Report 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

1 report

1.1 background
1.2 practice , qualifying
1.3 race
1.4 post-race

report
background

heading final race of season, ferrari driver fernando alonso leading drivers championship 246 points; red bull drivers mark webber , sebastian vettel second , third on 238 points , 231 points respectively. mclaren s lewis hamilton in mathematical contention on 222 points, 24 behind alonso maximum of 25 points available final race. result, first occasion 4 drivers still had chance of winning drivers championship @ final event of season. in constructors championship, red bull racing had secured first championship title total of 469 points, 48 clear of second-placed mclaren maximum of 43 points available. mclaren not confirmed in second place in championship, 32-point advantage on ferrari.

red bull team owner dietrich mateschitz, on team orders.

much of media coverage occurring before event centred upon red bull, , possibility of team orders being used influence result of championship – if team in position – had been used ferrari @ german grand prix. ferrari used radio transmissions allow fernando alonso overtake teammate felipe massa race victory , gain 7 points towards drivers championship. team owner dietrich mateschitz , team principal christian horner both stated red bull not impose team orders in order benefit 1 of drivers in bid stop alonso winning championship. sebastian vettel himself had stated teammate win championship if required, having trailed mark webber 7 points heading weekend.

after 242 races since full-time return in 1997, tyre supplier bridgestone bowed out of formula one, having been sport s single tyre supplier since michelin pulled out after 2006 season. pirelli took on tyre contract in 2011, returning formula 1 first time since 1991.

practice , qualifying

fernando alonso required top-two placing win title without having rely on other results. placed in top 6 in each of 3 free practice sessions, , qualified third race.

three practice sessions held before race; first on friday afternoon , second on friday evening. both sessions lasted 90 minutes. third session held on saturday afternoon , lasted hour. 3 sessions held in dry conditions, although first session held on damp drying track after pre-session downpour had not been anticipated. vettel quickest time of 1:42.760 in first session, on six-tenths of second faster hamilton. button 4 tenths off hamilton s pace, followed webber, robert kubica, , alonso. michael schumacher seventh, other driver within 1.5 seconds of vettel s time. in second practice session, hamilton fastest time of 1:40.888, around quarter of second quicker second-placed vettel. alonso took third place, ahead of webber, kubica , felipe massa. schumacher quick enough eleventh position in session, marginally slower mercedes teammate nico rosberg. saturday afternoon session held on warmer track, reached temperatures high 43 °c (109 °f), compared 29 °c (84 °f) , 31 °c (88 °f) track temperatures friday sessions. vettel again quickest, posting time of 1:40.696, narrowly faster teammate webber. hamilton, alonso, button , vitaly petrov rounded out top 6 positions.

sebastian vettel set fastest time in last 2 parts of qualifying session, , started pole position. tenth pole position of season enabled red bull team tie mclaren s single-season record of 15 pole positions, set during 1988 season.

the qualifying session held on saturday evening split three parts. first part ran 20 minutes , eliminated cars qualifying finished session 18th or lower. second part of qualifying lasted 15 minutes , eliminated cars finished in positions 11 17. final part of qualifying determined positions first tenth, , decided pole position. cars competed in final session of qualifying not allowed change tyres before race, , such started race on tyres set quickest lap on.

mark webber, following third qualifying session, in qualified farthest of 4 title contenders, in fifth.

vettel clinched tenth pole position season, time of 1:39.394. result, vettel became seventh driver record ten pole positions in season, , took team s 15th pole of season, equalling mclaren s tally 1988 season. joined on front row of grid hamilton. alonso qualified third, though happy grid position having outqualified webber. button qualified fourth, four-tenths of second behind vettel, , webber qualified fifth. massa, rubens barrichello, schumacher, rosberg , petrov rounded out top ten. kubica managed 11th – missing out on top ten time in 2010 – having struggled overall grip in session. kamui kobayashi best of saubers in 12th, ahead of german trio of adrian sutil, nick heidfeld , nico hülkenberg, vitantonio liuzzi qualifying 16th. rest of grid made toro rossos, lotuses, virgins , hispanias.

race

michael schumacher s spin , resultant collision vitantonio liuzzi brought out safety car on first lap.

the conditions on grid dry before race, air temperature @ 29 °c (84 °f), track temperature @ 33 °c (91 °f); , no rain expected. race s formation lap commenced @ 17:00 local time (utc+4), 24 drivers getting away cleanly. vettel retained pole position lead first corner, followed hamilton, button moving third after alonso made slow start. @ turn six, schumacher tried pass teammate rosberg around outside, while battling eighth position. schumacher spun mercedes, meant faced rest of oncoming field on track , collected liuzzi, causing both drivers retire on spot , safety car deployed. in order aid losses pit stop may have cost under normal racing conditions, 6 drivers – rosberg, petrov, jaime alguersuari, bruno senna, lucas di grassi , christian klien – made pit stops @ end of lap one, , rejoined circuit between 17th , 22nd. racing resumed @ end of lap 5 when safety car pulled pit-lane. top 5 remained static until end of lap eleven.

early pit-stops mark webber , fernando alonso did not championship chances, progress order slower expected.

webber – brushed armco right-hand side of car 3 laps – pitted after struggling grip on super-soft, option tyres. rejoined circuit 16th, , behind early-stopping trio of rosberg, petrov , alguersuari. 4 laps later, alonso brushed turn 19 barrier before pitting. rejoined in front of webber, had moved field steadily, , running 13th – , set race s fastest lap @ time – time alonso pitted. vettel , hamilton continued set quicker lap times championship rivals, despite being on heavily worn option tyres compared fresher, hard tyres of alonso , webber. pairing caught petrov towards end of lap 18, battle go on until race s conclusion, renault driver having stopped tyres. 5 laps later, alonso tried overtake petrov under braking turn 11 had out of manoeuvre, narrowly avoiding of renault. on same lap, hamilton pitted second place. vettel pitted lead on next lap, , rejoined circuit comfortably ahead of hamilton, in second place behind button, had still stop on track. hamilton had filtered race in fifth position, behind kubica , kobayashi running similar strategies button out front. after passing kobayashi, hamilton closed in behind kubica found hard pass renault, akin alonso had been suffering behind petrov. despite having 40 laps on harder tyre, kubica s pace still of substantial level hold off advances of hamilton.

button pitted on lap 39 release vettel lead, holding lead of twelve seconds on kubica. button rejoined in fourth place behind kubica , hamilton, kubica ever increasing margin on petrov , alonso, running inside points again in seventh , eighth respectively. kubica pitted on lap 46 second place, , came on track in sixth place, crucially ahead of teammate petrov, alonso , webber; latter pair seeing championship chances dwindling every passing lap. in clean air, hamilton set race s fastest lap on lap 47 – 1:41.274 – closed on vettel. no further passing attempts made on track, , thus, vettel led race end, take fifth win of season. mclarens of hamilton , button completed podium ahead of rosberg, renaults of kubica , petrov, alonso , webber. rounding out points alguersuari , massa, ferrari driver having never got ahead of rival in 40 laps of battling. poor results of alonso , webber, vettel claimed championship become youngest championship winner in sport , became first driver simultaneously lead championship first time, , result win championship since james hunt in 1976. championship-winning margin 4 points on alonso, webber further ten points behind in third.

post-race

lewis hamilton s record being youngest championship winner in 2008 broken sebastian vettel. @ 7003853500000000000♠23 years, 134 days, vettel broke hamilton s record 166 days.




championship runner-up fernando alonso, summing race , chances of third championship disappearing.

the top 3 finishers appeared on podium , in subsequent press conference. vettel s victory had left him speechless , , expressed delight @ winning championship. stated:

hamilton praised team work during season, stating pushed hard throughout year, big thank guys home @ factory not giving up. next year better year. button echoed hamilton s comments work of mclaren team, , summed first season team: big thank team. first year team , have had great season. feel @ home , think experiences have gained year, lewis , myself, working closely engineers , in vodafone mclaren mercedes team means can build on season next year.