Posted on 4th November 2013
The sun is setting on the 2013 Formula 1 season, but in the twilight of Abu Dhabi on Sunday there was still no stopping Sebastian Vettel. He may have this season's title in the bag already, but it was yet another dominant performance from the young German.
But it wasn't a smooth qualifying session. A mistake in turn one cost him time putting him second on the grid, while teammate Mark Webber nailed the perfect lap around Yas Marina and stole pole in style. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is a highlight of the season for me, such a fantastic venue and some of the best facilities.
This is the 2013 Formula1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
As the five lights went out it was a perfect start off the line for Vettel, but teammate Mark Webber had a poor get away losing the lead, and a position to Rosberg who also got a good start. Lewis Hamilton was strong off the line but couldn't make headway in turn one losing him positions.
Kimi Raikkonen started from the back after failing a floor test after qualifying. He was squeezed into turn one and made contact with the Caterham of Van Der Garde. The Finn was no longer flying as his race was over. After a troubled time in recent weeks with Lotus, Raikkonen was seen leaving the circuit early. Giedo blamed Kimi for their crash at turn one, the Lotus drove into a wedge which was always going to close up. The Catereham came away unscathed.
In the opening laps it was apparent that Romain Grosjean was a potential threat to Webber in this race, the sole remaining Lotus was catching the Australian. Lewis Hamilton was right behind and losing time, he pitted on lap eight for medium tyres, and to try and break away from this battle. On the next lap both Webber and Grosjean pitted together, covering off Hamilton. The Mercedes driver got caught up later on behind the Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez ruining his race further and he never really recovered. Speaking to Sky Sports after the race Lewis said, “Clearly, with Nico’s result the car is better than what I’m able to bring home with it, so I just want the guys back home to know that I’ll keep pushing, It’s the same in every race so it can’t be other peoples’ fault. Nico is getting great points for the team, so I just need to work harder to do the same.”
Felipe Massa was coming under pressure from teammate Fernando Alonso. The Brazilian was having another strong race weekend for Ferrari. After the pit stops Massa ended up behind Alonso on track, The Brazilian pitted from fifth position on lap 38 for the medium tyres. Massa believed this cost him a higher place finish. He told Sky Sports “I didn’t expect to use the medium in the last stint as well, I expected to use the soft, “I did 19 laps at the beginning and was the best car on the softs and then we decided to stop at the last moment the second time. I expected to see the soft tyres on the car and I saw the other ones. “That was the mistake of my race. Without this problem, I would have easily finished in the top five.”
Meanwhile teammate Fernando Alonso was very lucky not to receive a penalty after his pit stop. The Spaniard rejoined the track just behind the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne, but then went bouncing over the kerbs in dramatic fashion and overtook the Frenchman with all wheels off the track. Alonso explained, “I was going out of the pit, I was alongside the Toro Rosso and we really didn’t have the space to both (keep) going on the track. So at that point you are either invisible or you are going to be forced to be out of the track, but the rules say that when you have a car alongside you, you cannot use the full width of the track. He used the full width of the track, I’ve been forced to go out and I think it’s clear.”
In my view, Alonso should have yielded to the Toro Rosso who clearly had the racing line and was ahead at the pit exit line.
It was a relatively sedate race in my view, with only the occasional drama. Vettel was running away in front with Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg behind. One could say the race was won at the first corner, I think there is certainly some truth in that. Vettel lead every single lap of the race. Mercedes had a mixed race, Rosberg said that he was best of the rest, and he performed well. Hamilton however was mystified by his lack of pace. There were some excellent performance during the Grand Prix, Romain Grosjean once again showed his major improvement and maturity. The Frenchman finished a strong fourth in the Lotus while teammate Raikkonen crashed out in turn one. I do wonder if he should have started from the pit lane.
Force India had a good race with both Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil scoring points. Pastor Maldonado had a good race only just finishing outside the points for Williams.
There were some rather lacklustre performances on Sunday too, Nico Hulkenberg started fifth and finished only P14. He received a drive through penalty for an unsafe release in the pit lane involving Sergio Perez. Teammate Esteban Gutierrez had a good race finishing three positions from his starting position. Daniel Ricciardo had a disastrous race after starting ninth, the Australian finished P16 having started ninth.
There was simply no stopping Sebastian Vettel in Abu Dhabi, he dominated the race from the very first lap and scored win number seven in a row. He may have this year's championship in the bag, but he won the race in terrific style and there were more donuts in store for the fans. Sebastian Vettel was in a class of one.
2013 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Result
1 – S Vettel – Red Bull Racing
2 – M Webber – Red Bull Racing
3 – N Rosberg – Mercedes
4 – R Grosjean – Lotus
5 – F Alonso – Ferrari
6 – P Di Resta – Force India
7 – L Hamilton – Mercedes
8 – F Massa – Ferrari
9 – S Perez – McLaren
10 – A Sutil – Force India
11 – P Maldonado – Williams
12 – J Button – McLaren
13 – E Gutierrez – Sauber
14 – N Hulkenberg – Sauber
15 – V Bottas – Williams
16 – D Ricciardo – Toro Rosso
17 – J E Vergne – Toro Rosso
18 – G V D Garde – Caterham
19 – C Pic – Caterham
20 – J Bianchi – Marussia
21 – M Chilton – Marussia
DNF – K Raikkonen – Lotus.
It was an interesting race, with a few ups and a few downs too. It could have been more exciting, but the fact is it was won at the first turn.
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