The spectacle witnessed at the Yas Marina, this year at least, had absolutely everything. An incident packed race that culminated in Kimi Raikkonen taking the chequered flag, a well deserved victory for a racer that has been very consistent this season. Some may point to Hamilton's exit "gifting" the race to Raikkonen, but who could have predicted what would have happened had Hamilton not retired.
Alonso taking second place ensured he closed the gap on Vettel, but im sure not by the margin he would have been expecting with his Championship rival Vettel starting from the pit lane. A strong race from Alonso, in a Ferrari where the raft of updates they have brought to this circuit don't see to be having much effect. It will be interesting to see if any updates will be arriving for the race in the USA because if not, then we will be seeing Vettel crowned Champion for another year.
Vettel's heroics this race have shown that some of the criticism that has come his way has been unwarranted. Some may point to the safety car helping his cause, which i am sure it did but to finish on the podium from 24th position needs to be acknowledged. Such a fine racer with a quality car underneath him and with Newey in charge of development, can anyone see another team toppling the Red Bulls?
As for the rest of the field, a strong result from Pastor Maldonado has eased the pressure on him amid some negative press regarding his driving style. A good points haul from Kobayashi has put him right in the frame for another drive for next season. Kamui has been very on and off this season but with maturity i think he will be a very good driver. Romain Grosjean was involved in another collision which resulted in the retirement of Mark Webber, but this time Romain wasn't to blame as Perez returning on the road left him no option but to avoid Perez. JAG
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
posted on 4/11/12
I hate to refer to those cars as "Lotus" because they are not.
Gengii paid some marketing person to buy the right to use a word.
The Lotus cars designed by Chapman were death traps that no driver would touch would a barge pole.
posted on 4/11/12
Eric Boullier referring to his team as the Enstone team after the race would suggest he feels the same
posted on 4/11/12
It is clear Hamilton was going to win today, he was in a league of one all weekend.
I thought Vettel looked like an amateur driving an amazing car for the first half of the race myself. I think this weekend has been one of his worst this year. Lucky to not damage his car in q1 and twice in the race. Off-track passes which would have been penalised but for Rocky. Very lucky weekend for him, both safety cars were perfect.
posted on 4/11/12
I am happy for Kimi and Lotus though, this year they deserved it. Cant help think that Kubica would have won more.
posted on 4/11/12
Kubica is a similar driver to Kimi.
Grosgean is also a good driver. I think some of his crashes were not all his fault.
Both Gengii Renault drivers managed to get the best out of their tyres.
posted on 4/11/12
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 4/11/12
Exactly Gazza, the only races I can think of are Barcelona and Canada and they were early in the season when no one knew how the tyres worked.
Aristodemus makes a valid point as well. Vettel drove like an idiot in the first part of the race and almost ended his race by almost running into the back of the torro rosso and was crying on the radio. It's amazing it's not even mentioned.
Rocky needs to be given a raise because he's been immense
posted on 4/11/12
How about Jev resisting him too, that needs to be looked at by the FIA, it isn't fair.
posted on 5/11/12
The FIA made a rod for their own backs by not punishing ferrari for team order gate. They didn't punish them when Perez was told not to overtake Alonso as well. They won't do anything
posted on 2/5/13
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