As the race progressed Vettel made a good start, but span off on the second corner, destroying his right rear in the process. Hamilton now leads from Button, with Alonso on the pounce. And Alonso gets past, up into P2 during the first lap.
This race could get interesting.
Massa and Webber nearly collided going into Turn 1, while the two Mercedes drivers looked close to connecting on more than one occasion. Vettel is now at the back of the pack and limping slowly to the pits.
Lap 2, and Hamilton has a 2.5s lead over Alonso in P2. Vettel makes it to the pits and looks close to retirement – the wheel is destroyed.
Lap 3, and DRS is enabled.
On replay, it’s obvious that Vettel’s suffered from hub failure, and not driver error. At least the best time to have your first retirement of the season is after you’ve won the championship, right?
Hamilton still leads from Alonso and Button, with Webber in P4. But the Red Bull driver passes Button with relative ease, prompting talk that the McLaren driver is struggling with the balance of his car.
Alonso goes purple, but is still 2.6s behind Hamilton and out of DRS reach.
Kovalainen made a great start, and is currently running in P14. Just behind him is Barrichello, who has worked his was up to P15 from a grid slot of P23.
Perez, Kobayashi, and Senna have all pitted; based on pace the latter two appeared to be suffering car trouble before heading to the pits. Perez is almost certainly on a one-stop strategy.
Alonso is currently two-tenths faster than Hamilton in the first sector, but the McLaren driver has the edges in sectors two and three.
Button – who managed to get back ahead of Webber – has just posted the fastest lap of the race and is beginning to close in on Alonso. But the McLaren driver is 6s down on his teammate, which isn’t far off one second a lap off the current pace.
Lap 9, and Buemi and di Resta are jostling for position. Buemi crept ahead, but di Resta managed to hold his position despite being on the harder tyre. The battle was brought to you – in part – by the extended DRS zone.
With the race one-fifth run, the top ten is: Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Webber, Massa, Rosberg, Schumacher, Sutil, di Resta, Buemi.
The two HRTs are tangling with each other, both drivers jostling for position at the back of the grid.
Di Resta radios that he is beginning to lose traction; Buemi might be able to pounce in the next lap.
At the front, the gap between Hamilton and Alonso is holding steady around 2.6s. Button is six seconds further back, with Webber 1.4s behind.
Rosberg is pulling out a lead on teammate Schumacher; the two cars have been running together since they nearly collided on the first lap but the younger driver is now 5.6s ahead of his compatriot.
Lap 13 and Alonso goes purple. The gap to Hamilton has been reduced to 2.3s.
Button radios complaining of car trouble; the McLaren driver is losing a second a lap and is now within Webber’s DRS range.
Buemi and di Resta are still playing pass and repass; the Scottish driver is delivering a commendable performance given his traction issues at a circuit where traction is vital.
Lap 15, and Webber makes his move on Button. Webber overshoots the corner and Button reclaims his place. The McLaren driver has KERS failure.
The gap between Hamilton and Alonso is down to 1.9s, as Ferrari call Massa into the pits. The Brazilian drops from P5 to P8 on exit, and ushers in the first major pit stop phase of the race.
Hamilton and Alonso pit together from P1 and P2, while Button enters the McLaren box as soon as his teammate leaves it. Sutil, Schumacher, Alguersuari, and Kovalainen have now all pitted this lap.
Webber now leads the race, with Hamilton in P2 and Alonso in P3. And on the next lap, Webber pits from the lead and emerges in P5. Hamilton is back in the lead, and 2.6s ahead of Alonso.
Webber had a very slow stop, over nine seconds thanks to a stuck wheel.
Hamilton goes purple on his fresh rubber, extending the gap to Alonso to 3.3s. Button is 15.9s behind his teammate, and has Massa 1.4s behind.
D’Ambrosio has retired following what felt like a ninety minute pit stop, thanks to what the team confirm is a brake problem.
Lap 21, and we’re treated to a battle for 12th between Renault teammates Senna and Petrov. But Senna pits, and the promise of action comes to nothing.
Buemi has retired.
Lap 22, and with three retirements under our belts the top ten: Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Massa, Webber, Rosberg, Sutil, Schumacher, di Resta, Maldonado. Di Resta and Maldonado have yet to pit.
The gap between Alonso and Hamilton is shrinking, thanks to time lost lapping backmarkers. On lap 23, it was holding steady at 3s, but by lap 24 Hamilton has pulled out an extra 0.3s on the Ferrari.
Further down the grid, Kovalainen is keeping Barrichello solidly in his wing mirrors; the Lotus driver is in P14 with the Williams man 2.3s further back down the track.
Lap 25, and Barrichello passes Kovalainen for P14.
Maldonado pits and crashes into the tunnel wall on exit. This is the pinnacle of motorsport, don’t you know? The Williams driver recovered and continued to the track.
Lap 28, and di Resta pits for what will presumably be his only stop of the race. Perez pits for a second time – I was wrong to assume he was one-stopping.
At the front of the pack, Hamilton is slowly extending his lead on Alonso. The two men are now split by 4.1s.
