Fast 5: What to know about the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

A long Formula One season is set to end in the desert. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix starts in the sunlight and will have crowned a new world champion when it concludes under the stars. Here's five things to know about Sunday's 55-lap finale:

Double Points = Double Confusion

The previous 17 races have been dominated by Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Hamilton, who is in the hunt for his second world title, enters Abu Dhabi with a 17-point lead on Rosberg in the standings.

What should be a romp to the title however is complicated by the introduction of double points for the race. Double points aren't exactly a hit with fans, drivers or teams, but they do give Rosberg a chance of winning his first title. Provided he's good at math, that is.

Dreaming of third place

It's not a stretch to predict Hamilton, who previously won the race in 2011, and Rosberg will be on the podium. They've each only missed it three times this season. A better guessing game to play is who will join them.

History suggests it will be Sebastien Vettel, who has won three of the five races held at Abu Dhabi since 2009. But the defending world champion is having a miserable year and already has a foot out the door as he prepares to leave Red Bull for Ferrari in 2015.

Consider instead Williams drivers Valtteri Bottas or Felipe Massa. Williams has often been the fastest car on the grid when on a straight, and there are two long ones in the desert. Massa meanwhile is coming off an emotional third-place finish in his native Brazil.

Cash rules everything around F1

Mercedes has already locked up the Constructors' Championship and Red Bull is guaranteed second place. But there's still plenty of money to be won - and lost - by the rest of the grid.

The key battle is for third place between Williams and Ferrari. Williams has surged from mediocrity on the wave of a statement season by Bottas. Fernando Alonso has been typically reliable for Ferrari, but the team trails Williams by 44 points.

Crowdfunded Caterham

Credit Caterham for doing all it can to finish the season with two cars on the track. The small team went into administration last month but launched a crowdfunding campaign to help it race at Abu Dhabi.

The campaign worked, insofar as Caterham will be at Yas Marina after the team skipped the U.S. Grand Prix and the Brazilian Grand Prix. Kamui Kobayashi will suit up alongside Will Stevens, who is making his F1 debut in place of Marcus Ericsson.

But don't expect much from Caterham in this race. Their bigger focus is on finding a new owner for the 2015 season, which is more than poor Marussia can say.

Musical Chairs

The 2015 grid is nearly complete but a couple seats remain open.

Now that Vettel will join Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari, the spotlight is on Alonso. The two-time world champion has widely been reported to be on his way to McLaren. If that happens, either Jenson Button or Kevin Magnussen are out. 

It's been assumed Button, a former world champion himself, will leave the sport. McLaren, meanwhile, have already said an announcement won't be made until after the race.

The other open seat belongs to Toro Rosso. Max Verstappen will make his debut next year, but he still needs a teammate with Daniil Kvyat's promotion to Red Bull and Jean-Eric Vergne's departure.