Formula One Abu Dhabi GP: Vettel train just keeps on rollin’
Yas Circuit at the Yas Island Abu Dhabi has hosted the F1 community since its gates opened back in 2009. It has seen numerous winners, with Sebastian Vettel winning the inaugural race and repeating in 2010. Then came Lewis Hamilton in 2011, and last year Kimi Raikkonen claimed the top spot.
For the 2013 edition, the F1 community was anticipating a different winner from previous races, Mark Webber plopped his RB9 on pole while his teammate Sebastian got second on the grid and Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was third.
As the lights went off, Webber was again hounded by his race start gremlins and was jumped by Sebastian even before the first corner, while Rosberg dove past the Australian in his RB9 to claim in second place. Lotus driver Romain Grosjean kept his head in the race and maintained his fourth spot ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the other Mercedes.
2012 Abu Dhabi GP winner Kimi Raikkonen started in last place, due to a penalty imposed by the stewards after his car failed scruteneering. The Lotus failed the front floor deflection test, and thus he was excluded in qualifying. At the start, Kimi nearly gained a lot of ground against the back markers but the Caterham of van der Garde cut across his nose and made contact with his right front tire, damaging the Lotus’s suspension in the process and putting it into retirement. Raikkonen left the track left even before Sebastian made his first pit stop of the race in Lap 14. I guess that, for not having been paid his salary by the team, Kimi didn’t have any qualms of leaving the circuit ahead of everybody else.
Ferrari drivers Massa and Alonso were left fighting against the mid field pack and amongst themselves. Massa kept the two-time champion at bay for most of the race, only to lose the position when he made his stop for tires. There were no team orders to let Fernando past this time around.
When Fernando came out from his second pit stop, the Ferrari nearly collided with the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne, who was running on used tires with minimal grip left. Fernando had new options and was faster out of the exit. The move was exciting to watch but the stewards thought otherwise and launched an investigation, and issuing the following statement after the race: “While Car 3 [Alonso] did leave the track at Turn 3-4 the stewards believe that he had no choice, as Car 18 [Vergne] closed on him. Car 18 was at the end of his stint with worn tires and was fully committed to the turn as Car 3 exited the pits. Telemetry confirms that Car 3 was significantly faster, on option tires, and had the advantage throughout the sequence. The drivers’ explanations were completely clear. Therefore the stewards determine that neither car could avoid the incident, and no advantage was gained as a result of the incident.”
Sebastian Vettel, running virtually unopposed, kept registering blindingly fast lap times and in doing so, extended his lead by over 30 seconds from the second place man, Mark Webber. He was just that dominant.
To the surprise of no one, Vettel took the checkered flag ahead of Webber and Rosberg.
Sebastian is now only two wins away from tying two storied records in Formula 1, that of the most wins in a season and most consecutive wins. Schumacher holds the record for most wins at 13, set back in 2004, while the great Alberto Ascari holds the distinction for most consecutive wins at nine wins, which he set back in 1952-1953; with the Austin GP and Brazil GP coming up, Vettel could well see his name alongside Michael and Ascari’s in the record books.
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