Channel Ten has responded to massive interest in the final race of the Formula One season - in which Australia's Mark Webber is expected to feature prominently - by sending a crew to Abu Dhabi as well as showing the race live on both Channel Ten and One HD.

Ten's General Manager of Sport David White said today the countdown to the season climax on Sunday would begin at 10.30pm on OneHD with a 30-minute documentary followed by a one-hour race preview. The race itself is due to start at midnight. 

White confirmed the documentary would concentrate predominantly on Webber and his rise to power as one of the best Formula One drivers in the world.

"It (the documentary) will focus on Mark and include several interviews with him before Sunday's race and provide some history of how Mark got to be where he is today," White told BackPageLead.

For the final race of the year, Channel Ten has increased its commitment by sending Greg Rust and James Allen as well as a small crew to Abu Dhabi. The extra commitment reflects not just Webber's involvement - he currently lies in second place in the drivers' championship, eight points adrift of Fernando Alonso - but the closeness of the competition with four drivers still in with a chance.

Webber's Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel lies in third place, seven points behind Webber, while 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton is also an outside chance in fourth place. The four-way battle for the title at the Yas Marinas circuit is one of the most closely contested in recent years.

Webber led the championship for several rounds before being overtaken by Ferrari's Alonso in South Korea three weeks ago.

"Just the fact that he is more competitive this year helps with drawing interest towards the sport. Australian's love winners and clearly with Mark doing well, it helps," White said.

If he can prevail, Webber will be the first Australian to win the Formula One title since Alan Jones was crowned champion in 1980.

Jones, who drove for Williams during his time in the premier class, said he was confident of Webber's chances this weekend when interviewed by the ABC yesterday.

"I think mentally he will now be better prepared than all of them to get the job done," Jones said.

"Compared to the guys that he's competing against, who with all due respect have had a bit of a silver-spoon in their mouth, Mark's come up the hard way.''

Jones also suggested that because Webber is performing so well the interest in the sport in Australia has increased.

"A lot of people that aren't normally into motor sport are following this and it might just create an interest in the sport that wasn't there before," he said.

Webber and teammate Vettel are in a minor battle of their own with the German seven points behind the Australian. However, according to Jones, if Vettel is unable to win the championship he may allow Mark to pass and secure the drivers title.

"It's going to be a moving game of chess. If Mark's in a situation to become world champion and Vettel's not, I would hope that Vettel does the right thing and allows Mark to come through," he said.