Vettel shines under the Abu Dhabi lights.
Sebastian Vettel claimed his fourth victory of the season under the artificial lighting of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after a flawless drive that confirms the Red Bull Renault star as championship runner-up behind Jenson Button.
Vettel was made to work hard for his victory in he opening laps of the 55 lap grand prix, hounding pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton and then taking the lead following the first round of pitstops. Hamilton had been expected to run away with the race after qualifying on the pole by over six-tenths of a second, but race day saw the out-going champion unable to pull the gap required to ensure he retained the lead in the first round of stops.
As Hamilton pitted on lap 18, Vettel put in some blistering laps to take the lead and just three laps later Hamilton was back in the pitlane to retire his McLaren Mercedes with a braking problem. Vettel went on to control the pace at the front of the field from that point, even recording the fastest lap of the race on his penultimate lap, to take the chequered flag 18 seconds clear of team-mate Mark Webber.
"I am very, very happy," said Vettel. "It was a fantastic race. It was a good start but not enough to catch Lewis but good enough to stay close. When we went on the back straight he pushed the button and disappeared.
"It was quite shocking to see how much it is worth," he said in reference to the KERS advantage used by McLaren on the long straights. "But we were a little bit heavier but still able to go his pace, stay with him. That was the key, pushing very hard and then obviously when I had the two overlaps on him.
"It was enough to get him. Unfortunately he then had to retire. I heard he had a braking problem, but up to that point I enjoyed it very much. Great circuit. A great job they did here. Now I think I have said enough..."
The final laps of the race saw Jenson Button close rapidly on second placed Webber, but despite several attempts to make the pass on the final lap, the 2009 champion was forced to settle for third position after another spirited drive in his Brawn Mercedes.
"Fighting with Jenson, I knew that the two big stops were key to the lap," Webber explained. "Obviously he wasn’t going to do much anywhere else but Jenson’s form in overtaking this year has been pretty good, so I knew I had to be perfect with my braking points and do the best I could with the last few laps. I turned out to be okay. Second place was as good as I was ever going to get today. Congratulations to Sebastian on the win, he’s had the measure of me in the last sector probably most of the weekend, so I presumed it to be the same again in the race.
"We did the best job as we could as a team, capitalised on other people’s lack of preparation and we delivered a one-two which is exactly what we came here to achieve.
"As I said before, I think that’s 16 podiums for the team and that’s something that everyone can be extremely happy about.
I’m certainly happy, obviously, off the back of my best season ever. Of course, I would have liked to have had some more points here and there but it could have been a hell of a lot worse for me, so I will take this season, let me tell you."
Rubens Barrichello finished in fourth position in the second Brawn, losing position to his team-mate in the stops. The Brazilian veteran, soon to be confirmed as a Williams Cosworth racer for next season, had an eventful opening lap of the race as he and Webber made light contact into the first turn, but he was ultimately unable to keep pace with Hamilton and the Red Bull duo at the front of the field.
Nick Heidfeld took the chequered flag in fifth position in what was BMW Sauber’s 70th and final grand prix, while team-mate Robert Kubica dropped back to finish in tenth position following a late race incident trying to pass Sebastien Buemi for position. Heidfeld’s four points gained with fifth position moves the team ahead of Williams and into sixth position in the championship.
Kamui Kobayashi again shined for the Toyota team in what is just his second grand prix start, claiming a sensational sixth position and making best use of a one stop strategy. The Japanese racer ran as high as third and made a crucial pass on Button mid-race to ensure that when he made his one and only stop, he emerged from the pits ahead of team-mate Jarno Trulli. Kobayashi has certainly done enough to claim a seat with the German-based squad for next year.
Sebastien Buemi took the final point for Toro Rosso Ferrari after another strong drive, finishing ahead of Nico Rosberg in the leading Williams Toyota and Kubica.
The battle for third position in the constructors’ championship went to McLaren Mercedes over Ferrari as neither team were able to score championship points. Heikki Kovalainen made a great start from 18th position on the grid to run 13th at the end of the first lap, before getting the jump on Kimi Raikkonen in the pits to claim 11th place ahead of the Finn.
Kazuki Nakajima ended the season having failed to score any points with Williams, and was 13th Sunday evening in Abu Dhabi ahead of Fernando Alonso, Tonio Liuzzi, Giancarlo Fisichella, Adrian Sutil and Romain Grosjean. Jaime Alguersuari retired the second Toro Rosso with a gearbox problem.
Jenson Button ends the season as 2009 champion with 95 points, 11 ahead of Abu Dhabi race winner Sebastian Vettel as the teams pack up and head back to base to begin preparations for the 2010 season…
Earl ALEXANDER
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