I have just arrived in Abu Dhabi from Sao Paolo where I spent the time since the last round of the championship in New Delhi. I still have very vivid memories of my first trip to India, even if I see no point in going over what happened in the race itself. The track was very nice, one of the best on the calendar, but above all the people there were very excited about Formula 1. With more and more places in the world appearing to be the same, India was so very different to anything I had seen before. The people were very welcoming and friendly and it was clear that the country has huge potential for growth, but at the same time you still also see a lot of poverty. Despite this, I think India has a definite future in F1 and this year, if not everything was quite ready, we have to make allowances for the fact it was only the first year for the Grand Prix there.

With the Formula 1 season going through to the end of November, this year was the first time in many years that I have not attended the Ferrari World Finals event which took place at Mugello last weekend, but of course I am aware of what our President Montezemolo and Domenicali said about me over there, making it clear once again that I am definitely driving for the Scuderia next season. From my point of view, it is important that I have the full support of the team behind me, which is always very positive. However, at the moment my main focus is on continuing to push as hard as I can for these last two races of the season. I know that next year will be a very important one for the whole team, given that this season did not go as well as expected and it will also be a very important time for me. Within the team, we are already looking to next year, knowing that our pre-season target must be to produce a package that can be competitive from the very first Grand Prix, allowing us to fight for the win at every race. In 2012 we must have a better season than this one.

Now we come to Abu Dhabi, where I only drove for the first time last year, as I missed the first race there in 2009, because of my injury. The facility itself is fantastic and the track is quite interesting. However, one negative point about it was that we did not see much overtaking, but I expect this year with the DRS, it should help to produce a better race this weekend. It’s a unique timetable on Sunday as we start the race in daylight and then go on to race under the lights at night. This doesn’t present any problem, in fact the positive element is that it gets cooler as the race goes on and the track lighting is excellent. For us these last two races are a final chance to get some good results, but also these recent races have been very much part of our preparations for 2012. We have been trying some components that could find their way onto the new car, but also we have been looking at new ideas in terms of how we run the car and how best to adapt the set-up. I think this is very important as part of our preparation for the future, not just from a technical point of view but also how we approach the race weekend.

The race at Yas Marina is also special for Ferrari because of the team’s many close links with Abu Dhabi, which is most obviously seen from the fact we have our own theme park there, just alongside the race track, Ferrari World. Last year I went for a ride on the fantastic rollercoaster they have there, which was an enjoyable and exhilarating experience, so I can’t wait to go again and this time, I’ll take my wife with me!

The eighteenth and penultimate round of the Formula 1 World Championship takes place at what is undoubtedly the most lavish facility on the calendar, the Yas Marina circuit. For Scuderia Ferrari it is a special weekend, given that the UAE is an important area for the commercial arm of the Prancing Horse and the circuit itself backs on to the incredible Ferrari World theme park. However, while team members might find a few moments of free time during the week to enjoy the scary experience of the world’s fastest rollercoaster ride, the real job as usual will be taking place in the paddock. No matter that the two championship titles have been decided in favour of another team and driver, the work of tackling a race weekend is the same as it would be at any previous point in the season. In fact, there is probably even more work to do as, with limited testing, these final races of 2011 are a last chance to test on the track ideas and components that could be used on the 2012 car.

The fact there are not so many changes to the technical regulations for next season, make this even more relevant. “The design office is now concentrating solely on next year’s car and that work is at a reasonably advanced stage in terms of mechanical components and the car’s bodywork,” revealed the Scuderia’s technical director Pat Fry. “As for what we are doing at these last two races, we will continue to work on developing new concepts for next year’s car. Some of the work takes as its starting point the very final development of this year’s car and some of it comes from the new design. This is valuable in terms of getting an understanding of different work methodologies and also gives us an early understanding, particularly in terms of the car’s aerodynamics and how to set up the car.” Asked to pick out a specific example of this crossover between the seasons, Fry singles out one major component: “I think the biggest addition we’ve made in performance terms in recent races is the new front wing which we first tried in Korea. We then ran it again on both cars in India. It is a very interesting development for us, as it does change the characteristics of the car and getting to understand how to get the most out of it is certainly an interesting challenge and in the short term it has helped our performance. We had some quality issue on one of the wings used in India but this solution will be in Abu Dhabi again, although after watching its behaviour at the last race, much work has been done to modify certain aspects of it before both drivers will try it this coming weekend.”

