Abu Dhabi GP – Race: When Vettel isn’t there, Hamilton dances!

It is, of course, a radiant end of the day that is unfolding in the Persian Gulf and the small emirate of Abu Dhabi, the stage for the eighteenth and penultimate round of the 2011 Formula 1 World Championship. The race begins! And Vettel makes the best start! He is well ahead of Hamilton, but in a dramatic turn of events, the Red Bull driver suffers a right rear puncture and ends up in the grass! He restarts in last place and completes a full lap on three wheels. Behind him, it’s a relentless battle between Button and Alonso for the second position, with the Spaniard taking the advantage. There’s another battle at Mercedes, where the two drivers are not holding back! The Silver Arrows are in contact! And Rosberg takes the lead. Vettel finally gets to the pits, and the mechanics can only witness the damage to the Red Bull’s tire; it’s retirement for the double world champion, his first of the season. Ahead, Hamilton extends his lead over Alonso, followed by Button, Webber, Massa, and Rosberg. Pérez and Senna have also pitted following a collision and are in 22nd and 23rd positions.

Hamilton, after six laps, has only a 2.7-second lead over Alonso, who seems to be closing in on the McLaren, while at the same time Webber is pressuring Button, but the Briton has resources and sets the fastest lap to gain some distance and avoid being under threat from DRS. At the front, the two best rivals are engaged in a battle of lap times, exchanging the fastest lap. On the Force India side, Sutil, in eighth, is catching up to Schumacher, and Di Resta, in ninth, is fighting to maintain his position against Sebastien Buemi. At the back of the pack, Kobayashi overtakes both HRTs in a risky maneuver, and the battle is set to continue between Liuzzi, Ricciardo, and D’Ambrosio, who took advantage of this fight to catch up.

After 10 laps, Hamilton leads Alonso, Button, Webber, Massa, Rosberg, Schumacher, Sutil, Di Resta, and Buemi. The Scotsman from Force India complains of a problem with a tire, likely due to a flat spot during hard braking. Problems also for Schumacher, who complains of excessive tire wear, and for Button during braking. Buemi overtakes Di Resta once, but the Scotsman uses the second DRS zone to regain his position; however, he makes a braking error, and the Swiss driver ultimately manages to take ninth place. Further up, Webber and Button are battling: Webber overtakes during braking, taking advantage of Button’s tight braking. The Brit attempts to hold his position, the two slightly touch, and the native of Frome successfully crosses the Australian to reclaim his place. What a fight! Meanwhile, Massa is the first of the leading drivers to pit. On the following lap, the top three dive into the pits, leaving Mark Webber temporarily in the lead, but not for long as he stops too, facing a slight delay with the right rear tire fitting. Petrov, who has yet to pit, is struggling with his tires and makes a mistake that costs him two positions, leaving him out of the points. Buemi slows down and is overtaken by both Force India cars and Michael Schumacher.

After 20 laps, Hamilton is still leading ahead of Alonso, Button, Massa, Webber, Rosberg, Sutil, Di Resta, Schumacher, and Maldonado. In the pits, we find Buemi and D’Ambrosio: the Belgian driver retires while work continues on the Swiss driver’s Toro Rosso, who also has to give up, visibly very affected by this turn of events. At the front, Hamilton has more than a three-second lead over Alonso. Button, struggling with his KERS, is under imminent threat from Felipe Massa. Webber, behind the two men, is setting a strong pace and should soon catch up. Overtaking backmarkers is not an easy task. Traffic is dense as we approach the mid-race point. Some drivers are on a one-stop strategy: Paul Di Resta, currently ninth, and Pastor Maldonado, who pits and comes out in fifteenth after a scare in the tunnel exiting the pits. The Venezuelan is penalized for ignoring blue flags and will have to do a drive-through. Button sees Massa and Webber closing in on him, and the fight is on for third position: Webber initially passes Massa, but taking advantage of the second DRS zone, the Brazilian pulls alongside the Red Bull and retakes fourth place. This battle benefits Button, who can pull away.

After 30 laps, Hamilton is pulling away from Alonso by consistently setting the fastest laps; the Spaniard is 5.6 seconds behind. Behind them are Button, Massa, Webber, Rosberg, Sutil, Schumacher, Kobayashi, and Petrov. The battle between Alguersuari and Maldonado is hindering Massa and Webber, nearly causing a collision. Hamilton is also held up, losing more than a second to Alonso due to Petrov, who is also creating some trouble for the Spaniard. Webber enters the pits for his second stop, opting for another set of soft tires, indicating an aggressive strategy for the Australian. Button follows suit, fitting hard tires, meaning he won’t stop again, unlike Webber. Senna is the next to incur a penalty for not respecting blue flags. Alonso closes the gap to 4 seconds behind Hamilton, and neither driver has yet stopped in the pits.

After 40 laps, Hamilton, Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, Button, Webber, Schumacher, Sutil, Di Resta, and Pérez make up the top 10, as none of the drivers have refueled. Webber logically gains on Button, with the difference between soft and hard tires being stark. Lewis Hamilton makes a pit stop, leaving Alonso alone in the lead, and the McLaren driver puts on the hard tires. Massa does the same and returns behind Mark Webber, who is still chasing Jenson Button, who is not giving in. Alonso stays on track with soft tires and will try to set good lap times to rejoin ahead of Hamilton. Webber finally gets past Button and takes fourth place. Hamilton maintains the gap around 20 seconds as Alonso makes a pit stop. A poor stop for the Scuderia means the 2008 world champion takes the lead with eleven laps to go. Maldonado lost an aerodynamic element on the track, and Massa caught it on his front wing. Fortunately, it detached, and there’s nothing more to worry about for the Brazilian. At the front, Hamilton increases the gap with Alonso while Webber sets the fastest laps: he is the only front-runner on soft tires, so he will have to pit again and likely won’t make the podium. Rosberg and Button are battling for fourth place, but the Mercedes driver makes a final pit stop. The McLaren thus has a clear path to limit the gap with Webber ahead of him. Felipe Massa, having made a mistake in turn 1, risks losing precious time on the Australian.

After 50 laps and 5 laps to go, Hamilton is still ahead of Alonso, Webber (who will need to refuel), Button, Massa, Rosberg, Schumacher, Sutil, Di Resta, and Kobayashi. Ricciardo retires two laps from the end, and the yellow flag is waved in the area where the HRT stopped. Webber still doesn’t pit; he has one lap left to do so. It is just before the start of the final lap that the Red Bull mechanics rush to change the Australian’s tires, who is then logically overtaken by Jenson Button for third place.

The victory logically goes to Lewis Hamilton, who delivered a clean and controlled race, ahead of Fernando Alonso in a slightly less competitive Ferrari, and Jenson Button completing this superb trio! It is the 17th victory of the Briton’s career and the 175th for Team McLaren. Notable are the excellent performances of the Force India cars, both finishing in the top 10, and Kamui Kobayashi, who snatches the last point of this Grand Prix!

Update: Following a decision by the stewards, Pastor Maldonado and Jaime Alguersuari received penalties of 30 and 20 seconds, respectively.

Results of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Sunday, November 13, 2011: