Race Report: Abu Dhabi (Round 18)

Lap Record: 1.40.279 S Vettel (2009)

Lap Length: 5.55km

Race Length: 55 Laps

Total Distance: 305.4km

Tyre Allocation: Soft & Hard

Start Grid - http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2012/881/7178/

So belated race report of the Abu Dhabi GP that took place on the 4^th November 2012.

Kimi Raikkonen claimed his first victory of his F1 comeback by capitalising on another mechanical failure for Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren leading to him taking the chequered flag ahead of championship contenders Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel.

Kimi Back On Top For The First Time Since 2009

Finally we have been provided with an Abu Dhabi race where the action on track matches the spectacle that is the location of this race. It was a race filled with accidents. Vettel’s ability to start from the pitlane and finish third showed the class of driving that he is able to produce when needed. This was one of the most convincing evidence that he really is a racing driver, however it was not a smooth running afternoon for him after coming together with Bruno Senna on the opening lap and then crashing into a polystyrene DRS board later in the race. 

Hamilton Walks Away From Yet Another Almost Certain Victory

Alonso also showed his class around the Yas Marina Circuit after passing Red Bulls Mark Webber on the first lap. I for one feel that no one deserves this year’s title more than him after the performances he has displayed this season.

Following less than interesting races in Japan, Korea and India F1 surprisingly breathed life back into the Yas Marina Circuit that has failed to provide interesting racing since it first made it onto the calendar in 2009.

An incident involving Nico Rosberg and Narain Karthikeyan on lap 9 resulted in the races first appearance of the safety car, which bunched the grid back up.

Spectacular Crash As Rosberg Has No Chance In Avoided The HRT's  Failure

Perez who will replace Hamilton at McLaren in 2013 was given a stop-go penalty after cutting across the path of Romain Grosjean, who then swerved into the path of Mark Webber which resulted in the retirement of both Grosjean and Webber.

The race ended in Abu Dhabi under the stars of the United Arab Emirites with the top ten looking like.

1 Kimi Raikkonen    

2 Fernando Alonso    

3 Sebastian Vettel

4 Jenson Button

5 Pastor Maldonado

6 Kamui Kobayashi

7 Felipe Massa

8 Bruno Senna

9 Paul Di Resta    

10 Daniel Ricciardo

Andy, F1 Hub