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Evolution better than revolution ?

In a way, it seems right that the Formula One World Championship arrives at the final round of the 2009 season with both the drivers' and constructors titles already settled.

The inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is as much about creating a show business 'wow' factor as it is about pure racing. It seems silly to let something like a championship battle get in the way of the entertainment.

Of course I am writing this with my tongue, as they say in Britain, firmly in my cheek. The competitive element in this weekend's race will be no less strong as in Brazil two weeks ago or for that matter in Australia when the season started back in March.

In the past few months we've enjoyed some great racing, but it is most noticable that the older, more mature tracks still deliver the best racing. Think of the great battles we saw at Spa and Monza, the spectacular action at Suzuka and amid the puddles and peeling paintwork at Interlagos. These are tracks with action in their DNA.

Abu Dhabi is revolutionary for the sport in that for the first time the track is at the core of a leisure complex. The start straight runs under the lobby of the 500 bedroom, five-star Yas Hotel whose outer walls feature an amazing LED 'Grid-Shell' panel, which is programmed to change colour, generating light shows over the course of the weekend.

Will it be spectacular? Absolutely yes.

Will it redefine the sporting spectacle? Probably.

Will it add anything to motor racing in the long term? Possibly not.

It all depends for me, simply on how good the track will be for racing. While I think it is one of the great things about motor racing is that we constantly visit new locations, they have to be backed by a real commitment to delivering action.

A little over a decade ago you may remember the excitement when Sepang hosted the first Malaysian Grand Prix and the shining new track was regarded as the last word in modern cool. Thankfully, it has matured into a great driver's track too, always delivering a drama and a worthy winner.

The same cannot be said about the dry, dusty (and rather lacking in spectators) Istanbul Otodrom, or the European Grand Prix in Valencia. It has all the excitement of a container park, as well as grandstands situated only on the straights, well out of sight of any possible action, should any happen to occur in the corners.

It is notable that the spectators vote with their feet on these venues and that in the fullness of time they may be replaced with something better. However there is also a real risk that some of the great Grand Prix may disappear.

The collapse of finances to back the reconstruction of the Donington Park circuit in the UK has placed the British Grand Prix in jeopardy. Unless a deal is struck in the next few weeks with Silverstone, the race may not happen in 2010 - or ever again.

The Italian Grand Prix at Monza and the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa also face real threats to their futures. In both cases, local residents are apparently complaining to the European Commission about the noise and disruption caused by racing.

Now, both these great tracks have been hosting races since the 1920s, so it is highly unlikely that any of these residents moved in before the track was built. Do you mean that they moved in next to Spa or Monza and didn't know it was there, or what it was used for?

All the more reason therefore why motor sports governing body needs a firm hand in control. Jean Todt, who won the election to replace Max Mosley will I hope provide that leadership.

Certainly his management credentials in winning Le Mans, the Paris-Dakar Rally-Raid and the World Rally Championship for Peugeot, before moving to Ferrari and cementing the team that gave Michael Schumacher his run of titles, are impeccable.

Nor do I think, despite his recent past, that he will be overtly pro-Ferrari. Todt is his own man and will I think change the FIA into a stronger body by evolution, rather than the revolution Ari Vatanen promised.

Meanwhile I still have to answer the oldest question of them all. Who will win on Sunday?

You can't rule out Red Bull's two drivers, nor Lewis Hamilton's on-form McLaren, but I reckon that Brawn GP could still be the car to beat. If Button were to win on Sunday, it would certainly .make him a worthy 2009 World Champion!

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