Vettel Heads Red Bull 1-2 in Abu Dhabi

Sebastian Vettel won the first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this afternoon, securing second in the drivers’ championship, while polesitter Lewis Hamilton retired shortly after his first pitstop with mechanical failure.

Jenson Button finished his first race as 2009 world champion in third, narrowly missing out on passing Mark Webber for second, after closing in on the Australian in the last few laps of the race. Button had been wheel-to-wheel with Webber in turn 11 on the final lap, very nearly making it stick in the last sector to pass the Red Bull driver, but Webber was able to hold off Button for a final one-two of the season for the team.

Hamilton had the biggest disappointment in F1’s first twilight race, retiring on lap 21 with right rear brake problems. Hamilton said over the team radio that the problem had started early on in the race, explaining why he was unable to pull away from Vettel in the first stint. Vettel had been able to leapfrog Hamilton after the first round of pitstops, but it was shortly after that, that Hamilton retired.

Hamilton’s teammate Heikki Kovalainen, who started 18th after a penalty for changing his gearbox, made his way up to finish 11th on a one-stop strategy, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in 12th.

Rubens Barrichello, who went into the race fighting for second in the championship with Vettel, finished fourth after Button passed him on the opening lap. Nick Heidfeld, who started the race from eighth, finished fifth, scoring BMW’s last four points in F1. Kamui Kobayashi, who has been standing in for Timo Glock at Toyota, after his accident in Japan, finished sixth, scoring three points, in just his second race.

Jarno Trulli finished behind his rookie teammate in seventh, while Sebastien Buemi scored the final point of the season for Toro Rosso in eighth. Buemi’s teammate Jaime Alguersuari was the only other retiree of the race along with Hamilton. The Spanish driver drove into the Red Bull pitbox at his first stop instead of the Toro Rosso one, at the same time as Vettel was coming in for his first stop. Alguersuari had to continue back out onto the track, and he eventually came to a stop. While it looked like he had run out of fuel on his outlap after his pitlane error, he then said it was a gearbox problem.

Despite failing to finish the race, Hamilton maintains fifth in the drivers’ championship with a point over Raikkonen, who failed to finish his last race for Ferrari in the points. McLaren have secured third in the constructors’ championship with a point over Ferrari.

While Hamilton and McLaren looked set to dominate going into today’s race, as the sun set on the 2009 season, it was Vettel and Red Bull who came out on top. With Button and Brawn having already secured the championship, for Vettel, it was all about ending a brilliant season on a high, securing his second place in the drivers’ championship, and with a hat-trick of wins at the end of the season, Red Bull have proved they are worthy runners-up in the constructors’ championship.

 

Formula One will return with the Bahrain Grand Prix on the 12th, 13th and 14th March 2010, however, between now and then, there is a lot to be decided, including whether there will be a British Grand Prix, and who will be driving where when the lights go out for the start of the 2010 season.

Hamilton on Pole for Last Race of the Season

Lewis Hamilton took the final pole of the season in qualifying at Abu Dhabi this afternoon, while Jenson Button, the new 2009 world champion set the fifth fastest time ahead of tomorrow’s race.

Hamilton set the fastest lap times in all three rounds of qualifying, showing the McLaren is in a class of its own this weekend at the brand new Yas Marina circuit. He finished the final session with a time of 1:40.948, 0.7 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel who will start alongside him on the grid.

Vettel will be aiming to come away with more points than Rubens Barrichello tomorrow in order for him to secure second in this year’s world drivers’ championship. Barrichello will start tomorrow’s race from fourth, alongside third-placed Mark Webber, on the second row of the grid, and ahead of Jenson Button in fifth in his first race after securing the title.

Kimi Raikkonen will start his last race for Ferrari from 11th after just missing out on the top ten shoot out, Heikki Kovalainen will start what could possibly be his last race for McLaren from 13th after he stopped out on track during Q2 with suspected gearbox problems. Fernando Alonso starts his last race for Renault before his move to Ferrari from 16th, while Giancarlo Fisichella will start what is likely to be his last F1 race in 20th after another poor qualifying session.

With the focus now on who can finish where in the standings for the season, with all being well in tomorrow’s race, Hamilton looks likely to secure fifth in the drivers’ standings over Raikkonen, while McLaren look set to take third from Ferrari in the constructors’, after a difficult season for both teams.

Tomorrow’s race is also set to be F1’s first ‘twilight race’, starting in daylight and finishing under flood lights. The new circuit is set to end the season on a high, with Hamilton and his KERS-equipped McLaren looking good to take the last win.

Button 2009 World Champion as Webber Wins in Brazil

Jenson Button drove like a champion in this afternoon’s Brazilian Grand Prix to be crowned Formula One World Champion 2009, with Mark Webber taking victory.

