Lewis Hamilton dominated the Abu Dhabi GP, as he took his first race win since the German GP. He fended off Fernando Alonso all race, while Sebastian Vettel retired on the first lap.
In a even start, the majority of drivers got away well. But, going into the second corner, Sebastian Vettel, current Number 1, spun off the track, revelling a punctured tyre. Hamilton inherited the lead, ahead of Button, Alonso & Webber. There were a few tussles in the midfield, which resulted in Sergio Perez getting a new front wing. Vettel managed to get his Red Bull back to the pit lane, but it was very soon apparent that his race was over. On his in-lap, the remaining rubber had destroyed the floor, and the right-rear wheel of the Red Bull Renault. His race was over, but everyone else's continued.
Jenson Button was under attack from Alonso. Famed for his good starts, the Spaniard was keen on second place. Going into the first DRS zone, Fernando managed to get a good enough run on the Brit to take second place. Next up was Webber, who was closing in on Button. Hamilton was pulling away at the front. He was ensuring that he had at least a 4 second gap to Alonso in second place. Button had been caught by Webber. Mark seemed to be able to hold onto Jenson in the corners, but the Red Bull seemed to have little pace on the straights. Even with KERS and DRS, Webber was having real difficulty on taking that final podium position. As Jenson held up Mark, Felipe Massa was catching up behind. It was soon becoming a three-way battle for third.
Soon though, it looked like Mark had taken that third place. Going into the first DRS zone, Webber took the inside line and overtook Jenson. However, Button got a good driver of the second chicane, and going into the second DRS zone Jenson took that place back. By this time, the first pit-stop window was open, and first in was Hamilton and Alonso. They were soon joined by Button and Webber. However, Mark has an awful stop as Red Bull have trouble with one of the tyres. The pit stop last nine seconds, and it pushes him behind Massa in the order.
With a fast Webber in fifth, we were beginning to see another three-way battle for third between Button, Massa & Webber. Both Felipe & Mark were catching Jenson - who had a KERS issue. It looked like it would be a three-way battle, but Mark was faster than Felipe. This gave Jenson some room, and left it as a two-way battle between Massa & Webber for fourth. No matter how hard he tried, the Aussie could not take that position of the Brazilian.
With twenty laps to go, it was still Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Massa, Webber. Mark could not find a way into fourth, so he had no choice but to pit early, and under-cut him. However, when he pitted he surprised the whole field by putting on the softer tyres, meaning he had another pit to go. Button came in a lap latter, putting on the harder tyres, and this was copied by the rest of the front runners. Mark Webber's pitstop effectively stopped him getting a podium position, but if he pushed hard enough, he could take fourth off Massa. What Mark had to do was set fastest lap after fastest lap, and that was what he did. He put so much pressure on Massa, that the Brazilian made a mistake at turn one, spinning the car. This gave Webber his fourth place.
At the front, Hamilton remained untroubled. He maintained the 4 second gap to Fernando Alonso all race, and he a race win never seemed in doubt. Alonso took second, ahead of Button who had regained KERS. Mercedes and Force India managed to get two cars in the top 10, and Kobayashi beat of team mate Perez to tenth place.
Race Results
Pos - Driver - Team - Rank
1 - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - 3
2 - Fernando Alonso - Ferrari -5
3 - Jenson Button - McLaren - 4
4 - Mark Webber - Red Bull - 2
5 - Felipe Massa - Ferrari - 6
6 - Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 7
7 - Michael Schumacher - Mercedes - 10
8 - Adrian Sutil - Force India - 9
9 - Paul Di Resta - Force India - 18
10 - Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber - 15
11 - Sergio Perez - Sauber - 22
12 - Rubens Barrichello - Williams - 8
13 - Vitaly Petrov - Renault - 11
14 - Pastor Maldonado - Williams - 25
15 - Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso - 13
16 - Bruno Senna - Renault - 26
17 - Heikki Kovalainen - Lotus - 19
18 - Jarno Trulli -Lotus - 17
19 - Timo Glock - Virgin - 20
20 - Vitantonio Liuzzi - HRT - 24
R - Daniel Ricciardo - HRT - 36
R - Sebastien Buemi - Toro Rosso - 12
R - Jerome D'Ambrosio - Virgin - 29
R - Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull - 1
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