F1 set for final showdown on Twitter

The 2014 Formula One (@F1) championship goes down to the wire on Sunday, and you can follow every moment on Twitter.

Teammates @LewisHamilton and @Nico_Rosberg both have a chance to win the title for @MercedesAMGF1 at the #AbuDhabiGP – the final race of the season. And @F1 will be the home for live updates throughout race weekend, including exclusive real-time data graphics, which have been a hit with F1 fans since they were introduced at the #SingaporeGP.

That’s just one part of a series of upgrades to F1’s Twitter feed, which have led to a 50% increase in followers over the season, taking it past 1 million followers.

The official @F1 account has also begun to share behind-the-scenes insights and photos:

And since the #SingaporeGP, thanks to a cutting-edge integration with technology company @calreply, fans have been able to upload the full race calendar to their mobile phones simply by Tweeting #Calendar to @F1.

When F1 news breaks it breaks on Twitter, as seen on Thursday when Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) Tweeted that long-standing driver Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) would be leaving the team to be replaced by Sebastian Vettel.

The Italian team changed their Twitter handle from @InsideFerrari to @ScuderiaFerrari on the same day, celebrating their new identity by adding it their pit-lane branding:

Meanwhile, a host of teams continue to use Twitter to bring fans closer to their heroes.

For example, @McLarenF1 invited 15 Twitter ‘super fans’ to the McLaren Technology Centre for an ongoing conversation between the team, its drivers and fans, who celebrated a moment with a selfie featuring @KevinMagnussen.

And @redbullracing formed their own Breakfast Club, featuring fans, doughnuts and driver @DanielRicciardo.

Before using Twitter video to showcase four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel, driving on the streets of Austin before the #USGP.

The @Lotus_F1Team used Twitter to roll out the red carpet and give supporters a look at the #FactoryWalk at their headquarters:

And @MercedesAMGF1 have identified the importance of a multilingual approach – not only Tweeting in English and German (to reflect their drivers’ nationalities), but also in the native language of host races around the world:

To reflect the epic tussle between drivers, and building up to the grand finale, Mercedes have also created their own hashtag, #DesertDuel, using Rudyard Kipling’s famous poem “If”.

All the F1 teams are on Twitter, and the top five most-followed are:

1. Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari)
2. Mercedes (@MercedesAMGF1)
3. McLaren (@McLarenF1)
4. Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing)
5. Lotus (@Lotus_F1Team)

Meanwhile, 19 of the 22 F1 drivers are on Twitter, and you can follow them here. The top five most-followed are:

1. Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton)
2. Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial)
3. Jenson Button (@JensonButton)
4. Nico Rosberg (@nico_rosberg)
5. Sergio Perez (@SChecoPerez)

Hamilton heads into the #AbuDhabiGP at the top of the F1 standings, and is also the most talked-about driver on Twitter. Since the start of the season in March, the five most-discussed drivers on Twitter are:

1. Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton)
2. Sebastian Vettel
3. Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial)
4. Jules Bianchi (@Jules_Bianchi)
5. Nico Rosberg (@nico_rosberg)

Whomever prevails in the championship on Sunday, the conversation will continue apace on @F1 and #AbuDhabiGP, as well as via all the team and driver accounts. Follow the action on Twitter for live updates this weekend so you don’t miss a moment.