F1: Vettel Leads Red Bull Parade To Victory

Formula 1

F1: Vettel Leads Red Bull Parade To Victory

Sebastian Vettel won the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Sunday...

SPEED Staff | Posted November 01, 2009 Abu Dhabi (ARE)

Sebastian Vettel won in Abu Dhabi Sunday evening cruising to victory ahead of Red Bull teammate Mark Webber who had to fend off a charging Jenson Button in the closing laps.(Photo: LAT Photographic)

ABU DHABI GP RESULTS

Sebastian Vettel won the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Sunday stealing the lead from Lewis Hamilton who was forced to retire after suffering brake failure in his McLaren.

Hamilton had held the lead from pole with Vettel keeping pace at the start. Vettel took the lead when Hamilton came in for his first pit stop on lap 18. Vettel followed shortly after and was able to come out ahead of Hamilton.

Soon after though, Hamilton reported a vibration and limped to the paddock on lap 20 suffering the first mechanical failure during a race of his career.

From that point Vettel was able to extend his lead over his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber. Webber had his hands full with new champion Jenson Button in the closing laps but was able to hold off the Brawn GP driver.

“I thought it was going to be quite a fight at the end.” Webber said. “I had to make sure I was accurate on braking points. We had a good, clean fight."

Button was happy despite missing out on second.

“It was a bonus to finish on the podium after the year we've had,” said Button, who had not finished on the podium since Monza in September. “I need to thank everyone at Brawn and Mercedes for all their hard work. It would have been easy to switch off after Brazil, but we didn't. We've come away with a podium, which is a nice way to end the year."

The win was the fourth of the year for Vettel, who joined Michael Schumacher to become only the second German to win four races in a single season. The victory also secured second place in the world drivers’ championship for Vettel who took over the spot after Brazil from Rubens Barrichello who finished fourth Sunday.

"The car was fantastic, it worked brilliantly on both tires,” Vettel said. “It was a pleasure to sit in the car. To sum up the season: up and down. The car is getting quicker - it's a shame the season is ending."

In addition to Hamilton the only other car that didn’t finish was Jamie Alguersuari in the Toro Rosso who tried to stop in the Red Bull pit, shot through when he realized his mistake, then headed back onto the track only to run out of fuel shortly after.

Nick Heidfeld finished fifth, Kamui Kobayashi was a surprising sixth in the Toyota subbing for the injured Timo Glock, Jarno Trulli in the second Toyota was seventh, Sebastian Buemi in the second Toro Rosso was eighth, Nico Rosberg ninth and Robert Kubica in would could be the last appearance for the BMW-Sauber team rounded out the top-10.

In addition to the fourth win of the season for Vettel, the one-two Red Bull finish was the fourth of the year.