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Vettel Leads Red Bull One-Two At Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Sebastian Vettel has won Formula One's 2009 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi in spectacular style.
Courtesy of Red Bull/Clive Mason/ Getty Images
By Mike Sulka
Red Bull F1 driver Sebastian Vettel has put his mark on history with a spectacular victory at the inaugural Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix held at the Yas Marina circuit. For Vettel, it was his fourth win of the 2009 Formula One season - his last win coming at the Japanese Grand Prix - and fifth win and ninth podium - of his 42-race F1 career. Teammate Mark Webber brought home second, and locked up the one-two sweep for the Red Bull team.
In addition for Red Bull, it is their sixth win and their 16th podium - 8 by Vettel, 8 by Webber) of the 2009 Formula One season. Coming into the year, the team had a total of 3 podiums since their debut in 2005. It is also the teams fourth one-two finish of the 2009 season. The previous one-two finish was at the German Grand Prix with Webber leading the way. Vettel led three of the one-two finishes. Red Bull also have the most wins since the British Grand Prix with five wins in the last ten races of the season.
Vettel was able to get past Lewis Hamilton during the first set of pit stops by staying within one second of the McLaren but carrying two laps extra of fuel. Though Hamilton would ultimately DNF due to a right rear brake issue, Vettel beat Hamilton on the race track, let no one take that away from him.
"It was a fantastic race as we had a very good start, " said the Red Bull driver. "I was able to stay close to Hamilton, and the car was a dream today. That was the secret."
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Behind Mark Webber drove a fantastic race as well, though his fight with third place Jenson Button over the waning laps was some of best racing of the season as the pair battle extremely hard for the second place finish.
Webber said of the situation, "At the end, we had a good clean fight, on the limit to the end."
Indeed!
A smiling 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button said, "It was fun! After the second stop I found I had very good grip on the option tire. I couldn't make the move stick as Mark is always a very difficult person to overtake. It was clean, but on the edge! Today was a wonderful bonus after winning the championship in Brazil."
Heading into the 2010 Formula One season, Brawn Grand Prix have clearly been the best having won the drivers and constructors Formula One championships by dominating early in the 2009 season. And the deserve credit for turning the pinnacle of racing on its head.
But Red Bull have been the best team since the British Grand Prix, and McLaren have returned to form. Though not all of the seat have been set for 2010, the Ferrari/Fernando Alonso/Felipe Massa battel versus McLaren/Lewis Hamilton is the most exciting aspect to look forward to going forward.
We expect the four teams to battle hard in 2010, with a revived Ferrari after their worst finish to a season since 1973. While the 2009 season has been a wild ride, 2010 already holds much promise, as two new championship contenders have proven their mettle over a 17-race season. Can Red Bull and Brawn GP do it again ?
We think so.
We just can't wait!
| Pos |
No |
Driver |
Team |
Laps |
Time |
Gap |
Kph |
Best |
Lap |
| 1 |
15 |
S. Vettel |
Red Bull Racing |
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| 2 |
14 |
M. Webber |
Red Bull Racing |
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| 3 |
22 |
J. Button |
Brawn GP Formula One Team |
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| 4 |
23 |
R. Barrichello |
Brawn GP Formula One Team |
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| 5 |
6 |
N. Heidfeld |
BMW Sauber F1 Team |
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| 6 |
10 |
K. Kobayashi |
Panasonic Toyota Racing |
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| 7 |
9 |
J. Trulli |
Panasonic Toyota Racing |
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| 8 |
12 |
S. Buemi |
Scuderia Toro Rosso |
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| 9 |
16 |
N. Rosberg |
AT&T Williams |
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| 10 |
5 |
R. Kubica |
BMW Sauber F1 Team |
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| 11 |
2 |
H. Kovalainen |
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes |
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| 12 |
4 |
K. Raikkonen |
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro |
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| 13 |
17 |
K. Nakajima |
AT&T Williams |
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| 14 |
7 |
F. Alonso |
ING Renault F1 Team |
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| 15 |
21 |
V. Liuzzi |
Force India F1 Team |
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| 16 |
3 |
G. Fisichella |
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro |
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| 17 |
20 |
A. Sutil |
Force India F1 Team |
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| 18 |
8 |
R. Grosjean |
ING Renault F1 Team |
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| Pos |
No. |
Driver |
Team |
Laps |
Time |
Gap |
Kph |
Best |
Lap |
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1 |
L. Hamilton |
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes |
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11 |
J. Alguersuari |
Scuderia Toro Rosso |
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PaddockTalk Perspective
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