With 99 per cent of tickets for Abu Dhabi already sold and conflict hanging over the region, Formula 1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali has confirmed that the season's final races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi will go ahead as planned. Military action had already forced F1 to scrap the April rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, leaving the Qatar Grand Prix on 29 November and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on 6 December to bring the curtain down on the campaign. Yet the drivers are far from united. "Normally I am happy to go to Qatar and Abu Dhabi, but you know, when there is a war nearby... I think we shouldn't go," Max Verstappen said, making no secret of his safety concerns.
Verstappen's misgivings have not moved the sport's bosses. Even with a back-up plan to switch the finale to Imola in Italy on the table, the F1 chief confirmed that Formula 1 is fully prepared to close the season at the scheduled venues.
