5 Formula 1 Drivers in Need of a Strong End to 2015 at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

After the 2015 Formula One titles were settled in the favour of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes in mid-October, this weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is at risk of being a rather hollow event.

Without the intrigue and drama of a championship showdown, there is a temptation to dismiss the final race of a largely uneventful season as a meaningless affair—a mere parade to endure before the sport resets and the serious business restarts next March.

But that would be to miss the point.

In a sport as egotistical as F1, a driver's pride is always on the line, and while the main prizes may be out of reach, several competitors can extract much from what is effectively a non-championship race.

Kimi Raikkonen, for instance, is just one of a number of drivers yet to secure his finishing position in the 2015 standings, while some are searching for a little confidence boost ahead of the winter break and others are still hoping to secure their future in the sport.

Ahead of the Yas Marina race, here are five drivers who need to sign off in style.

The general consensus is that Lewis Hamilton, having failed to win the last two races, is the Mercedes driver under most pressure at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

But against the backdrop of the three-time world champion's record at the Yas Marina circuit—Hamilton has three podiums, including two victories, and two pole positions at the venue—it is Nico Rosberg, chasing a third consecutive win for the first time in his career, in need of another strong result this weekend.

Winning in Mexico, at a brand-new track, and Brazil, where Hamilton has now failed to reach the top step of the podium in nine attempts, was the easy bit for the German, operating without the pressure of a title battle.

But if he could defeat Hamilton in a straight fight at a place where his team-mate has always excelled, Rosberg's recovery would be complete and his confidence—as he admitted to Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble—would return to its peak ahead of 2016.

Victory in Abu Dhabi may also have a cleansing effect on Rosberg, washing away any lingering sense of disappointment over his defeat in 2014, when a debilitating technical issue ended his slender championship chances.

He has never entered a more important yet insignificant race weekend.

After the collisions in Russia and Mexico, a post-race time penalty and even a war of words, the Battle of the Flying Finns has come down to this.

The fight for fourth place in the drivers' standings between Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen, who are currently separated by just a single point, is arguably the most fascinating theme of the Abu Dhabi GP weekend.

And it is one the 2007 world champion, one of only three drivers to win at Yas Marina, simply cannot afford to lose.

In danger of finishing with less than half the points of his team-mate for the second successive season, Raikkonen—despite suffering misfortune throughout the year—has admitted that he has been unhappy with his progress in 2015, telling Thursday's FIA press conference that his performances have been "pretty average."

But while it is now his purpose, as Ferrari's No. 2 driver, to nestle behind Sebastian Vettel both on track and in the championship, it would be unacceptable for Raikkonen—in a year his team have frequently challenged world champions Mercedes—to be outscored by a driver in an inferior car.

Especially when that driver was strongly linked to replacing Raikkonen at the halfway stage of the season, per Corriere dello Sport (h/t Sky Sports).

If Bottas, who has endured a similarly inconsistent campaign, were to beat Raikkonen to fourth, it would effectively confirm that Ferrari—as we recently speculated—did make a mistake in retaining Kimi for 2016 after all.

The symbolism of being beaten by Bottas could haunt Raikkonen throughout next season.

Once the driver everyone yearned to see behind the wheel of a front-running car, Nico Hulkenberg is not quite so fashionable anymore.

Since his team-mate, Sergio Perez, located the key to the German's success and paired his pace with newfound consistency, Hulkenberg's importance to Force India appears to have been lessened.

As a polished Perez was in the midst of his run of six points finishes in seven races following the summer break, culminating in his third-place finish in Russia, Hulkenberg was reduced to an error-prone wreck, driving as though his unique selling point had been lost.

Although he has shown occasional flashes of his old self, equalling his best result of the season (sixth) in Japan and Brazil, Hulkenberg's scruffy post-Suzuka performances in Russia and the United States means it is too early to suggest he is back to his best.

With his 10th position in the drivers' standings under threat from both Romain Grosjean and Max Verstappen ahead of the Abu Dhabi GP, a second calm, confident performance in as many races would suggest Hulkenberg is at least over the worst of his mid-career crisis ahead of the winter break.

And most significantly, it would prevent him from returning as Force India's No. 2 driver in 2016.

With just 55 laps of the season remaining, Marcus Ericsson is trapped in Formula One's catacomb, sandwiched between the hopeless Manor drivers and the lost souls of McLaren-Honda.

It is a position no self-respecting driver deserves to be in and, in truth, is an unfair reflection of a campaign in which Ericsson has proved to be a far more competent performer than he appeared to be for much of his time at Caterham in 2014.

While he lacks the finesse of his rookie team-mate, Felipe Nasr, Ericsson has driven reasonably well, chipping in and adding to the team's tally whenever possible—including that run of three consecutive top-10 results between Hungary and Italy.

Indeed, his value to Sauber is such that the nine points he has scored in 2015 is the exact advantage the Swiss outfit currently hold over McLaren in the race for eighth.

Despite the benefit of Ferrari's power unit, Ericsson is unlikely to score the three points required to jump Fernando Alonso in the drivers' standings in Abu Dhabi, never mind the eight needed to overtake 16th-placed Jenson Button.

But even if the championship table has lied on this occasion, Ericsson deserves to cap a steady if unspectacular season by ending his six-race run without a point.

The end of Alexander Rossi's five-race deal with Manor has seen Roberto Merhi return to the cockpit for the first time since October's Russian GP in Abu Dhabi.

But his first race in almost two months is likely to be his last in Formula One for the foreseeable future.

While Rossi recently told Sky Sports' James Galloway that he has a "very good" chance of earning a full-time seat for 2016 and team-mate Will Stevens told Autosport's Ian Parkes of his confidence of being retained, Merhi's future is far more uncertain.

In Thursday's FIA press conference, the Spaniard explained his plan of action "is to try to stay in Formula One and trying to see what is the best options out there," adding that "there is nothing clear yet but we will look in the next few weeks to see what is happening."

All the signs suggest Merhi, who left his Formula Renault 3.5 team in September to focus on his F1 career only to be sidelined by Manor just days later, is hoping to cling onto his place in the pinnacle of motorsport by securing a reserve or development-driver role of some description.

The Abu Dhabi weekend, then, is his last chance to make a meaningful impression, to put himself in the shop window and make himself an attractive proposition to potential employers.

As always with those toward the rear of the grid, on-track exploits are secondary to off-track matters when it comes to a driver's future, but overcoming his lack of track time to beat Stevens would be a fine way for Merhi to begin his search for salvation.

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