Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

There was a Red Bull stampede at last weekend’s Abu Dhabi grand prix, with the squad taking an impressive one-two result. Sebastian Vettel headed team mate Mark Webber, while newly crowned world champion Jenson Button claimed the final podium spot.

However, it was McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton who led away from the lights. The 2008 champ set the early pace, but was passed by Vettel in the first round of pit stops when the German was able run two laps longer and leap ahead. Disaster then struck Lewis two laps later when a rear brake problem forced him into retirement.

This promoted Toyota’s young gun Kamui Kobayashi up to third. The Japanese driver was on a one-stop strategy and able to make up places as the leading two stop drivers made their first visit to the pits. At one point he was the fastest man on the track, and gaining on the top two. However, his pace was slowed after he finally stopped for fuel, and he slipped down the order to sixth at the flag.

Ahead of him was the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld. The German gave the squad a boost in it final grand prix by finishing fifth and grabbing a handful of points. Team mate Kubica ran as high as sixth, before tumbling down the order to tenth at the finish after being held up by the one-stopping McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen.

Ferrari had an event to forget with Raikkonen finishing in twelfth position, five places ahead of team mate Giancarlo Fisichella. The Italian squad’s new signing Fernando Alonso had an equally low key race. In his last outing in the uncompetitive Renault he could only manage a fourteenth place finish.

At the sharp end of the grid Button and Webber were fighting it out for second place. With only a handful of laps to go the Brawn driver was able to get alongside the Red Bull but couldn’t make the overtaking move stick, meaning the world champ had to settle for third.

There were no such challenges for Vettel and his run to the flag was unchallenged. “A fantastic race,” exclaimed the German. “I was able to pace myself a bit and until the end the car was fantastic and was working brilliantly on both tyre compounds. Congratulations to the team too. They have been pushing, working a lot back in the factory, and we can see that the car is getting quicker. It is a shame now that the season ends but it is a perfect day to finish the season on a high”.

Result

1. Sebastian Vettel        Red Bull-Renault
2. Mark Webber        Red Bull-Renault
3. Jenson Button        Brawn-Mercedes
4. Rubens Barrichello   Brawn-Mercedes
5. Nick Heidfeld      BMW Sauber
6. Kamui Kobayashi     ToyotaB
7. Jarno Trulli        Toyota
8. Sebastien Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari
9. Nico Rosberg       Williams-Toyota
10. Robert Kubica        BMW Sauber
11. Heikki Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes
12. Kimi Raikkonen     Ferrari
13. Kazuki Nakajima      Williams-Toyota
14. Fernando Alonso        Renault
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes
16. Romain Grosjean      Renault
17. Giancarlo Fisichella    Ferrari
18. Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes


Driver Championship

1. Jenson Button      95
2. Sebastian Vettel     84
3. Rubens Barrichello     77
4. Mark Webber     69.5
5. Lewis Hamilton     49
6. Kimi Räikkönen     48
7. Nico Rosberg     34.5
8. Jarno Trulli     32.5
9. Fernando Alonso     26
10. Timo Glock     24

Constructor Championship

1. Brawn-Mercedes      172
2. RBR-Renault     153.5
3. McLaren-Mercedes     71
4. Ferrari     70
5. Toyota     59.5
6. BMW Sauber     36
7. Williams-Toyota     34.5
8. Renault     26
9. Force India-Mercedes     13
10. STR-Ferrari     8