Abu Dhabi – Race: Vettel Ridicules the Competition

The sun still shines in the Abu Dhabi sky as the drivers head out for the formation lap. The temperature is 32 degrees Celsius in the air with a track temperature of 36 degrees. Excluded from qualifying, Kimi Räikkönen will start in 22nd position at the back of the grid and not from the pit lane as was once considered.

Jenson Button, 12th on the grid, is the first driver on mediums. Gutiérrez, Sutil, and Räikkönen are on the same strategy.

At the start, it is Vettel who takes the best launch and thus leads at the first corner. He is ahead of Nico Rosberg, Mark Webber, and Romain Grosjean. For Kimi Räikkönen, it’s already over following a collision with a Caterham. The Finn won’t complete a lap. Mark Webber is faster than Rosberg’s Mercedes but fails to find an opening while his teammate is already extending the lead at the front of the race.

At McLaren, Jenson Button is already being asked to come back to the pits after just two laps to change the front wing of the MP4-28. On Mark Webber’s side, it’s the KERS that is acting up while Sebastian Vettel strings together the fastest laps. His pit wall is even asking him not to overdo it.

As in India last week, the soft tires don’t last very long, and by the 6th lap, we see the first drivers coming in for a change. This is the case for Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Pérez on the next lap.

On the 9th lap, Webber and Grosjean pit at the same time but the positions remain unchanged. The Australian maintains the advantage over the Lotus driver. Both men come out ahead of Lewis Hamilton. On the other Mercedes side, Nico Rosberg is asked to extend the life of his soft tires, but the German is struggling with his rear tires. He pits at the end of the 11th lap while Vettel continues his solo run in the lead.

Unlike Webber and Grosjean, Lewis Hamilton is struggling to get past Esteban Gutiérrez’s Sauber while Vettel switches to medium tires in the 15th lap. The four-time world champion remains in the lead ahead of the two Ferraris of Massa and Alonso, who are still on soft tires. Paul di Resta is in 4th place and has yet to make a pit stop. In fifth, Nico Rosberg is on mediums.

At the 19th lap, Estéban Gutiérrez enters the pits, leaving the track clear in front of Hamilton, who sees the other Sauber of Nico Hülkenberg in his mirrors. At Ferrari, Alonso and Massa have both also been through the pits. They are 12th and 8th respectively.

Mark Webber attacks Nico Rosberg in the 21st lap, taking third place behind Di Resta who enters the pits at the end of the same lap, leaving his second position to the Australian. The provisional podium is thus composed of Vettel, Webber, and Rosberg. It is suggested to the latter to maintain a 2-second gap on the number 2 Red Bull to preserve the tires. However, he must be wary of Romain Grosjean who is 4 seconds behind.

Lewis Hamilton’s Sunday is not a walk in the park. After being stuck behind Gutiérrez, he fails to get past Sutil’s Force India, and worse, he is overtaken by Felipe Massa, who then claims Sutil’s scalp the following lap. The Brazilian is in 5th place behind Romain Grosjean. A bit further back, Nico Hülkenberg puts up resistance against Alonso for 8th position. After Hülkenberg, Alonso sets his sights on Adrian Sutil, who has finally been overtaken by Lewis Hamilton.

At the 30th lap, Lewis Hamilton returns to the pits to put on new medium tires. As for Vettel, he doesn’t slow down: he now has a 30-second lead over Mark Webber, who comes in at the 34th lap, just like Nico Rosberg.

Nico Hülkenberg must also make a pit stop due to a penalty for an unsafe release from his pit box on the 29th lap.

The end of the race depends on the different strategies. In 7th position, Jean-Eric Vergne has made just one stop and must hold off Hamilton and Massa. The Frenchman, moreover, cannot keep the Mercedes at bay.

In the 45th lap, Fernando Alonso makes a final stop and puts on the soft tires. The Spaniard comes out just ahead of Vergne. Maneuver under investigation for having overtaken outside the track limits.

Vergne continues to drop down the rankings. After Alonso and Massa, it’s Sutil who overtakes him. The Frenchman is 10th ahead of Pérez with 7 laps to go before the checkered flag. It won’t take long for the Mexican to seize the last point.

Fernando Alonso moves up to 5th place but is still under the threat of a penalty following his overtake on Vergne. The incident will be investigated after the race.

After 55 laps of the Grand Prix, it’s Sebastian Vettel who secures a new victory with more than a 30-second lead over his teammate Mark Webber. Nico Rosberg completes the podium in this race with no suspense.

Result of the 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: