The Abu Dhabi may be one of the most recent tracks to be added to the F1 collection, but its already stamped its name as one of the most beautiful tracks in the world. With its colour changing hotel and stunning scenery in the United Arab Emirates, its a favourite for drivers and photographers alike. I am sure the journalists do not complain either with its luxurious hospitality and numerous activities, such as the thrilling Ferrari World.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has been one of processional characteristics over the previous years, but with DRS, KERS and Pirelli tyres appearing at the race this year that is sure to help change the F1 worlds perceptions.
With Sebastian Vettel claiming the world title numerous races ago, the fight is still up for second place in the title. Mclaren have looked in strong form and have always gone well at the circuit, but can it catch up to Red Bull and take the challenge?
Here is some of the news in the run up to the Gp: http://talkfromjackleslief1.blogspot.com/2011/11/pre-abu-dhabi-news.html
Here is the review of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend including reports from the Free Practice and Qualifying sessions.
Abu Dhabi saw the F1 circus pull into its multi-million pound circuit for the 18th, and penultimate, race of the 2011 season. With the world title wrapped up, its the win which is up for grabs. With battles predicted throughout the tight field the race should produce an exciting result.
Free Practice 1
Free Practice 1 opened up the weekends running in sunny and warm conditions, a far cry from the usual winter weather throughout the world. With Mclaren wanting to take the challenge to Red Bull, they certainly showed who was boss from the off. Jenson Button topped the table with the fastest time of the 1 hour 30 minuet session, a 1m40.263. Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top 3; separated by just 0.14 seconds.
Vettel, Alonso and Massa finished in the top 6. Force India showcased their speed with 7th and 9th for the impressive Sutil and Di Resta duo, while the Team Lotus driver of Heikki Kovalainen finished the session less that 0.1 behind the driver holding 17th position, Kobayashi. Numerous off track excursions occurred, including big moments for both Ferrari drivers, and the Williams of Rubens Barrichello failing to complete a time after Engine failure.
You would not be mistaken to see some new names in the top 24, with Romain Grosjean replacing Bruno Senna in the first session while Jean-Eric Vergne and Robert Wickens drove for Torro Rosso and Virgin Racing respectively. They finished the session in the order of 12th, 11th and 23rd.
Free Practice 2
The forgiving nature of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi struck back in the second session of the weekend, with 2 double world champions hitting the wall at turn 1. Sebastian Vettel was the first of these, hitting the wall at turn 1 with a fair amount of the session still to run. However the Red Bull car was able to return to the pits after being retrieved by the teams mechanics and he was bout with 10 minutes left. The second incident occurred at the same corner, some 15 minutes later. Fernando Alonso appeared to take turn 1 with too much speed, losing the rear and hitting the wall. He was unable to return to the track.
Changing the subject back to the results, Lewis Hamilton took 1st place on the time table ahead of his team mate Jenson Button, making it a Mclaren 1-2. The 2008 world champion set the time of 1m.39.586 which was well clear of Buttons Free practice 1 time.
With the tracks extreme tarmac run off, numerous drivers took turns at exploring them including Mark Webber who spun at turn 19, but was soon back on track. You could even say he never went "off" it due to its forgiving nature.
All drivers racing in Sundays Grand Prix completed the session, with Free Practice 1 absentee's Senna, Buemi and D'Ambrosio taking to the circuit for the first time this year. They finished the session in 15th, 12th and 22nd. Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil finished in the top 10, still retaining their fast form. The former saying he is "happy" with their "slow corner gains".
Free Practice 3
Saturday morning dawned, and F1 was back on track for the last practice session of the day. With the stunning Yas Marina circuit yet again bathed in perfect sunshine, the 1 hour session left alot to be done.
Mclaren yet again produced a clean sweep with Lewis Hamilton setting the fastest time, on route to the 3rd successive topping of the session by a Mclaren. The Brit set a time of 1m.38.976 which was 0.427 seconds faster than Sebastian Vettel. Mark Webber and Jenson Button followed close behind. Alonso also followed suit but finished the session over 6 tenths behind Hamilton.
Both Force India's were in the top 10 again with Sutil and Di Resta completing the hour in 8th and 9th. Williams still struggled with Maldonado in 17th and Barrichello in 19th after an oil leak. Jarno Trulli did not even set a time. He had a gearbox glitch which forced him to sit out of the session.
Qualifying
Qualifying arrived with all the teams anticipating cooler conditions than the earlier practice session. Mclaren looked and were confident they could take the fight to Red Bull, but the Austrian team were not going to go without a fight.
Qualifying 1
The first session saw the usual casualties get booted out of the running, for being too slow. Heikki Kovalainen finished the session in 18th just half a second from graduating into Q2. Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock finished the session behind the Team Lotus driver, with Ricciardo, D'Ambrosio and Liuzzi lining up on the grid behind them.
Rubens Barrichello did not even get a lap in after an earlier oil leak in FP3. The problem was unable to be resolved and he had to sit out of the session.
Hamilton finished the session on top on a 1m.39.782 which left him 3 tenths clear of Webber, with Button, Vettel and Sutil following. The order looked jumbled up with Alonso in 9th and Massa in 13th after the majority of the midfield went out for second runs on the softer compound.
Qualifying 2
The second qualifying session began under a setting, stunning sun. The orange glow from the sunset created a stunning backdrop for the qualifying session; in which Hamilton topped again. The Brit set the time of 1m.38.434 as Mclaren kept up the clean sweep or topping the time sheets. Vettel's lap time was 1 tenth slower, which put him 2nd. Webber, Alonso, Button and Massa were all safe but it was the remaining 3 slots which were up for grabs.
The session was temporarily stopped with 9 minutes remaining after a bollard at turn 8 became dislodged and Massa ran over it, making it bounce onto the racing line. The red flag made its appearance so that debris could be removed.
In the drop zone finished Perez, 3 tenths off Q3, Petrov, Buemi, Senna, Alguersuari and Maldonado. After a closely fought session Schumacher, Di Resta, Sutil and Rosberg all advanced to Q3 along with the established top teams.
Qualifying 3
The final session of the day, and the final session of qualifying took place under darkening Sky's with the Abu Dhabi lights shining over the circuit, reflecting beautifully off the powerful machines which lapped the Yas Marina circuit. The session was close, and came down to the very last lap from the last runner on the track.
Sebastian Vettel took his 14th pole position of the season; equaling Nigel Mansell's record for most poles in a season. He said he was "very happy" with his performance but when he was asked if he had to dig deep to beat the Mclarens, his reply was "oh yes." After revealing his "difficulties" on Friday had made him unhappy with the cars performance, he was now back on track.
Hamilton took the first step to pole position after the first runs, beating Vettel by just 0.042 seconds on a 1m.38.704. Webber and Button were closely following with Alonso 7 tenths behind Lewis's Mclaren.
The second runs saw the drama heat up. With Webber, Button, Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel all trying hard to navigate their way to the top. Green and purple sector times being set all around, Button topped the time sheets first on a 1m.38.631 after setting fastest sectors after a tidy lap. His thunder was soon stolen by Hamilton who moved to the front on a 1m.38.662. This was after Alonso crossed the line to stay in 5th position. Webber did not improve on his benchmark time either, but after a lengthily wait it soon became apparent Vettel would take it, and he did with a 1m.38.481.
Hamilton said in the press conference it was "all i could get" out of the lap, while Button stated the track was very different to the previous sessions, and that he did not get "100% out of the car."
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m38.481s
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.622s + 0.141
3. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.631s + 0.150
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m38.858s + 0.377
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m39.058s + 0.577
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m39.695s + 1.214
7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m39.773s + 1.292
8. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m40.662s + 2.181
9. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m40.768s + 2.287
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes
Q2 cut-off time: 1m40.554s Gap **
11. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m40.874s + 2.440
12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m40.919s + 2.485
13. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.009s + 2.575
14. Bruno Senna Renault 1m41.079s + 2.645
15. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.162s + 2.728
16. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m41.240s + 2.806
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m41.760s + 3.326
Q1 cut-off time: 1m42.605s Gap *
18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m42.979s + 3.197
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m43.884s + 4.102
20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m44.515s + 4.733
21. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m44.641s + 4.859
22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m44.699s + 4.917
23. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m45.159s + 5.377
24. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosoworth no time
*Rubens Barrichello will start 23rd, and all from 18th upwards will gain a place after Maldonado received a 10 place penalty.
Race
The Sun began to set before the race had even begun. After Vettel's domination over the last 2 years could he win for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for the 3rd time in a row? Find out here.
With the majority of the field on the softer tyres, apart from Di Resta, Kobayashi and a few others taking the risk.
As the lights went out it was an equal start for all the front runners. In the midfield minor swaps took place but it was going into turn 2 where it got interesting. As Vettel entered the second corner, clear of Hamilton behind, his right rear tyre punctured and spun him off into the grass. Hamilton took the lead but as they went into the hairpin, Perez knocked his front wing and numerous tyre rubbing ensued.
Button seemed to be slower down the straight, and Alonso capitalised on this to streak past. Hamilton crossed the line in the first lap with a 2 second lead. Bruno Senna pitted on the end of lap 1, hoping for a Safety Car but it didn't work out.
On lap 2 Hamilton began to stretch his lead, but by not as much as first thought. Button fell back into the clutches of Webber. Perez pitted on lap 2 to replace a wonky nose, probably from first lap contact which i think is not surprising, seeing as that turn 4-5 complex bunches up the pack. Vettel retires to the garage at the end of lap 1, not happy at all. There seems to be too much damage to the right corner.
Rosberg carried on his impressive pace by keeping up with the top teams. On the first lap he battled hard with his team mate Schumacher, forcing his way ahead in the second straight after being overtaken on the first.
Lap 4 saw Webber use the DRS, activated on lap 3, to get past Button. The advantage of a double DRS zone showed its try colours with Button powering back past in the second zone. Massa was waiting in the wings.
Lap 5 saw Vettel being the focus of the TV camera's, as he scrolled through data on the laptops in the Red Bull garage. It seems a puncture was caused by either too low pressures on the tyres or running wide over the kerb at the first turn.
Lap 7 saw Hamilton lead his 1000th lap ever, And on that very lap he extended his lead on Alonso by 0.3seconds. Webber dropped behind Button as the British driver set the fastest lap on the 8th circuit.
By the 10th lap of 55, Hamilton and Alonso traded fastest laps as Button dropped further behind. By lap 13 Button reported on the radio "still a problem, still a problem." It was revealed to be a KERS failure. The KERS unit on the Mclaren gives them about 5 tenths of a second per lap as the team frantically attempted to get it back up and running.
Lap 15 and Button has been under increasing pressure from Aussie driver Mark Webber. On the run to turn 8 Webber opened the DRS and passed the Mclaren, but yet again Button got the DRS on the second straight and sailed past. There was even contact.
Di Resta was still keeping up decent pace despite being on the harder tyre. He was now however beginning to hold up those behind.
The first round of pit stops began for the front runners, with the two lead cars pitting. Mclaren did an amazing transition for a double pit. As Hamilton left the box with a stunning 3.6 second stop Button pulled into the space. It was a seamless transition. This left Webber in the lead but 2 laps later he was in. On his conquest to beat Button, the Red Bull's pit stop finished 5 seconds later than planned after the left rear stuck.
On the run to lap 20 Alonso and Hamilton trade fastest lap times yet again, with each chipping away at the advantage. In this space we lost Jerome D'Ambrosio retired with a brake problem and just a few laps later Sebastien Buemi retired with a mechanical failure, later revealed to be hydraulics.
Button became exposed to Massa with his KERS problem still being persistent. But as Massa became held up behind Button, Webber took the advantage and sweeped past the Brazilian on lap 30. Massa took the position back on the second DRS zone, which was becoming very common.
During this time, Heikki Kovalainen was holding 14th place ahead of both Williams and was pulling away from the two at a consistent rate. Paul Di Resta also pits on lap 28 for the only time, on a risky 1 stopper.
Lap 31 and Button's KERS is back after an absence of 30 laps. However after the race he reported "it only worked every 2 laps and i kept having to reset it" while also saying the engine braking was changing as he reset it, saying "every time i came to a corner i didn't know what would happen." However he sets the fastest lap on that lap, pulling away from Massa as he squabbles with Webber.
Webber pits on lap 35, but takes on the option tyre again for a 3 stop strategy. Midfield fights continue as Di Resta and Petrov swap position, but Di Resta maintains his place after retrieving it in the second DRS. Perez got past Petrov also.
The following lap Button is in for the prime tyres, which lifts Rosberg and Massa to 4th and 3rd. Webber immediately sets fastest lap but yet he has to pit again. He closes in on Button who is racing on the harder compound.
Hamilton pitted for the harder compound on lap 41 and after another stunning stop he came out in clear air. Alonso stayed out on track but he arrived into the pit entry behind a HRT on lap 44. It costs him about a second but Hamilton was clear anyway.
The previous lap Webber got by Button. But seeing as Mark had to pit again there was no fight back from Jenson. By lap 47 Alonso had settled for second after being 6 seconds behind Hamilton. On that lap Felipe Massa has a clumsy spin. With Mark Webber pushing to clear Massa he was now a pit stop ahead, as his pit crew told him.
Rosberg had already pitted, and Webber pitted on lap 54. He emerges in 4th ahead of Massa and behind Button.
The last lap and Hamilton's lead Alonso by over 8 seconds. He crosses the line pumping his fists in the air, with Alonso and Button coming home to complete the podium.
Lewis Hamilton wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix!
Lewis's smile lit up the podium as the national anthem rang out over the watching crowd and audience. The champagne sprayed with Hamilton and Button emptying the contents of the bottles over each overs heads. Everyone seemed to smile when Lewis smiled.
His win was the 17th of his career and says "i want to dedicate this to my mum, happy birthday." It seems his happiness has come back. In the top 3 press conference he said "yeah its my mums birthday this weekend, its great to be able to win while she is here. i feel fantastic." He also admitted " its been one of my best races. To hold off one of the best drivers in the world was really difficult. This is great."
Alonso took 2nd place, and was very happy with the result. In the press conference he said "it was a fantastic race for me. I had a very good start and first lap." He also stated " It would of been difficult to win the race." This was an impressive result. I never believed he would be so quick, I'm sure many felt the same way, but after an impressive first lap he won his position fair and square.
Button rounded out the podium, impressively making it the 48th podium in a row containing 5 drivers. These drivers are Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Button and Alonso. Jenson, who is sporting a tasche for Movember, said "By lap 13 or 14 i had no KERS. I eventually got it back and it lasted 2 laps at a time, and i had to keep re-setting it. Every time i arrived at a corner i didn't know what i would get, with engine braking" It was an impressive result. Being biased for Jenson, he had a good race and totted up another podium.
Mark Webber finished the race a distant 4th place after a 3 stop strategy. He told BBC Sport's Lee Mckenzie "on the second stop we fitted the option to cut the race down, something different. 2 DRS zones were difficult, passed JB but could not make the move stick." He also told her it "the car had good pace at the end" but the "1st stop" cost him a podium. he can however take pride in setting the race's fastest lap.
5th place yet again fell to Massa. He had a clumsy spin and some half hearted battles but it was a disappointing race for the Brazilian. However he did steer clear of Hamilton. 6th place finished Rosberg after running as high as 3rd. He told Lee Mckenzie "it was quite interesting(1st lap fight with schumacher) , we had a good strategy, i could do longer stints. We are progressing which is positive." 7th place for Michael Schumacher and 8th place for Adrian Sutil were good results for the pair of them. The former said "we had a puncture so the team asked me to stop the car." after he stopped on the warm down lap." He also said "I had a nice battle with Nico, i drove as cleaner race as i could. The tyres on the first stint gave up early. We lost some parts off the car so the balance wasn't perfect."
Paul Di Resta finished 9th with a risky 1 stop strategy. He said too fellow Scot Lee "that was already the plan (1 stop) but we thought most cars would be like that, it was a hard fight. the reflecting thing is we came out with a double points score for the team. We were locked in it" while also saying "When i got on the softs at the end i think my pace was good." Rounding out the top 10 finished Kamui Kobayashi, a welcome point which meant the Sauber team moved ahead of Torro Rosso in the table after being in deadlock with them.
11th for Sergio Perez was good after trailing his team mate for some time. Barrichello recovered well after starting at the back to take 12th, while Behind him finished Russian Petrov and Pastor Maldonado finished 14th. He had a drive through penalty for ignoring blue flags and after that he carried on being hollow brained, baulking yet more drivers.
Jaime Alguersuari finished 15th after a disappointing race for the Torro Rosso squad. Bruno Senna finished 16th after also recieving a penalty for ignoring blue flags. Heikki Kovalainen impressed, holding 14th for much of the race but unfortunately, like many other races, dropped away at the end. He was still only lapped once though, compared to his team mate Trulli who was 2 laps down in 18th. Timo Glock and Tonio Liuzzi finished 19th and 20th as the last racing runners.
Daniel Ricciardo retired with 7 laps remaining. This left a yellow flag out for the remainder of the race. Buemi and D'Ambrosio also retired.
Sebastian Vettel obviously retired on the first lap. He said after the race "to be honest at the exit of first corner everything seemed fine, then i turned into turn 2 and something happened. On the way back i damaged the suspension so badly i could not continue. Hard to say how quick we could of been, Lewis and fernando drove a solid race, strong pace." It was obviously a disappointing result but left the race open for a new winner.
So after one of the best Grand Prix's of the year, Hamilton came away grinning from ear to ear. Brazil in 2 weeks time see's the drivers return to the Sau Paulo circuit. Will it be a Vettel walkover, or could this weekends result repeat itself?
In the F1 BBC coverage, Eddie Jordan showed off his t-shirt which he wore for the Indian Grand Prix coverage. After all the f1 drivers signed it, as well as Bernie Ecclestone, Paul Mccartney and numerous other sports stars it is now up for auction for children in need. See that here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/shop/auction.shtml
To see Final Sector's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix preview click here: http://www.finalsectormag.com/2011/11/abu-dhabi-gp-preview/
Race Results:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h37:11.886
2. Alonso Ferrari + 8.457
3. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 25.881
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 35.784
5. Massa Ferrari + 50.578
6. Rosberg Mercedes + 52.317
7. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:15.900
8. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1:17.100
9. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:40.000
10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
11. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
13. Petrov Renault + 1 lap
14. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
15. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
16. Senna Renault + 1 lap
17. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap
18. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 2 laps
19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps
20. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
Fastest lap: Webber, 1:42.612
retirements: Driver Team On lap
Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 49
Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 19
D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 18
Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
With Sebastian Vettel claiming the world title numerous races ago, the fight is still up for second place in the title. Mclaren have looked in strong form and have always gone well at the circuit, but can it catch up to Red Bull and take the challenge?
Here is some of the news in the run up to the Gp: http://talkfromjackleslief1.blogspot.com/2011/11/pre-abu-dhabi-news.html
Here is the review of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend including reports from the Free Practice and Qualifying sessions.
Abu Dhabi saw the F1 circus pull into its multi-million pound circuit for the 18th, and penultimate, race of the 2011 season. With the world title wrapped up, its the win which is up for grabs. With battles predicted throughout the tight field the race should produce an exciting result.
Free Practice 1
Vettel, Alonso and Massa finished in the top 6. Force India showcased their speed with 7th and 9th for the impressive Sutil and Di Resta duo, while the Team Lotus driver of Heikki Kovalainen finished the session less that 0.1 behind the driver holding 17th position, Kobayashi. Numerous off track excursions occurred, including big moments for both Ferrari drivers, and the Williams of Rubens Barrichello failing to complete a time after Engine failure.
You would not be mistaken to see some new names in the top 24, with Romain Grosjean replacing Bruno Senna in the first session while Jean-Eric Vergne and Robert Wickens drove for Torro Rosso and Virgin Racing respectively. They finished the session in the order of 12th, 11th and 23rd.
Free Practice 2
The forgiving nature of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi struck back in the second session of the weekend, with 2 double world champions hitting the wall at turn 1. Sebastian Vettel was the first of these, hitting the wall at turn 1 with a fair amount of the session still to run. However the Red Bull car was able to return to the pits after being retrieved by the teams mechanics and he was bout with 10 minutes left. The second incident occurred at the same corner, some 15 minutes later. Fernando Alonso appeared to take turn 1 with too much speed, losing the rear and hitting the wall. He was unable to return to the track.
Changing the subject back to the results, Lewis Hamilton took 1st place on the time table ahead of his team mate Jenson Button, making it a Mclaren 1-2. The 2008 world champion set the time of 1m.39.586 which was well clear of Buttons Free practice 1 time.
With the tracks extreme tarmac run off, numerous drivers took turns at exploring them including Mark Webber who spun at turn 19, but was soon back on track. You could even say he never went "off" it due to its forgiving nature.
All drivers racing in Sundays Grand Prix completed the session, with Free Practice 1 absentee's Senna, Buemi and D'Ambrosio taking to the circuit for the first time this year. They finished the session in 15th, 12th and 22nd. Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil finished in the top 10, still retaining their fast form. The former saying he is "happy" with their "slow corner gains".
Free Practice 3
Saturday morning dawned, and F1 was back on track for the last practice session of the day. With the stunning Yas Marina circuit yet again bathed in perfect sunshine, the 1 hour session left alot to be done.
Mclaren yet again produced a clean sweep with Lewis Hamilton setting the fastest time, on route to the 3rd successive topping of the session by a Mclaren. The Brit set a time of 1m.38.976 which was 0.427 seconds faster than Sebastian Vettel. Mark Webber and Jenson Button followed close behind. Alonso also followed suit but finished the session over 6 tenths behind Hamilton.
It was evident that the Red Bull dominated the first sector, but the Mclaren's took the last 2 sectors with ease. The times from the top teams had to wait a while, as they all waited for the track to cool. The baking temperatures meant they could not do a simulation of qualifying like they had wanted to do.
Both Force India's were in the top 10 again with Sutil and Di Resta completing the hour in 8th and 9th. Williams still struggled with Maldonado in 17th and Barrichello in 19th after an oil leak. Jarno Trulli did not even set a time. He had a gearbox glitch which forced him to sit out of the session.
Qualifying
Qualifying arrived with all the teams anticipating cooler conditions than the earlier practice session. Mclaren looked and were confident they could take the fight to Red Bull, but the Austrian team were not going to go without a fight.
Qualifying 1
The first session saw the usual casualties get booted out of the running, for being too slow. Heikki Kovalainen finished the session in 18th just half a second from graduating into Q2. Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock finished the session behind the Team Lotus driver, with Ricciardo, D'Ambrosio and Liuzzi lining up on the grid behind them.
Hamilton finished the session on top on a 1m.39.782 which left him 3 tenths clear of Webber, with Button, Vettel and Sutil following. The order looked jumbled up with Alonso in 9th and Massa in 13th after the majority of the midfield went out for second runs on the softer compound.
Qualifying 2
The second qualifying session began under a setting, stunning sun. The orange glow from the sunset created a stunning backdrop for the qualifying session; in which Hamilton topped again. The Brit set the time of 1m.38.434 as Mclaren kept up the clean sweep or topping the time sheets. Vettel's lap time was 1 tenth slower, which put him 2nd. Webber, Alonso, Button and Massa were all safe but it was the remaining 3 slots which were up for grabs.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
Qualifying 3
The final session of the day, and the final session of qualifying took place under darkening Sky's with the Abu Dhabi lights shining over the circuit, reflecting beautifully off the powerful machines which lapped the Yas Marina circuit. The session was close, and came down to the very last lap from the last runner on the track.
Hamilton took the first step to pole position after the first runs, beating Vettel by just 0.042 seconds on a 1m.38.704. Webber and Button were closely following with Alonso 7 tenths behind Lewis's Mclaren.
The second runs saw the drama heat up. With Webber, Button, Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel all trying hard to navigate their way to the top. Green and purple sector times being set all around, Button topped the time sheets first on a 1m.38.631 after setting fastest sectors after a tidy lap. His thunder was soon stolen by Hamilton who moved to the front on a 1m.38.662. This was after Alonso crossed the line to stay in 5th position. Webber did not improve on his benchmark time either, but after a lengthily wait it soon became apparent Vettel would take it, and he did with a 1m.38.481.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m38.481s
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.622s + 0.141
3. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.631s + 0.150
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m38.858s + 0.377
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m39.058s + 0.577
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m39.695s + 1.214
7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m39.773s + 1.292
8. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m40.662s + 2.181
9. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m40.768s + 2.287
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes
Q2 cut-off time: 1m40.554s Gap **
11. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m40.874s + 2.440
12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m40.919s + 2.485
13. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.009s + 2.575
14. Bruno Senna Renault 1m41.079s + 2.645
15. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.162s + 2.728
16. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m41.240s + 2.806
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m41.760s + 3.326
Q1 cut-off time: 1m42.605s Gap *
18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m42.979s + 3.197
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m43.884s + 4.102
20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m44.515s + 4.733
21. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m44.641s + 4.859
22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m44.699s + 4.917
23. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m45.159s + 5.377
24. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosoworth no time
*Rubens Barrichello will start 23rd, and all from 18th upwards will gain a place after Maldonado received a 10 place penalty.
Race
The Sun began to set before the race had even begun. After Vettel's domination over the last 2 years could he win for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for the 3rd time in a row? Find out here.
With the majority of the field on the softer tyres, apart from Di Resta, Kobayashi and a few others taking the risk.
As the lights went out it was an equal start for all the front runners. In the midfield minor swaps took place but it was going into turn 2 where it got interesting. As Vettel entered the second corner, clear of Hamilton behind, his right rear tyre punctured and spun him off into the grass. Hamilton took the lead but as they went into the hairpin, Perez knocked his front wing and numerous tyre rubbing ensued.
Button seemed to be slower down the straight, and Alonso capitalised on this to streak past. Hamilton crossed the line in the first lap with a 2 second lead. Bruno Senna pitted on the end of lap 1, hoping for a Safety Car but it didn't work out.
On lap 2 Hamilton began to stretch his lead, but by not as much as first thought. Button fell back into the clutches of Webber. Perez pitted on lap 2 to replace a wonky nose, probably from first lap contact which i think is not surprising, seeing as that turn 4-5 complex bunches up the pack. Vettel retires to the garage at the end of lap 1, not happy at all. There seems to be too much damage to the right corner.
Rosberg carried on his impressive pace by keeping up with the top teams. On the first lap he battled hard with his team mate Schumacher, forcing his way ahead in the second straight after being overtaken on the first.
Lap 4 saw Webber use the DRS, activated on lap 3, to get past Button. The advantage of a double DRS zone showed its try colours with Button powering back past in the second zone. Massa was waiting in the wings.
Lap 5 saw Vettel being the focus of the TV camera's, as he scrolled through data on the laptops in the Red Bull garage. It seems a puncture was caused by either too low pressures on the tyres or running wide over the kerb at the first turn.
Lap 7 saw Hamilton lead his 1000th lap ever, And on that very lap he extended his lead on Alonso by 0.3seconds. Webber dropped behind Button as the British driver set the fastest lap on the 8th circuit.
By the 10th lap of 55, Hamilton and Alonso traded fastest laps as Button dropped further behind. By lap 13 Button reported on the radio "still a problem, still a problem." It was revealed to be a KERS failure. The KERS unit on the Mclaren gives them about 5 tenths of a second per lap as the team frantically attempted to get it back up and running.
Lap 15 and Button has been under increasing pressure from Aussie driver Mark Webber. On the run to turn 8 Webber opened the DRS and passed the Mclaren, but yet again Button got the DRS on the second straight and sailed past. There was even contact.
Di Resta was still keeping up decent pace despite being on the harder tyre. He was now however beginning to hold up those behind.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
On the run to lap 20 Alonso and Hamilton trade fastest lap times yet again, with each chipping away at the advantage. In this space we lost Jerome D'Ambrosio retired with a brake problem and just a few laps later Sebastien Buemi retired with a mechanical failure, later revealed to be hydraulics.
Button became exposed to Massa with his KERS problem still being persistent. But as Massa became held up behind Button, Webber took the advantage and sweeped past the Brazilian on lap 30. Massa took the position back on the second DRS zone, which was becoming very common.
During this time, Heikki Kovalainen was holding 14th place ahead of both Williams and was pulling away from the two at a consistent rate. Paul Di Resta also pits on lap 28 for the only time, on a risky 1 stopper.
Lap 31 and Button's KERS is back after an absence of 30 laps. However after the race he reported "it only worked every 2 laps and i kept having to reset it" while also saying the engine braking was changing as he reset it, saying "every time i came to a corner i didn't know what would happen." However he sets the fastest lap on that lap, pulling away from Massa as he squabbles with Webber.
Webber pits on lap 35, but takes on the option tyre again for a 3 stop strategy. Midfield fights continue as Di Resta and Petrov swap position, but Di Resta maintains his place after retrieving it in the second DRS. Perez got past Petrov also.
The following lap Button is in for the prime tyres, which lifts Rosberg and Massa to 4th and 3rd. Webber immediately sets fastest lap but yet he has to pit again. He closes in on Button who is racing on the harder compound.
Hamilton pitted for the harder compound on lap 41 and after another stunning stop he came out in clear air. Alonso stayed out on track but he arrived into the pit entry behind a HRT on lap 44. It costs him about a second but Hamilton was clear anyway.
The previous lap Webber got by Button. But seeing as Mark had to pit again there was no fight back from Jenson. By lap 47 Alonso had settled for second after being 6 seconds behind Hamilton. On that lap Felipe Massa has a clumsy spin. With Mark Webber pushing to clear Massa he was now a pit stop ahead, as his pit crew told him.
Rosberg had already pitted, and Webber pitted on lap 54. He emerges in 4th ahead of Massa and behind Button.
The last lap and Hamilton's lead Alonso by over 8 seconds. He crosses the line pumping his fists in the air, with Alonso and Button coming home to complete the podium.
Lewis Hamilton wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix!
Lewis's smile lit up the podium as the national anthem rang out over the watching crowd and audience. The champagne sprayed with Hamilton and Button emptying the contents of the bottles over each overs heads. Everyone seemed to smile when Lewis smiled.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
Alonso took 2nd place, and was very happy with the result. In the press conference he said "it was a fantastic race for me. I had a very good start and first lap." He also stated " It would of been difficult to win the race." This was an impressive result. I never believed he would be so quick, I'm sure many felt the same way, but after an impressive first lap he won his position fair and square.
