Well there’s something you don’t see every day; a Formula One podium with no Red Bull drivers present. It’s been 19 races since that last happened (2010 Korean GP). Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, tortured soul, apparently, has given his life new meaning by winning the 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
As can sometimes be the case in F1 there was action aplenty on lap one before boredom set in. So it proved at Yas Marina when Sebastien Vettel made a clean get away only to spin out of the race thanks to a tyre failure. Hamilton then made sure his McLaren led the remaining laps that counted, only surrendering his lead during his two pit stops.
Likewise, Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso made a ripping start and was quickly up three places into P2 half way through the first lap and that’s where he stayed. Jenson Button was the only one on the podium to earn his money really. The McLaren driver had a reasonable scrap with Mark Webber. They swapped places a couple of times, but ultimately the DRS overtaking zones favoured the McLaren as Red Bull’s achilles heel of poor top speed left Webber powerless to defend.
Due to a woeful first pit stop Webber then found himself behind Felipe Massa. Can you imagine the embarrassment! For Mark’s second stop RBR gambled by sending him back out on soft tyres, but with clear track ahead of him it was hoped he could build enough of gap over Massa to stay clear when he made his compulsory final stop to fit the harder compound tyres. In the end it was a formality after Rob Smedley radioed Massa to say, ” Felipe, your rear tyres are faster than your fronts, do you understand?” The subsequent spin by Massa indicates he understood.
At the back of the field Daniel Ricciardo lost position to his HRT teammate, but managed to work hard to establish a comfortable gap over Liuzzi. However, an electrical failure ended Ricciardo’s race with just three laps to go.
After the break you can read what the first three drivers had to say in the post-race press conference.
[Pics:Â Ferrari & Vodafone McLaren Mercedes]
