Abu Dhabi Grand Prix-In the Mirrors-Vettel claims the future of F1: Part 2

November 7, 11:26 PMFormula One ExaminerTerrence Connolly

Previous

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Formula One Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany steers his car during the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at the Yas Marina racetrack in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer)

Lap 17

Vettel now in the lead, is turning faster laps then Hamilton. Webber pits in 9.3 seconds. McLaren radio to Lewis with ominous news, “We may have a right rear brake problem. We’ll keep you posted.”

 Lap 18

Vettel’s turn to pit, but Jamie Alegesuari pulls a boneheaded maneuver first by mistaking the Red Bull crew for his own Toro Rosso pit crew. The Red Bull team waves him through, and he exits the pits without his refuel. Sebastian finds the right crew and is out in 9.3 seconds. He rejoins in front of Lewis in first place!

Lap 20

Disaster for Lewis has the pit informs him that the braking problem means, “We cannot continue racing.” For Lewis this will be his first mechanical failure in F1. Jamie Algesuari is also retired now, he ran out of fuel after driving into the wrong pit stop.

Lap 23

The fight for third place in the Constructor’s championship will come down to McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen in 7th and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in 6th with the retirement of Hamilton.

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany steers his car ahead of Red Bull driver Mark Webber of Australia, during the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at the Yas Marina racetrack in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer)

Lap 25

Vettel now pulling away from Mark Webber in 2nd.

Lap 27

Kobayashi in 3rd place. Kimi pits from 6th soft tires 9.9 seconds.

Lap 30

Kobayashi pits 9.4 seconds, option tires.

Lap 31

Heikki pits 9.6 seconds, options, rejoins in front of Kimi. This means McLaren is in front of Ferrari for 3rd place in the Constructor’s.

Lap 32

Fisichella issued drive through penalty for speeding the pit lane.

Lap 40

Vettel gap to Webber 12.5 seconds. Mark now hits the pits for the option tire.

Red Bull driver Mark Webber of Australia steers his car during the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at the Yas Marina racetrack , in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Nov.1, 2009. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Lap 42

Kubica and Buemi tangle, Robert loses after touching the Toro Rosso and spinning off. Rosberg’s Williams goes by Kubica also. Vettel from first and Button from second both pit for options. Vettel comes back in 1st, but Button rejoins in 3rd behind Webber.

Lap 45

Button starting to turn faster laps then Webber, starting to reel him in.

Lap 47

Button still a half second better then Webber, getting real close, only 1 second behind.

Lap 49

Button now less then a second behind Mark.

Brawn GP driver Jenson Button of Britain leads his teammate Brawn GP driver Rubens Barrichello of Brazil during the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at the Yas Marina racetrack , in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Nov.1, 2009. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Lap 50

The overhead shots of this track at night are incredible.

Lap 52

All camera shots on Webber and Button. Jenson is right up Mark’s tailpipes now.

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany reacts after winning the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at the Yas Marina racetrack in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer)

Lap 53

Button looking to make a move, Webber blocks. Vettel sets new fastest lap of the race.

Lap 55

Button pulling out all stops to pass Webber. They are side by side down the straight! Webber grabs the line exiting the straight, and closes the door on Jenson.
 

But through the next series of turns, Button again gets alongside Webber, and actually gets in front momentarily. Webber still maintains his line and keeps second. Button talked about the battle afterwards, “The last few laps were really exciting and I was giving everything to take second place from Mark (Webber). I couldn't quite make the moves stick and he's a very difficult guy to overtake but it was a good clean fight and we were really on the edge. I'm a little bit disappointed not to get second but it's still great to finish on the podium.”

Webber also seemed to enjoy the Button tangle, “Towards the end of the race, Jenson was able to close the gap to me and I thought ‘this is going to be tight’! We knew we had a slight top-speed advantage, but not much and I had to make sure I was accurate with my braking points. We had a good clean fight on the limit and the battle was a credit to how Jenson’s driven all year.” 

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany crosses the finish line to win the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at the Yas Marina racetrack , in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
 

Sebastian now crosses the finish line in first, and Webber finishes second, and Button comes home in 3rd.

So does this mean that Sebastian is the future of the sport? Vettel seems to think so, “To sum up the season, what can I say? I would say up and down, we are currently very strong and have just gained our fourth one-two finish, so congratulations to the team. They have been pushing a lot, working very hard back in the factory. It’s a shame now that the season ends, as we are on a roll! It’s just perfect to finish the season in this way on such a high.”

So in a fitting capstone to the 2009 season, Red Bull and Brawn sweep the first 4 places at Yas Marina, with Ferrari and McLaren not even in the points. Vettel's victory is his 4th of the year, and many observers think he will be very tough to beat in 2010. He may even be the odds on favorite to take the title, if Red Bull can produce another strong race car in 2010. Of course the rest of the field will be working just as hard as Red Bull to make sure their team is ahead of Vettel. Certainly Ferrari and McLaren are ready to forget 2009, with both teams, especially Ferrari, concentrating hard on producing a more powerful car, with better downforce, for 2010.

Should be a very interesting off season, with former World Champion Kimi Raikkonen without a drive for 2010, and a number of seats open for next season.

Look for a 2009 summary coming up in the near future.

See also:

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix-In the Mirrors-Vettel claims the future of F1: Part 1

End of Part 2

Nov 1 - Results of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas
Marina Circuit on Sunday.
1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) RedBull-Renault 1hr 34:03.414
2. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull-Renault +00:17.857
3. Jenson Button (Britain) Brawn-Mercedes 00:18.467
4. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Brawn-Mercedes 00:22.735
5. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 00:26.253
6. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Toyota 00:28.343
7. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 00:34.366
8. Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 00:41.294
9. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams-Toyota 00:45.941
10. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 00:48.180
11. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren-Mercedes 00:52.798
12. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 00:54.317
13. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams-Toyota 00:59.839
14. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 01:09.687
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) Force India-Mercedes 01:34.45
16. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Ferrari 1 lap
17. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India-Mercedes 1 lap
18. Romain Grosjean (France) Renault 1 lap
r. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren-Mercedes 20 laps
r. Jaime Alguersuari (Spain) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 18 laps