Lap 29, and Maldonado is under investigation for ignoring blue flags. And almost immediately, the stewards announce a drive-through for the Venezuelan, who is currently running in P14.
Lap 30, and Webber and Massa are getting close. Webber passes Massa on the straight, and the two make brief contact. Massa then uses his DRS to repass the Red Bull. This is a battle certain to run and run.
Lap 32, and Maldonado serves his drive-through. Can he leave the pits without driving into the tunnel wall?
Hamilton is pulling away from Alonso at the front of the pack; the gap between the two is up to 5.6s. Button is 15.8s further back in P3, with the Massa-Webber battle four seconds behind him.
Alguersuari and Maldonado are causing traffic problems for Webber and Massa, who are attempting to lap them. The grid has now been lapped up to Kovalainen in P13.
Alonso sets the fastest lap the race so far (we’re on lap 34), and chips away at the gap to Hamilton by half a second. Traffic is a serious problem for the frontrunners, especially where Maldonado is concerned.
Lap 35, and Hamilton has lost 0.7s passing backmarkers.
Maldonado and Alguersuari are being investigated for ignoring waved blues. That’ll be a stop-go penalty for Maldonado, while Alguersuari should get a drive-through.
Webber pitted from P5 on lap 36, and returned to the track in P6. One lap later, Button pits from P3 and comes back out in P5.
Senna is under investigation for ignoring waved blues, and is immediately issued with a drive-through.
Lap 37, and Senna pits for his penalty.
Lap 38, and the order in the points is: Hamilton, Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, Button, Webber, Schumacher, Sutil, di Resta, Petrov. Di Resta and Petrov are one lap down on the race leaders.
Webber goes purple on his fresh soft tyres.
At the head of the pack, the gap between Hamilton and Alonso is down to 3.1s. Hamilton will need to pit for new rubber shortly; the question is will Alonso stay out with a view to jumping the McLaren driver, or will the pair race in the stops?
Lap 40, and Hamilton pits from the lead. Alonso stays out, and the McLaren driver emerges in P2.
Massa pits from P3, and is joined by Kovalainen. The Lotus driver overtakes the Ferrari heading into the pit exit tunnel.
The stewards announce the Alguersuari-Maldonado incident will be investigated after the race.
Webber passes Button for fourth, the two men make contact and the McLaren driver wobbles across the track but recovers. It looks as though the Red Bull tapped the rear and the front in the course of the pass, but it was racing contact and not anything to worry about.
Alonso has yet to pit, but is currently sitting on a 20s lead over Hamilton in P2. Ferrari will need to best McLaren’s 3.6s stop time to stay ahead, and Hamilton is setting fast sector times on his fresh tyres.
And Alonso pits on lap 43, slowed down by Ricciardo who is also pitting.
The Ferrari stop wasn’t quick enough – Hamilton has the lead on Alonso, and both cars will now run till the end of the race.
Lap 44, and the leading pair are split by 4.4s.
Massa has just driven over a bit of what appears to be Barrichello’s front wing, possibly damaging his car in the process.
Lap 45, and Webber passes Rosberg for P3. The Australian isn’t vulnerable to a DRS-powered repass, as he’s just powered off into the distance. What was that about the unbeatable Mercedes engine?
Lap 47 and the provisional points go to: Hamilton, Alonso, Webber, Rosberg, Button, Massa, Schumacher, di Resta, Kobayashi.
Hamilton is currently 5.7s ahead of Alonso in P2. Button is now 1s down on Rosberg, and might be able to use his DRS to pass, although defending will be tough without KERS.
Pit me baby one more time. Britney (aka Rosberg) pits for the last time on lap 49.
Massa isn’t having a great day – the Brazilian driver has just slid sideways across the runoff area, but returned to the track unscathed.
With five laps remaining, the gaps have stabilised at the front of the pack. Hamilton has six seconds on Alonso, who is eleven seconds ahead of Webber. Button is just shy of 10 seconds behind the solitary Red Bull.
Closing laps drama from Ricciardo, who plants his car sideways into the barriers at Turn 16. The Australian is out, but will be a classified finisher.
It’s the penultimate lap, and there’re no changes in the points.
Hamilton crosses the line to begin the last lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and Webber pits for the last time. The Australian slips off the podium, handing P3 to Button.Abu Dhabi Grand Prix results
RACE RESULT FOR 2011 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX
1. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
2. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
3. Jenson Button (McLaren)
4. Mark Webber (Red Bull)
5. Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
6. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
7. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes)
8. Adrian Sutil (Force India)
9. Paul di Resta (Force India)
10. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber)
11. Sergio Perez (Sauber)
12. Rubens Barrichello (Williams)
13. Vitaly Petrov (Renault)
14. Pastor Maldonado (Williams)
15. Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso)
16. Bruno Senna (Renault)
17. Heikki Kovalainen (Team Lotus)
18. Jarno Trulli (Team Lotus)
19. Timo Glock (Virgin)
20. Tonio Liuzzi (HRT)
ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX .
Daniel Ricciardo (HRT) RET
Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) RET
Jerome D’Ambrosio (Virgin) RET
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) RET
THNX FOR VISITING AND ITS CIAO .
