F1: Max Verstappen ready for final showdown, Mick Schumacher to race for Alpine in endurance races

Just five days after winning in Las Vegas, Max Verstappen will climb into his Red Bull car for the final time this year on Friday when he begins his bid for another record-extending triumph at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Like the rest of a weary F1 circuit, the three-time world champion will be fatigued and probably struggling with jet lag following a 12-hour time difference switch after four consecutive races in the Americas.

Verstappen's win on Las Vegas' neon-lit street circuit was his 18th in 21 races this season and the 53rd of his career.

It brought him level with four-time champion Sebastian Vettel in the record books. Only Michael Schumacher on 91 wins and Lewis Hamilton on 103 lie ahead.

With teammate Sergio Perez finishing third, behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, the outcome in Nevada confirmed Red Bull's first one-two finish in the drivers' championship ahead of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, the team having won the constructors' title by more than 400 points to claim a memorable double.

It is the first time since 2015 that the top three places in the drivers' title race have been settled before the season finale.

Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time F1 world champion Michael, will race for Alpine in the world endurance championship next season while continuing as F1 reserve driver for Mercedes, according to Alpine on Wednesday.

Alpine announced the 24-year-old German as one of six drivers competing for them in two A424 Hypercars.

Schumacher will join French drivers Nicolas Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxiviere, Charles Milesi and Paul-Loup Chatin as well as Austrian Ferdinand Habsburg.

Mercedes confirmed separately that the German, who raced for Haas in F1 in 2021 and 2022, would continue as their reserve.

"A new chapter is beginning for me with Alpine," said Schumacher.

"I've grown up with single-seaters, so driving a car with a closed cockpit and covered wheels is a great opportunity to hone my driving skills.

"I sorely missed racing this year. It's what I've loved to do since I was a kid, and it was sometimes difficult to watch the other drivers take to the track."

Alpine said the crew line-up for the two cars would be announced on February 7.

The season, whose highlight is the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June, starts in Qatar in March.

Williams are the only team left in F1 still with a potential vacancy for 2024.

(With input from agencies)