Vettel wins first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Another one-two finish for Red Bull Racing
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel has secured the second place in the driver standings by winning the first edition of the new Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit ahead of his team-mate Mark Webber.
2009 world champion Jenson Button finished third, despite a late attempt for p2 in the last lap, ahead of Rubens Barrichello and Nick Heidfeld.
Sixth place after another excellent performance for Kamui Kobayashi, seventh for Jarno Trulli and eighth for Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi.
2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, lap by lap highlights:
Formation lap: Lewis Hamilton starts from pole for the fourth time in the season ahead of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel who is aiming to secure the runner up spot in the drivers’ title. Behind the two, there’s Mark Webber, Rubens Barrichello, 2009 world champion Jenson Button, Jarno Trulli, and the two BMW’s at their last grand prix. McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen qualified 13th but he has been handed a five place grid penalty following a gearbox change.
Race start: Great start for Hamilton. Vettel keeps P2, Webber P3. Kubica passes Trulli for P6.
Lap 54/55: Raikkonen in P12, Fisichella P16. Kovalainen P13.
Lap 53/55: Hamilton P1, Vettel P2, Webber P3, Button P4, Barrichello P5, Kubica P6. Replays show a slight contact between Barrichello and Webber at Turn 1, with the Brazilian losing an endplate from his front wing.
Lap 51/55: Fastest lap for Hamilton.
Lap 49/55: Hamilton leading the race with 1.6 seconds on Vettel.
Lap 48/55: Fastest lap for Webber.
Lap 45/55: Fastest lap for Hamilton. Vettel P2, Webber P3, Button P4, Barrichello P5, Kubica P6, Trulli P7, Heidfeld P8.
Lap 44/55: Replays show Hamilton running wide, allowing Vettel to close the gap within a second.
Lap 41/55: Another fastest lap for Webber.
Lap 39/55: Barrichello and Kubica pit. Barrichello back in P10, ahead of Raikkonen.
Lap 38/55: Hamilton pits. Button too. Button rejoins in P8, ahead of Kobayashi. Kobayashi overtakes Button for P8.
Lap 37/55: Webber pits, 9.3 seconds. Trulli, Rosberg, Buemi pit. Fastest lap for Vettel. Webber back in P4. Team radio for Hamilton: he’s being told he may have a right rear brake problem.
Lap 36/55: Vettel pits. Heidfeld too. Vettel takes the lead. Alguersuari slowing down, he stops. Replays show Alguersuari mistakenly trying to stop at the Red Bull rather than the Toro Rosso pit.
Lap 35/55: Hamilton pits. He’s out. His McLaren is being pushed back in the garage.
Lap 33/55: Vettel P1, Webber P2, Kobayashi P3.
Lap 32/55: Raikkonen P6, Kovalainen P7.
Lap 31/55: Tight race between Raikkonen and Kovalainen for the third place in the constructors’ championship. Vettel P1, with 7.5s on team-mate Webber.
Lap 30/55: Sutil pits.
Lap 27/55: Fisichella pits from P15.
Lap 26/55: Raikkonen pits from P6. 9.9 seconds, he rejoins in P15.
Lap 25/55: Kobayashi pits. 9.4s, back in P12. Drive through penalty for Fisichella for speeding in the pitlane.
Lap 24/55: Kovalainen pits: 9.6s, back in P13.
Lap 23/55: Nakajima pits.
Lap 22/55: Vettel still leading the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, followed by team-mate Mark Webber. Alonso, no stops yet, pressuring Kobayashi for P10.
Lap 21/55: Alonso passes Kobayashi for P10. Alonso pits, back in P14.
Lap 17/55: Second pit stop for Rosberg. He rejoins in P10.
Lap 16/55: Second pit stop for Kubica. 7.6s, back in P9.
Lap 15/55: Webber pits for the second time. 7.6s, back in P6.
Lap 14/55: Barrichello and Heidfeld pit. Buemi pits. Barrichello rejoins in P5, Heidfeld in P6. Sutil pits.
Lap 13/55: Vettel, Button and Trulli pit. Kubica has spun and loses a place to Rosberg. Button rejoins in P3.
Lap 11/55: Vettel P1, Webber P2, Button P3, Barrichello P4, Heidfeld P5, Kobayashi P6, Trulli P7 and Buemi P8.
Lap 5/55: Button hunting down Webber for P2.
Lap 2/55: Button pressuring Webber for P2. Fastest lap for Vettel.
Last lap: Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel takes the Abu Dhabi chequered flag for first ahead of team-mate Mark Webber, 2009 world champion Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello, Nick Heidfeld, Kamui Kobayashi, Jarno Trulli and Sebastien Buemi.
2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, race results:
| Pos. | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 55 | Winner | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | 14 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 55 | +17.8 secs | 3 | 8 |
| 3 | 22 | Jenson Button | Brawn-Mercedes | 55 | +18.4 secs | 5 | 6 |
| 4 | 23 | Rubens Barrichello | Brawn-Mercedes | 55 | +22.7 secs | 4 | 5 |
| 5 | 6 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 55 | +26.2 secs | 8 | 4 |
| 6 | 10 | Kamui Kobayashi | Toyota | 55 | +28.3 secs | 12 | 3 |
| 7 | 9 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 55 | +34.3 secs | 6 | 2 |
| 8 | 12 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 55 | +41.2 secs | 10 | 1 |
| 9 | 16 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 55 | +45.9 secs | 9 | |
| 10 | 5 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 55 | +48.1 secs | 7 | |
| 11 | 2 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 55 | +52.7 secs | 18 | |
| 12 | 4 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 55 | +54.3 secs | 11 | |
| 13 | 17 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 55 | +59.8 secs | 13 | |
| 14 | 7 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 55 | +69.6 secs | 15 | |
| 15 | 21 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 55 | +94.4 secs | 16 | |
| 16 | 3 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Ferrari | 54 | +1 Lap | 20 | |
| 17 | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 54 | +1 Lap | 17 | |
| 18 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Renault | 54 | +1 Lap | 19 | |
| Ret | 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 19 | +35 Laps | 1 | |
| Ret | 11 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 17 | +37 Laps | 14 |
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