Formula One | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Abu Dhabi - Yas Marina

29/10 - 01/11 2009

Lap Distance 5.554 Km

Race 55 Laps 305.470 Km

Sebastian Vettel brought the 2009 Formula One season to a close at Abu Dhabi today scoring an emphatic victory, taking the fastest lap of the race and leading home team mate Mark Webber to make it another 1-2 finish for the Red Bull Team. Vettel was beaten off the line by the pole sitting McLaren of Lewis Hamilton, but once Hamilton was forced into retirement by a suspected brake failure on the right rear of his car on lap 20, Vettel was never troubled and pretty much cruised to victory. Mark Webber came under considerable pressure from newly crowned World Drivers Champion Jenson Button in the closing laps, with the last lap in particular producing some of the closest action in an otherwise pretty drama free race. Despite his best efforts Button was unable to pass and in the end settled for a third place finish. Rubens Barrichello finished in fourth place after clashing with Webber's Red Bull off the start line and losing a front wing element in the process. Nick Heidfeld gave BMW Sauber a fifth place finish in their F1 exit race and Kamui Kobayashi drove a strong race to finish sixth for Toyota and eclipsing his more accomplished team mate Jarno Trulli who followed him home in seventh. Sebastian Buemi was the last points winner for Toro Rosso in eighth.

The Formula One circus arrived at Abu Dhabi for its inaugural race and the finale for the 2009 season amid great expectations today. There can be no question that the circuit and its facilities are world class, but it remains to be seen whether it can capture the special atmosphere of the more traditional venues. Anyway after the first session got underway and the dust was cleared from the track it was McLaren's Lewis Hamilton who posted the fastest lap time in the opening session, with newly crowned World Drivers champion Jenson Button second. In the final session of the day it was Heikki Kovalainen clear at the top of the timesheets this time with Hamilton in second place and almost 0.2s adrift. Jenson Button eased down into third place just ahead of Sebastian Vettel in the first of the Red Bull cars. Kamui Kobayashi was an impressive fifth fastest for Toyota with Sebastian Buemi closing out the top six. Mark Webber was down in seventh with Brawn's Rubens Barrichello eighth. Nico Rosberg and Kimi Raikkonen closed out the top ten. Despite the new circuit no driver managed to damage his car although several did spin harmlessly. Robert Kubica was the main casualty of the day suffering an engine failure in his BMW Sauber.

Lewis Hamilton blasted to pole position at Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi over half a second from the chasing Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. All the action took place in the dying moments with pole position switching every few seconds between the top 4 drivers. Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button were fourth and fifth for Brawn but although Button never looked like taking pole, Barrichello was pretty much in contention. Jarno Trulli rounded out the top six fastest. The BMW Saubers of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld making their qualifying swansong for the German Marque finished seventh and eighth. Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Buemi closed out the top ten. Notable drivers not making the final shoot out included Kimi Raikkonen out in Q2 and Fernando Alonso out in Q1, and we mustn't forget Giancarlo Fisichella who was last!

01 L Hamilton
1m 43.939s
02 S Vettel
1m 44.035s
03 J Button
1m 44.153s
04 R Barrichello
1m 44.207s
05 N Heidfeld
1m 44.667s
06 S Buemi
1m 44.687s
07 A Sutil
1m 44.688s
08 M Webber
1m 44.805s
09 J Alguersuari
1m 44.955s
10 J Trulli
1m 44.958s
11 R Kubica
1m 44.988s
12 H Kovalainen
1m 45.123s
13 N Rosberg
1m 45.649s
14 K Nakajima
1m 45.679s
15 K Raikkonen
1m 45.704s
16 F Alonso
1m 45.865s
17 V Liuzzi
1m 46.239s
18 G Fisichella
1m 46.267s
19 K Kobayashi
1m 46.364s
20 R Grosjean
1m 46.411s

01 L Hamilton
1m 40.948s
02 S Vettel
1m 41.615s
03 M Webber
1m 41.726s
04 R Barrichello
1m 41.786s
05 J Button
1m 41.892s
06 J Trulli
1m 41.897s
07 R Kubica
1m 41.992s
08 N Heidfeld
1m 42.343s
09 N Rosberg
1m 42.583s
10 S Buemi
1m 42.713s

Eliminated Q2
11 K Raikkonen
1m 40.726s
12 K Kobayashi
1m 40.777s
13 H Kovalainen
1m 40.983s
14 K Nakajima
1m 41.148s
15 J Alguersuari
1m 41.689s

Eliminated Q1
16 F Alonso
1m 41.667s
17 V Liuzzi
1m 41.701s
18 A Sutil
1m 41.863s
19 R Grosjean
1m 41.95s
20 G Fisichella
1m 42.184s

01 H Kovalainen
1m 41.307s
02 L Hamilton
1m 41.504s
03 J Button
1m 41.541s
04 S Vettel
1m 41.591s
05 K Kobayashi
1m 41.636s
06 S Buemi
1m 41.683s
07 M Webber
1m 41.684s
08 R Barrichello
1m 41.831s
09 N Rosberg
1m 41.931s
10 K Raikkonen
1m 41.987s
11 A Sutil
1m 42.18s
12 K Nakajima
1m 42.245s
13 N Heidfeld
1m 42.278s
14 J Trulli
1m 42.409s
15 V Liuzzi
1m 42.53s
16 F Alonso
1m 42.782s
17 G Fisichella
1m 42.932s
18 R Grosjean
1m 43.021s
19 J Alguersuari
1m 43.022s
20 R Kubica
1m 43.708s

01 J Button
1m 40.625s
02 L Hamilton
1m 40.627s
03 R Barrichello
1m 40.907s
04 S Buemi
1m 40.934s
05 N Heidfeld
1m 41.241s
06 H Kovalainen
1m 41.263s
07 J Trulli
1m 41.31s
08 R Kubica
1m 41.322s
09 A Sutil
1m 41.372s
10 K Raikkonen
1m 41.373s
11S Vettel
1m 41.403s
12N Rosberg
1m 41.478s
13K Kobayashi
1m 41.499s
14V Liuzzi
1m 41.675s
15M Webber
1m 41.682s
16F Alonso
1m 41.897s
17K Nakajima
1m 42.156s
18R Grosjean
1m 42.213s
19G Fisichella
1m 42.351s
20J Alguersuari
1m No Time

01 S Vettel
02 M Webber
03 J Button
04 R Barrichello
05 N Heidfeld
06 K Kobayashi
07 J Trulli
08 S Buemi
09 N Rosberg
10 R Kubica
11 H Kovalainen
12 K Raikkonen
13 K Nakajima
14 F Alonso
15 V Liuzzi
16 G Fisichella
17 A Sutil
18 R Grosjean

Retired
L20 L Hamilton
L18 J Alguersuari

Fastest Lap
S Vettel
1m 40.279s L54