FIA press conference schedule - Abu Dhabi

Facing the media in Abu Dhabi on Thursday will be the man who has just won the world title, two former champions who pushed him all the way, and three drivers who each aspire to be a champion. And on Friday it is the turn of senior team personnel, including McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh and Toro Rosso’s Franz Tost. The line-ups in full...

Thursday, October 31, 1500 hours local time (1100 GMT)
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Adrian Sutil (Force India), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull).

Friday, November 1, 1900 hours local time (1500 GMT)
Cyril Abiteboul (Caterham), John Booth (Marussia), Paul Hembery (Pirelli), Franz Tost (Toro Rosso), Claire Williams (Williams), Martin Whitmarsh (McLaren).

The status in Dubai less than a week before the GP

I'm about 50 miles from the Yas Marina track right now so I thought there would be some kind of billboards or commercials regarding F1, but I haven't seen anything yet. It's almost like nobody even cares about the GP.

The only thing I saw at the hotel was a group of Russians that had Ferrari caps on and they were talking something about Formula One. OK so I'm not the only one looking forward to the GP weekend.

At the supermarket there was a big cardboard Kimi Räikkönen behind the Burn energy drinks which was kind of funny.

At the mall I saw a miniature of Alonso and his Ferrari. A girl asked me if I needed any assistance so I asked if they had a Ferrari with Felipe Massa as well? She looked at me with big eyes and didn't know what I was talking about. I asked if they had a driver with a different helmet or just this one type? She continued to look at me like I was some kind of an idiot.

Later I went to another store and when I was paying for my shoppings I saw somebody familiar. At first I just looked at the guy and thought "Where have I seen this man before? Oh yes.. on TV with a Lotus shirt on. It's Gerard Lopez!" My wife was not impressed at all but I sure as hell was!

Gerard Lopez at a press conference (not from Dubai).

If I have time I will later visit the Dubai Autodrome. The Formula One management were planning to use the track for winter testing in 2014 but they desided to use the Yas Marina track instead.

I'll post some pictures here on the blog if I ever get there.

The Dubai Autodrome