Kimi Raikkonen - The ICEMAN legend !!!
Kimi Raikkonen scored first win of his Formula 1 comeback in an astonishing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as Sebastian Vettel made it through from last to third. The result means Vettel's championship lead remains 10 points with two races to go, despite an incident-packed race.Poleman Lewis Hamilton looked set to dominate for McLaren at first, escaping an early mistake that allowed Raikkonen to briefly get alongside him and then pulling away. Pastor Maldonado held third, while Alonso muscled past the slow-starting Mark Webber for fourth with a bold outside line move at Turn 11 on the first lap.
The path seemed to be opening up quickly for Vettel, helped by first-lap carnage that saw the Force Indias tangle with Bruno Senna, and Nico Rosberg and Romain Grosjean collide. The recovering Rosberg then caused the first safety car on lap nine when his Mercedes was violently launched over the back of Narain Karthikeyan's slowing HRT.
Behind the safety car, Vettel finished his front wing off when he had to swerve to avoid Daniel Ricciardo warming up his brakes and he clouted the DRS activation marker board on the back straight. With carbon fibre flapping at the front of his car, Vettel was called into the pits and came back out at the back of the pack.
At the restart, Hamilton resumed his lead but five laps later his car ground to a halt with a fuel pressure problem. He had looked locked on for the victory and the problem was a cruel blow with Hamilton coming to the end of his final season with McLaren in two races time. But for Lotus it was a golden opportunity and Raikkonen snatched it by taking the lead and controlling the pace for the rest of the race.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Yas Marina
55 laps, 305.355km, Weather: Clear
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1h45:58.667
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari + 0.852
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull + 4.163
4. Jenson Button McLaren + 7.787
5. Pastor Maldonado Williams + 13.007
6. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber + 20.076
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari + 22.896
8. Bruno Senna Williams + 23.542
9. Paul Di Resta Force India + 24.160
10. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso + 27.400
11. Michael Schumacher Mercedes AMG + 28.000
12. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso + 34.900
13. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham + 47.700
14. Timo Glock Marussia + 56.400
15. Sergio Perez Sauber + 56.700
16. Vitaly Petrov Caterham + 1:04.500
17. Pedro De la Rosa HRT + 1:11.545
Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel - 1:43.964
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Charles Pic Marussia 42
Roman Grosjean Lotus 38
Mark Webber Red Bull 38
Lewis Hamilton McLaren 20
Narain Karthikeyan HRT 8
Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG 8
Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1
After 18 races:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. S.Vettel 255 1. Red Bull 422
2. F.Alonso 245 2. Ferrari 340
3. K.Raikkonen 198 3. McLaren 318
4. M.Webber 167 4. Lotus 288
5. L.Hamilton 165 5. Mercedes AMG 136
6. J.Button 153 6. Sauber 124
7. F.Massa 95 7. Force India 95
8. N.Rosberg 93 8. Williams 73
9. R.Grosjean 90 9. Toro Rosso 22
10. S.Perez 66
11. K.Kobayashi 58
12. N.Hulkenberg 49
13. P.Di Resta 46
14. P.Maldonado 43
15. M.Schumacher 43
16. B.Senna 30
17. J.Vergne 12
18. D.Ricciardo 10
