Abu Dhabi GP: Kimi Raikkonen knows what to do as he holds off Fernando Alonso while Sebastian Vettel retains Championship lead

For Kimi Raikkonen, the victory. For Sebastian Vettel, a Fernando Alonso-esque damage-limitation operation to retain the lead of the World Championship from the Spaniard. And for the rest of us, two hours of edge-of-the-seat drama as Abu Dhabi produced the grand prix of the year.

How different it might have been but for the two Safety Cars and a splew of retirements, but a champion makes his own luck and the championship is once again in his grasp after dodging the bullet that seemed to be flying in his direction on Saturday night. "He must be the luckiest man in F1," countered Hamilton, a remark delivered with a wry laugh and undoubtedly in part provoked by frustration at McLaren's latest bout of costly unreliability. Their race this season has been run. 2012, though, has its signature race, and with just two remaining, it's all still to play for in America and Brazil between Vettel and the relentlessly-optimistic Alonso. "I'm very happy," said Fernando after his own latest Sunday salvage job. "We were not super competitive this weekend: we started sixth with Sebastian's penalty so we had to fight all through the race. Second I think was the maximum today so a perfect Sunday again for us and we keep fighting until the end." The end is indeed approaching fast, but with the title battle now officially a straight head-to-head, in many ways the duel is only just beginning. Game on.