For now it seems he's ok as he's talking. But that's a very serious crash. With numerous 360s after catching the front-left of Grosjean on Turn nine, sending him airbourne into the wall.

His car has been flipped back the right way up, and the safety car is out.

Renault team radio: "Are you OK, Nico?"

Hulkenberg: "I'm hanging here like a cow. There's fire. There's fire."

Hulkenberg crashespublished at 13:15 Greenwich Mean Time 25 November 2018

13:15 GMT 25 November 2018

Nico Hulkenberg goes airbourne and landed upside down and slid into the barrier. He's currently stuck in the car while they try to extract him.

Jack Nicholls
Radio 5 live Formula 1 commentator

"Max Verstappen had a horrible start. He lost three places in the Red Bull."

And we're off for the final race of the season.

Image source, Reuters

Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live

"There won't be any team orders from Mercedes today, given that they have the drivers' and constructors' championships sewn up. But I wouldn't expect Valtteri Bottas to do any diving up the inside."

Image source, Getty Images

A contender for Alonso’s greatest ever victory. Running second behind BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica in the early laps following a first-lap contretemps between the two McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari, Alonso took control of Renault’s strategy from the cockpit.

He asked the team who his rivals for victory were. Informed it was Kubica, he told the team to short-fuel him for the second stint, to get him track position, and then set a series of qualifying-style laps to pull clear of the Pole before his second stop.

“He gave a very clear instruction,” remembers Renault sporting director Alan Permane. “I’d never heard a driver do that before.”

Jack Nicholls
Radio 5 live Formula 1 commentator

"There have been some really great races this season. Even two weeks ago, with the drivers' championship decided, we had a really thrilling race in Brazil. I'm optimistic about this Grand Prix."

So what chance a Red Bull victory today? Team principal Christian Horner is on Sky Sports: "We have different strategies for the two drivers today. We don't know whether one's right or wrong. The car's good on the tyres, so we hope we can take advantage of that."

Ferrari have never won a race in Abu Dhabi, and Red Bull were only dominant in the Sebastian Vettel double diffuser days.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, F1

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Abu Dhabi

Image source, Getty Images

It’s looking like a one-stop race, whether drivers start on the hyper-soft - as in the case of Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen - or the ultra-soft.

Ultra and then soft is the fastest race, stopping to change tyres somewhere around lap 18 to 22.

And the reason behind the desire of the top teams to start on the ultras becomes clear when you look at the tyre-degradation chart - the hyper goes off on average across the teams at nearly 0.6secs a lap; the ultra at only 0.1secs.

But still Max Verstappen, who had a messy qualifying session, is optimistic he might be able to do something from sixth on the hyper.

"They will be worried I will start undercutting them,” he said. “So, maybe it's nice in a way that we are different. We have two cars on different tyres, so we can do different things.

"I was quite all right on the hypers on the long runs [in Friday practice], so we'll just have to wait and see what's going to happen. The ultra is also not an amazing tyre to drive on. They will have to manage - it's not as if they can go flat out.”

Ok then, let's get down to business...

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Abu Dhabi

Possibly Alonso’s greatest win. Starting 11th, he gained three places at the start, and then moved up through the field with some brilliant passing moves.

He was gifted third place when McLaren bungled Hamilton’s pit stop, passed Lotus’ Romain Grosjean for second at a re-start after a safety car period with a stunning move around the outside and then took the lead when Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull stopped with alternator failure.

He wept tears of joy on the podium, overwhelmed by what he later called the “intensity” of it all.

Image source, Getty Images

Two chart-toppers on the grid in Abu Dhabi; Sam Smith and Geri Horner (of Spice Girls fame).

"It's mad down here," says Smith, who is making no, ahem, Promises about the result.

Asked if her other half's Red Bull team really, really, really might finish with a win today, Horner says: "Anything's possible. You never know, but maybe."

Image source, Getty Images

Jack can also be heard here looking back at the career of Fernando Alonso and asks whether he will be remembered as one of the greats or a "pantomime villain".

Does this picture even need any words?

Image source, Getty Images

Our commentary team of Jack, Jennie and Jolyon are live on BBC Radio 5 live and can be heard at the top of the page.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Abu Dhabi

Image source, Getty Images

Fifth on the grid, Alonso was boxed in at the start but then passed both Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus and Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes around the outside of the 150mph Turn Three on the first lap.

It is, he later says, the best overtaking move of his career. And it is the crucial foundation for a brilliant win on a four-stop strategy marrying delicate feel for the fragile Pirelli tyres with pace no-one else can match.

James Ward: I wonder if Hamilton will give Bottas a win today in return for favours earlier in the season? Or will someone like Raikkonen spoil the party.

Inge: The stupid thing is no matter how Bottas wins (if he does), some people will say that Hamilton let him pass.

Chris Doherty: With all the seat changes going on with the drivers I propose one more, BBC to hire Kayleigh as their official F1 qualy and race predictor for 2019 onward.

Please don't take my job Kayleigh...

One for the F1 family photo album.

Well done to the five drivers who actually managed to remove their sunglasses for the ten seconds it probably took to take it.

Image source, Getty Images