A stunning location provided the back drop for what was a rather mundane F1 Grand Prix at the new Abu Dhabi circuit. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) won from his team mate Mark Webber after the pole sitter Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) retired with potential rear brake failure. This was the third victory in a row for Red Bull having won at Japan (Vettel) and Brazil (Webber).
Vettel started alongside Hamilton and overtook him at the first round of pit stops to lead the race. Hamilton retired soon after when his pit instructed him to stop with an uncertain brake problem, rather than risk a serious incident.
"It is a challenging cirucuit and it is easy to make a mistake here," exclaimed Vettel. "Winning the race and a 1-2 for Red Bull racing, well it can't get any better."
The high point of the GP was the race for second and third. Newly crowned world champion Jenson Button (Brawn GP) caught Webber in the dying moments of the race and attempted three times to get past on the last lap. Webber, who appeared to have a disadvantage under braking amazingly held out the fast Brit.
“ I thought that this was going to be quite tight at the end so I needed to be quite accurate in my braking,” commented Webber.
“After the second stop I found that I had really good grip with the option tyre,” commented Button. “Mark is always difficult to pass but while disappointed not to have got second it has been a great weekend. It has been a nice way to end the year. They (Red Bull) certainly had the legs on us today.”
The win for Vettel cemented his second place in the driver’s championship, overtaking Button’s team mate Rubens Barrichello. Barrichello who had been fighting with Button all season finished fourth ahead of Nic Heidfeld.
Fill in driver for Toyota’s Timo Glock, Kamu Kobayashi, finished sixth ahead of his team mate Jarno Trulli. Kabayashi’s result certainly turned heads at the meeting as at one stage he held third position before his one and only pit stop. Now doubt he will secure an F1 drive next season and speculation is that he’ll stay at Toyota.
With the demise of Hamilton’s McLaren the potential for a dramatic fight between the top qualifiers and an exciting race changed into a processional Grand Prix. While Vettel was the deserved winner the new Abu Dhabi circuit will no doubt be the favourite for drivers, teams and spectators in the future.
See also
- Post 2009 Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix press conference
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix result (55 laps)
1. VETTEL Red Bull
2. WEBBER Red Bull +17.8s
3. BUTTON Brawn +18.4s
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn +22.7s
5. HEIDFELD BMW +26.2s
6. KOBAYASHI Toyota +28.3s
7. TRULLI Toyota +34.3s
8. BUEMI Toro Rosso +41.2s
9. ROSBERG Williams +45.9s
10. KUBICA BMW +48.1s
11. KOVALAINEN McLaren +52.7s
12. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +54.3s
13. NAKAJIMA Williams +59.8s
14. ALONSO Renault +69.6s
15. LIUZZI Force India +94.4s
16. FISICHELLA Ferrari +1 lap
17. SUTIL Force India +1 lap
18. GROSJEAN Renault +1 lap
19. HAMILTON McLaren +35 laps
20. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso +37 laps
1. Jenson Button Brawn GP 95
2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 84
3. Rubens Barrichello Brawn GP 77
4. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 69.5
5. Lewis Hamilton McLaren Mercedes 49
6. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 48
7. Nico Rosberg Williams 34.5
8. Jarno Trulli Toyota 32.5
9. Fernando Alonso Renault 26
10. Timo Glock Toyota 24
11. Felipe Massa Ferrari 22
12. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren Mercedes 22
13. Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 19
14. Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 17
15. Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari & Force India 8
16. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 6
17. Adrian Sutil Force India 5
18. Kamui Kobayashi Toyota 3
19. Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 2
Constructor Team Points
1. Brawn GP 172
2. Red Bull Racing 153.5
3. McLaren Mercedes 71
4. Ferrari 70
5. Toyota 59.5
6. BMW Sauber 36
7. Williams 34.5
8. Renault 26
9. Force India 13
10. Scuderia Toro Rosso 8
