” he was asked. “You know I don’t need to win. Why are you asking that?” came the retort. OK, was he aiming to win? “I’m always aiming to win,” he said.
Did he feel this was a seminal moment in his career? “It is, but to be honest I just feel I’m here for another weekend,” Hamilton replied. “If you build it up or make it seem more special, that’s when the issues come. I’ll approach it the way I have every race.”
There was almost an affectation of nonchalance. Did he sense this was a big moment in his life and career? Again, there a slight bristling: “Of course, I’m fully aware of that. It’s the biggest moment, the most important weekend of my life – of course I know that.
“I’ll have a plan, of course. I’m working with my guys. We’ve already met and spoken about it, all these things I need to focus on, all the things I’ve learned through the year – I don’t feel I need to come and drive the race of my life. I think I’ve driven pretty well this year and I plan to drive my best this weekend. There’s a lot of pressure on us both and we’re focussed on winning.”
Meanwhile, both Mercedes drivers have had a warning about the strength of Williams here from Jenson Button. He said: “Mercedes are so far in front. But Williams are going to be strong. Low-speed corners, they have very good traction here, very good straight‑line speed. They’re going to challenge Mercedes. And that’s probably the biggest challenge. Hopefully both the Mercedes drivers realise that and they’re ready for that to happen. Because if they’re not they’re going to get shot.”
For a team with the constructors’ and drivers’ championships already under their belt, there was a lot of tension about the Mercedes camp. “It is clear, we are in a comfortable position,” said their executive director, Toto Wolff, almost convincingly. “We have won both championships. You can see the stress has fallen away from us. But for these two, it is peaking now. Anything else than being tense would be not normal. Their whole life has been about being in Formula One one day and being world champion one day.
“Your only enemy is your team-mate, with the same car. There is no edge you can gain on him. You see his data. It’s all transparent. It’s clear that it’s … [he performs a neck-slitting motion]. They are both not easy individuals. They are both complex characters. There are no easy guys around here.”
And whatever the result on Sunday, the relationship between these two fine drivers could get a whole lot worse.
