Both RB6s had done multi-lap qualifying runs and so had more heavily used tyres than Ferrari. Webber, who had survived a brush with the wall in sector three, radioed in that he was losing his rear tyres and the Red Bull pitted. Button was a further 3s behind, with 2s in hand over Alonso who, you suspected, was not pressing too hard so that Webber, behind him, was backed up towards team mate Massa.īy lap 11 though, Hamilton was back to within 1s as Vettel's pace dropped off a little.
He had 2s over Hamilton, who had been a little more circumspect at Turn 1 than perhaps anticipated. The field was neutralised for fully five laps while the Turn 6 mess was cleared and once released, Vettel edged away at the front. In fairness, much depended on the degradation of the option tyre used by everyone among the top 10 and the way in which the track surface evolved, which were both unknowns. The team had discussed the exact scenario before the race and decided against stopping. Surely an early stop, which worked for him in Singapore, was worth a punt? He had relatively poor sector two performance, which is the only part of Hermann Tilke's circuit where overtaking was remotely possible. After qualifying only fifth and needing to get up to second to put himself in a position where a switch with Vettel was appropriate if Alonso was in a title-winning position, Webber was faced with passing three highly competitive cars - Alonso, Button and Hamilton. You might have expected Webber to do likewise. So, too, did Vitaly Petrov among the top 10 qualifiers. But when the opportunity presented itself so early, Rosberg went straight into the pits under the Safety Car to put the primes on. So why hadn't he qualified on the prime? Simply, he didn't have a new set left. In qualifying Rosberg had been over half a second quicker on the prime tyre in Q2, third fastest overall, compared with the ninth quickest he set with the option in Q3. Michael applied a bit too much throttle and looped around, ended up facing the wrong way and collected Tonio Liuzzi's Force India, bringing out the Safety Car. On the opening lap Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello were battling for seventh through Turn 5 when Rosberg tried to go inside Michael at Turn 6. But at no time must Vettel have ever imagined a spin from the seven times champion opening the door for him to win his first championship. Michael Schumacher was the young Vettel's hero. With Fernando Alonso third on the grid for Ferrari and the Spaniard having to finish fifth or worse for Vettel to take the crown, Alonso's task looked relatively straightforward. Going into the race, it hadn't looked likely. Sunday night was the first time he'd led the championship all year. Sebastian Vettel became the youngest world champion in the sport's history at 23 years and 134 days when he turned in a superb drive to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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