Vettel takes Abu Dhabi win, with Red Bull 1-2
Sunday 01, 21:33
For the entire week, we had heard so much about the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It was going to be the best circuit ever built, one of the highlights of the season.
In actual fact, it was rather like watching paint dry, hence the beautiful picture in this article.
The start was, as usual, utter chaos. Lewis Hamilton made a nice start to the race with Vettel fighting off Webber. At turn one, Barrichello clipped Webber and lost part of his front wing, but it appeared to help him rather than hinder him, quite oddly.
The race soon settled down into a Tilke-bore, see what I did there?
No, seriously, I fear many people fell asleep, especially after the first stops when Lewis Hamilton was forced to retire with rear brake problems, McLaren sensibly deciding not to risk carnage due to a brake failure.
From there on, there was nothing much to talk or write about, so I won't.
What I will write about, however, is the final seven laps of the race, possibly the best final laps of the season. Jenson Button closed down on Webber at a rate of over half a second per lap, and with three laps left, he was all over him.
It was a question of whether Button would risk losing it all to gain another place, and whether Webber could cope with the pressure. Into the last lap, Button caught Webber as they ventured onto the longest straight in Formula One.
The cars were nose to tail, fighting like it was for the title, a stunning end to a poor race. Button was ahead n the second straight but Webber got him back again. Through the following corners, the track is awfully laid out and Button had to settle for third.
T.V.Coverage
The BBC have been perfect every single time this season, and yet again, they get 10/10. Just as long as they get rid of Jonathan Legard that is.
Race Rating
As with the rest of Tilke circuits, this one gets 0/10. I do not like this place at all, not at all. A brilliant venue, we'll be there, I hope, next year, but as for the track, no thanks.
Driver of the Day
Not often I give a rookie this award two races in a row, but I will now. Kamui Kobayashi, no experience of desert racing of this kind, first night race, and he scores points. Brilliant drive.
Race Classification:
01. S. Vettel Red Bull 1:34:03.414
02. M. Webber Red Bull + 17.857
03. J. Button Brawn GP + 18.467
04. R. Barrichello Brawn GP + 22.735
05. N. Heidfeld BMW + 26.253
06. K. Kobayashi Toyota + 28.343
07. J. Trulli Toyota + 34.366
08. S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso + 41.294
09. N. Rosberg Williams + 45.941
10. R. Kubica BMW + 48.180
11. H. Kovalainen McLaren + 52.798
12. K. Räikkönen Ferrari + 54.317
13. K. Nakajima Williams + 1:59.839
14. F. Alonso Renault + 1:09.687
15. V. Liuzzi Force India F1 + 1:34.450
16. G. Fisichella Ferrari + 1 lap(s)
17. R. Grosjean Renault + 1 lap(s)
18. A. Sutil Force India F1 + 1 lap(s)
19. L. Hamilton McLaren + 35 lap(s)
20. J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso + 37 lap(s)
Image courtesy of Red Bull + Minor editing | Times provided by FOM Ltd
