Vettel wins in Abu Dhabi

Sebastian Vettel led home Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber and World Champion Jenson Button in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton retires as World Champion Button finishes third

Sebastian Vettel led home Mark Webber and World Champion Jenson Button as Red Bull enjoyed their fourth one-two finish of 2009 at the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The German took the chequered flag 17.8 seconds ahead of his team-mate, who dramatically fended off Button on the 55th and last lap of racing on the new £800million Yas Marina circuit in what was Formula One's first ever day-night race. Polesitter Lewis Hamilton had led Vettel during the early laps but retired on lap 20 with a brake problem. Vettel's win, his fourth of the season, enabled him to secure second place in the 2009 drivers' championship ahead of Rubens Barrichello, who finished fourth on Sunday. BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld finished fifth in what was the team's final race, with Toyota's Kamui Kobayashi scoring points in just his second grand prix with sixth place. Toyota's Jarno Trulli finished seventh with Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi taking the final World Championship point.

Comprehensive

Vettel's triumph, the third win in a row for the Red Bull team, came in a race which Hamilton and McLaren Mercedes had been expected to dominate. The Englishman had taken pole position in comprehensive fashion on Saturday and with his cars KERS button expected to work its magic on the track's kilometre-long straight - the longest in F1 - Hamilton seemed primed for his third win of the season. He took the lead but what soon became apparent was that the Red Bulls were a little too close for comfort. Indeed, the sight of Hamilton locking a front brake and running wide at turn 17 on lap 12 suggested he was being pushed harder than had been perhaps anticipated. Hamilton lost the lead after pitting on lap 17; however, one lap later he reported a right rear brake problem and the team soon elected to retire him rather than risk an accident. Webber pitted on lap 18 with race leader Vettel doing the same one lap later - Red Bull's pit crew having a fright moments before his arrival when Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari mistakenly attempted to retire his car in his sister team's pit box. By lap 22, Vettel led Webber, with Kobayashi catching the eye in third ahead of Button, who had passed Barrichello on the opening lap - the Brazilian losing part of the right endplate of his front wing after being clipped by Webber at the first corner. The Japanese youngster was again impressing by leading the likes of former World Champion Kimi Raikkonen as the quickest one-stopping car in the field.

Turning the tables

As in Brazil, Button joined Kobayashi in close company after making his first pit stop on lap 17 - the newcomer this time turning the tables on the new World Champion and claiming eighth place after Button went off line defending on the main straight, picking up dust and braking too deep. With Vettel now nine seconds ahead of Webber, Kobayashi dropped to 12th after making his only stop on lap 30 and although he fought understeer on softer compound tyres during the closing laps, his strategy enabled him to move up through the field once more. Webber was the first of the leading two-stoppers to come in on lap 40, followed by Barrichello and Heidfeld. Running first and second, Vettel and Button stopped one lap later. Lap 42 also saw Kubica, who ran sixth in the early laps, spin at turn nine when trying to pass Buemi for eighth place. The top eight remained static over the closing laps. Even so, Button's late dice with Webber was easily the race's highlight as, having stalked the Australian for several laps, the World Champion tried to pass on the final lap. Button drew level several times over the final floodlit 5.554 kilometres but the increasingly ragged Webber did just enough to hold on. Despite Hamilton's retirement, the failure of Ferrari to score a point means that McLaren have secured third place in this season's constructors' championship. Results: 1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1hr 34mins 3.414secs, 2 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:34:21.271, 3 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:34:21.881, 4 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:34:26.149, 5 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:34:29.667, 6 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Toyota 1:34:32.757, 7 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:34:37.780, 8 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:34:44.708, 9 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:34:49.355, 10 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:34:51.594, 11 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:34:56.212, 12 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:34:57.731, 13 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:35:03.253, 14 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:35:13.014, 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 1:35:37.814, 16 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Ferrari at 1 Lap, 17 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India at 1 Lap, 18 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Renault at 1 Lap
Not Classifed: 19 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 20 Laps completed, 20 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 18 Laps completed World Championship Standings: Drivers: 1 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 95pts, 2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 84, 3 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 77, 4 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 69.5, 5 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 49, 6 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 48, 7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 34.5, 8 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 32.5, 9 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 26, 10 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 24, 11 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 22, 12 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 22, 13 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 19, 14 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 17, 15 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Ferrari 8, 16 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 6, 17 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 5, 18 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Toyota 3, 19 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 2, 20 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 0, 21 Nelson Piquet Jr (Bra) Renault 0, 22 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 0, 23 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Renault 0, 24 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 0, 25 Luca Badoer (Ita) Ferrari 0
Manufacturers: 1 Brawn GP 172pts, 2 Red Bull 153.5, 3 McLaren 71, 4 Ferrari 70, 5 Toyota 59.5, 6 BMW Sauber 36, 7 Williams 34.5, 8 Renault 26, 9 Force India 13, 10 Scuderia Toro Rosso 8