Motorsports Mondial
Ice Man in the Marina. He’s done it! After a strong showing all season long, Kimi Raikkonen finally won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix over title combatants, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel.
KIMI’S SHINING MOMENT. Kimi Raikkonen scored his first Formula 1 victory after returning to the sport this year in Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Finn held off the man who replaced him at Ferrari, championship challenger Fernando Alonso.
Raikkonen last won a grand prix at Spa-Francorchamps in 2009. Victory in round 18 of 20 in this year’s championship is first victory for Lotus car since Senna’s 1987 win in the streets of Detroit. Back in 1961 at Watkins Glen, Lotus team scored their maiden win with Scottish driver Innes Ireland.
Fernando Alonso looked set to erase all of Vettel’s advantage and put in his usual and expected top line drive.
Lewis Hamilton started from pole position. Back in the field on the opening lap the two Force India drivers, Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta, collected each other and Bruno Senna. Hulkenberg was the only one not able to continue.
Yas Marina Circuit. The Hermann Tilke-designed track saw Sebastian Vettel win the inaugural race in 2009 and again in 2010. Lewis Hamilton won last year.
Hamilton’s hopes for a second successive win at the Yas Marina circuit were drowned when mechanical gremlins sidelined him on lap 20 of 55. Raikkonen, who passed the second front row starter, Mark Webber, at the start inherited the lead.
Later, over the team radio, Raikkonen would tell his team, “I know what I am doing.”
The safety car was deployed on lap nine after Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes crashed heavily into Narain Karthikeyan’s HRT.
Vettel, chasing his third straight title, had to make an early pit stop after damage to his front wing and also changed tires. The action packed race also saw Vettel running into the DRS marker trying to avoid Daniel Ricciardo’s Toro Rosso.
Vettel’s lucky break came late in the race when the safety car was deployed again following a coming together between Romain Grosjean and Sergio Perez. Webber was unable to avoid Grosjean’s Lotus and both retired on the spot.
Alonso was also presented an opportunity to take the fight to race leader Raikkonen. The 2005 & ’06 World Champion got to within a second of the Lotus driver but ran out of laps to take the win.
Photo. BBC
Pass for the podium. After starting from the pit lane, Sebastian Vettel finished third but had to fight hard with McLaren’s Jenson Button. The Brit finished fourth.
Button was able to held-off a hard charging Vettel for many laps but once the German passed him it was too late to mount a challenge against Alonso, but both the title contenders made it to the podium, Vettel after starting from the pit lane following his disqualification from his third spot on the grid in qualifying.
Pastor Maldonado was fifth for Williams. Kamui Kobayashi was sixth for Sauber, followed by the Ferrari of Felipe Massa. The Brazilian lost places after spinning out after battling with Webber.
Bruno Senna brought the second Williams also in the points in eighth. Di Resta finished 9th and salvaged a couple of points for Force India while the Australian from Perth, Daniel Ricciardo, completed the top 10 to take the final point.
Vettel set the fastest lap of the race at 1:43.964 and retains his championship lead, 255 points to 245, over Alonso. Raikkonen is third with 198 points. Webber is fifth on 167 points, and two points behind in fifth is Hamilton.
Red Bull leads the constructors’ championship with a healthy lead over Ferrari; 422 points to 340. McLaren in third with 318 points.
Only two races remain to close the 2012 season. The inaugural Austin F1 race takes place in two weeks and the Interlagos finale on November 25.
— Nasir Hameed