Abu Dhabi 2010 is still a painful memory for the team, given that it was here, at what was the final race last year, that Fernando’s very real chance of taking the Drivers’ crown evaporated in traffic. At the time, Fry experienced it one stage removed as he was not at the track. “I was in what we call the “remote garage” back in the factory last year for this race and I think that for me, as indeed for the whole team, to come that close to winning the championship and then lose it at the last minute was very hard to take,” admitted the Englishman. “Walking outside the factory that day I was amazed at the sheer number of fans who had turned up there to be close to us, supporting us in our disappointment. Personally, I always try and take each race as it comes and we will be trying to do our best there this year, while I regard what happened last year as history. Now we have to look forward, trying to do the best we can this weekend.”

The “remote garage” is the term for a facility within the Gestione Sportiva in Maranello, where engineers can follow the track action in real time, with access to all the data. “We try and use a group of engineers at the factory to support the race team by analysing the performance and reliability,” explains Fry. “From here they can analyse aero data, tyre data and so on and look at different set ups to ensure that the entire engineering team is focussed on getting the maximum out of the car over the weekend. That covers everything from aero and mechanical set-up and how to get the best out of the tyres. In fact it’s easier to do this back at the factory and is also the best way to comply with the regulations restricting the head count of those who travel to races. Another key area is strategy, as most of this work is done in the “remote garage” back in Maranello so it can have a decisive effect on our race on the Sunday, as well as during qualifying, when the engineers at home can, having studied more data, advise whether it is best to go out on a timed run at a particular point, or if it is more worthwhile to save tyres. So it has a significant effect on everything that happens at the track.”

In the course of the season, we have a late afternoon race in Melbourne, a night race in Singapore, while Abu Dhabi sits between the two, starting in daylight before the race reaches its climax under spotlights as night falls. Technically, this makes for the unusual situation of track temperature being higher at the start of the race than in the middle and end, which can have an effect on tyre behaviour. For this race, Pirelli is bringing its Medium and its Soft compounds. Like all the teams, Scuderia Ferrari has the previous two years of racing at Yas Marina on which to base its initial set-up work on Friday, so unlike India a fortnight ago, the work of preparing for Sunday and evaluating new elements for 2012 can begin immediately the green light comes on at the end of pit lane on Friday. “Abu Dhabi is similar to the last three tracks we have visited, even if there are fewer high speed corners,” says Fry. “As always, it is still a case of finding the right balance on the car. Last year, as we found to our cost, overtaking was very difficult at this circuit, however we have seen a big change this year thanks to several factors including the DRS. In some cases, it was found that the DRS zones were not long enough and this will no doubt be adjusted for next year, while at other tracks, it was relatively simple to overtake another car. So I’m sure that, with two DRS zone available, it will be easier this weekend than in 2010, but until we get to the track it is hard to say exactly how straightforward it will be. We will keep on pushing as hard as we can. In terms of what we can expect for this weekend, it will be similar to the last few races, which means that if we put everything together perfectly, as we did in India with Fernando we should have a reasonable chance of getting onto the podium.”

Yas Marina, 9 November – It has now been a year since the public opening of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, the world’s first theme park dedicated to the Maranello company. To coincide with the third edition of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the FWAD is opening its doors to the whole Formula 1 community: until November 14, members of the 12 participating teams and representatives of the accredited media will have the chance to see inside the biggest covered theme park in the world. They will be able to try out the 20 attractions inspired by Ferrari, among them ‘Formula Rossa’: two kilometres of ups and downs on the world’s fastest rollercoaster with its top speed of 240km/h and its peak of 1.9G acceleration: figures truly worthy of Formula 1!