Sebastian Vettel drove a wise yet brave race to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix leaving Alonso to question team tactics.
The comments from Vettel after winning the Abu Dhabi F1 on Yas Mari
na today - "I'm speechless! The car was phenomenal. The start was crucial, and it was very tight with Lewis, but after that it settled down."
The result secured the drivers championship positions for team Red Bull after they had clinched the constructors' championship with Vettel's victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix. The final result was Vettel top on 256 points, four clear of Alonso on 252, 14 above Webber and 16 in front of Hamilton.
Michael Schumacher and Vitantonio Liuzzi collided at turn six with Liuzzi being forced into a position where he couldn’t negotiate Schumacher's car, as a result Liuzzis car smashed into the German riding up to his chassis and only narrowly missing his head. The safety car deployed for four laps whilst the track crew worked to clear the debris.
The 23-year-old driver was third in the standings but quickly led from pole position and saw luck combined with his considerable skill go his way to beat Ferrari's championship leader Fernando Alonso who came seventh, whilst Red Bull's other title contender Mark Webber came in eighth. Lewis Hamilton and his teammate Jenson Button secured second and third place respectively.
Vettel took the open track opportunity to pull away, leaving his pit stop to change to harder tyres late into the race. Obviously the Ferrari team viewed Webber as the main threat, and pulled Alonso in for hard tyres on the 15th lap.
However Vettel was building a significant advantage and I think the Red Bull team knew that they had the race when Vettel cam to pit on the 24th lap only to exit in second behind button who was yet to make a stop. Vettel held onto the race whilst Alonso became stuck behind the Renault for the rest of the race, unable to gain enough ground to make the crucial 4th place needed for him to secure the title.
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