Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, FLASH Preview: Updated Weather and Times

Thursday statements

Romain Grosjean: «My favorite moment of the season was obviously at Spa-Francorchamps, with the podium. It was a good year in terms of driving, the car already had a good base at the start of the season. We weren't able to make some changes that we wanted during the championship but we are still fighting for sixth place as constructors. I'm quite happy with this and with this last season of mine with Lotus. It's the first time in my F1 career that I have to change teams. I first came to Enstone in 2005, as a developer and I learned a lot from there. Thinking about leaving the team after Sunday's race is a difficult thing, I will try to go fast to earn as many points as possible."

Daniil Kvyat: «A year full of events I can say, it passed very quickly. The beginning was quite painful, but then I can say that I am proud of how we managed the situation and overcame all the inconveniences. Some races were good and we picked up points. The last two races I was quite satisfied, I hope to finish high here too. We are obviously not where we would have liked to be and we continue to work to improve, but we cannot expect things to change overnight."

Kimi Räikkönen:«A normal season, I must say. Better than last year but far from how it should have gone. But there is life and next year we will try again. The goal for next year will obviously be to fight with the Mercedes. It will happen? Will we be able to do it? I hope so. We will have to wait until the new cars hit the track and evaluate after the first race weekends to evaluate our potential. Naturally, much of the work has already been done in the factory, with preliminary calculations, but it's never the same thing until you actually go out onto the track. I'm sure we will have a great package for 2016 – but will it be enough? Only time will tell."

Roberto Merhi: «We started with various difficulties, without the possibility of taking part in the tests and honestly, without ever having been in the single-seater. But I think that over the course of the year we have improved – the team, the car and my driving style. The last few races have been quite good. I would say the best moment of the season was at Silverstone, during the last laps on wet asphalt or again at Spielberg, during qualifying. My goal for next year is to stay in Formula One by evaluating what the best offers are. At the moment nothing is certain and we will wait the next few weeks to see what happens."

Fernando Alonso: “A difficult year, struggling with reliability and race pace. But personally I think this was necessary. It was a step forward in my career after two world championships, after 5 fantastic seasons fighting for the title but coming second, so I needed new motivations, new projects that I believed in to be champion again. After a difficult season I learned a lot. I liked working with McLaren, with Honda, with the discipline and culture of the Japanese within the team. I am very happy and I look forward to next season feeling lighter than this year, which was poor in results."

Lewis Hamilton: "What can I say? All different experiences but it was the best year of my career and I'm in a really good position, my team did a great job. Probably for me the best race of the season was in Austin obviously, where I reached the pinnacle. And I'm thrilled to be here in Abu Dhabi during the 44th UAE National Day, trying to win the 44th F1 race. I'm not very interested in the strategy stories between me and Nico, we know that the one behind in the race of the two will have a different strategy in each race, so I have no thoughts about it."

Matteo Bramati, Andrea Villa