Button rounded out the podium, impressively making it the 48th podium in a row containing 5 drivers. These drivers are Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Button and Alonso. Jenson, who is sporting a tasche for Movember, said "By lap 13 or 14 i had no KERS. I eventually got it back and it lasted 2 laps at a time, and i had to keep re-setting it. Every time i arrived at a corner i didn't know what i would get, with engine braking" It was an impressive result. Being biased for Jenson, he had a good race and totted up another podium.
Mark Webber finished the race a distant 4th place after a 3 stop strategy. He told BBC Sport's Lee Mckenzie "on the second stop we fitted the option to cut the race down, something different. 2 DRS zones were difficult, passed JB but could not make the move stick." He also told her it "the car had good pace at the end" but the "1st stop" cost him a podium. he can however take pride in setting the race's fastest lap.
5th place yet again fell to Massa. He had a clumsy spin and some half hearted battles but it was a disappointing race for the Brazilian. However he did steer clear of Hamilton. 6th place finished Rosberg after running as high as 3rd. He told Lee Mckenzie "it was quite interesting(1st lap fight with schumacher) , we had a good strategy, i could do longer stints. We are progressing which is positive." 7th place for Michael Schumacher and 8th place for Adrian Sutil were good results for the pair of them. The former said "we had a puncture so the team asked me to stop the car." after he stopped on the warm down lap." He also said "I had a nice battle with Nico, i drove as cleaner race as i could. The tyres on the first stint gave up early. We lost some parts off the car so the balance wasn't perfect."
Paul Di Resta finished 9th with a risky 1 stop strategy. He said too fellow Scot Lee "that was already the plan (1 stop) but we thought most cars would be like that, it was a hard fight. the reflecting thing is we came out with a double points score for the team. We were locked in it" while also saying "When i got on the softs at the end i think my pace was good." Rounding out the top 10 finished Kamui Kobayashi, a welcome point which meant the Sauber team moved ahead of Torro Rosso in the table after being in deadlock with them.
11th for Sergio Perez was good after trailing his team mate for some time. Barrichello recovered well after starting at the back to take 12th, while Behind him finished Russian Petrov and Pastor Maldonado finished 14th. He had a drive through penalty for ignoring blue flags and after that he carried on being hollow brained, baulking yet more drivers.
Jaime Alguersuari finished 15th after a disappointing race for the Torro Rosso squad. Bruno Senna finished 16th after also recieving a penalty for ignoring blue flags. Heikki Kovalainen impressed, holding 14th for much of the race but unfortunately, like many other races, dropped away at the end. He was still only lapped once though, compared to his team mate Trulli who was 2 laps down in 18th. Timo Glock and Tonio Liuzzi finished 19th and 20th as the last racing runners.
Daniel Ricciardo retired with 7 laps remaining. This left a yellow flag out for the remainder of the race. Buemi and D'Ambrosio also retired.
Sebastian Vettel obviously retired on the first lap. He said after the race "to be honest at the exit of first corner everything seemed fine, then i turned into turn 2 and something happened. On the way back i damaged the suspension so badly i could not continue. Hard to say how quick we could of been, Lewis and fernando drove a solid race, strong pace." It was obviously a disappointing result but left the race open for a new winner.
So after one of the best Grand Prix's of the year, Hamilton came away grinning from ear to ear. Brazil in 2 weeks time see's the drivers return to the Sau Paulo circuit. Will it be a Vettel walkover, or could this weekends result repeat itself?
In the F1 BBC coverage, Eddie Jordan showed off his t-shirt which he wore for the Indian Grand Prix coverage. After all the f1 drivers signed it, as well as Bernie Ecclestone, Paul Mccartney and numerous other sports stars it is now up for auction for children in need. See that here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/shop/auction.shtml
To see Final Sector's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix preview click here: http://www.finalsectormag.com/2011/11/abu-dhabi-gp-preview/
Race Results:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h37:11.886
2. Alonso Ferrari + 8.457
3. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 25.881
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 35.784
5. Massa Ferrari + 50.578
6. Rosberg Mercedes + 52.317
7. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:15.900
8. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1:17.100
9. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:40.000
10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
11. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
13. Petrov Renault + 1 lap
14. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
15. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
16. Senna Renault + 1 lap
17. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap
18. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 2 laps
19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps
20. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
Fastest lap: Webber, 1:42.612
retirements: Driver Team On lap
Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 49
Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 19
D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 18
Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1
1 comment:
Well worth the wait for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Come on Mclaren. Lewis did an amazing race so glad to see him back on form.
Amazing post btw. :)
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