Button held it together, putting in some impressive overtaking manoeuvres to prove that he is the worthy champion of the season. While a first lap collision saw the end of Jarno Trulli, Adrian Sutil and Fernando Alonso’s races, Button held his nerve to take the championship with one race left to the season.

Button, who sang Queen’s We Are the Champions over the radio at the end of the race, said: “It is amazing. After the last few races I’ve had this one make up for it and I am world champion baby!” He added: “I never expected to be world champion in F1. We have done it today!”

An emotional Ross Brawn said of Button’s performance: “He had a great race. He knew what he had to do.” He said that it still had to sink in.

And when you look back to just weeks before the start of the season when Honda pulled out of F1 with it looking like Button and teammate Rubens Barrichello would not make the grid in Australia, it is amazing just what the Brawn team have achieved, taking both the drivers’ and the constructors’ title in the same weekend. But at the start of the race it didn’t look hopeful for Button, as with Barrichello on pole it seemed likely the title would go down to the last race in Abu Dhabi in two weeks time.

The Senna ‘S’ on the first lap normally always claims its victims, but everyone got round in one piece, with the hairiest moment being Heikki Kovalainen tripping up and very nearly collecting Giancarlo Fisichella as he went into a spin. But the first lap carnage came after turn five, when Trulli and Sutil collided sending Trulli to the left, and Sutil over the grass to the right, collecting Fernando Alonso as he came back across the track.

Contact between Kimi Raikkonen and Sutil in the first few corners saw damage to Raikkonen’s front wing, and the Finn was soon being passed on track. As the safety car came out, Lewis Hamilton, who had started 17th, pitted, with McLaren switching him to a one-stop strategy. But it was Kovalainen’s stop that caused havoc in the pitlane, as he drove away with his fuel hose attached, spilling fuel, which ignited in Raikkonen’s face as he drove out of his pitbox and down the pitlane behind Heikki. Fortunately, both were able to make a getaway, with the Brawn mechanics releasing Kovalainen’s hose.

At the restart the champion came alive in Button, and while it was Barrichello who had the lead, it was Button making the moves, passing Romain Grosjean on the first lap after the restart, and Kazuki Nakajima on the second. It took him longer to pass rookie Kamui Kobayashi, who stands in for Timo Glock at Toyota after his crash in Suzuka two weeks ago, but after pulling an impressive move into the first corner a bit later in the race, it was all about holding his nerve and bringing it home.

After the first round of pitstops, it was clear Barrichello had lost out, with both second and third placed Webber and Robert Kubica leapfrogging him. With Hamilton one stopping, Barrichello needed to stay in third for six world championship points, with Button no higher than eighth to keep his title hopes alive. But after Barrichello’s second stop, Hamilton soon caught the Brawn driver and passed him for third. Contact between the two resulted in a right rear puncture for Rubens and he had to pit for a third time, and he could manage no higher than eighth and one world championship point.

Going into the race, Sebastian Vettel had been a contender for the title, and having started 15th, just behind Button, Red Bull were hoping for a clean getaway, through the first few corners, but with a safety car to shake things up a bit. That was what they got, and while Webber stormed to victory with a solid performance, Vettel put in a solid drive to finish fourth, to take second in the drivers’ standings with one race to go.

While the champagne is set to flow for Button and Brawn after taking the title, Mark Webber deserves praise for his impressive victory, his second of the season. The Australian driver was able to leapfrog Barrichello in the first round of  pitstops, and after pitting later than his rivals, he was able to maintain the lead as he exited the pits following his first stop. He produced a faultless drive, finishing ahead of Robert Kubica and Lewis Hamilton. Vettel came through in fourth ahead of the new champion Button in fifth. Despite his first lap woes, Raikkonen came through in sixth ahead of Sebastien Buemi in seventh, and Barrichello in eighth.

Less lucky, Nick Heidfeld ran out of fuel on the track shortly after his first stop, where his fuel rig failed to put fuel into the car, Nico Rosberg retired with gearbox failure, and Kazuki Nakajima went flying off the track at turn four after contact with Kobayashi.

While Button cannot be toppled from the top spot in the championship, second is left to decide, with Vettel now just ahead of Barrichello. Hamilton now sits in fifth behind Webber, having taken a point out of Raikkonen. In the constructors’ championship, while Brawn and Red Bull have secured first and second, McLaren have now snatched third from Ferrari. But with the last round in Abu Dhabi being somewhat of an unknown, anything could happen before the season draws to a close.

 

The next race is in two weeks, with qualifying on Saturday 31st October and the race live on BBC One at 1pm on Sunday 1st November.