Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Race Review

Text by Dana Larkin

The Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi is a sight to behold. It is surrounded by luxurious structures both on and around the circuit property. It is certainly one of the crown jewels in the racing world. Just as certain was the likely winner coming into round 18 of the Formula 1 World Championship. Sebastian Vettel had already secured his second title and – with no signs of slowing down – was the odds on favorite to win his 12th race of the 2011 season. Yet, these races are not carried out on paper or by predictions. Anything can happen – and it did in Abu Dhabi.

In the first free practice session, it became clear that McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was both determined and focused. He would lead most of the session until teammate Jenson Button and rival Mark Webber outpaced him while testing Pirelli’s soft option tire. The Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa would struggle for grip throughout the session thereby plummeting down the time sheets.

Free practice two was a tale of two teams. McLaren surged to the top in its short runs on the softer Pirelli compound. Yet, it was Red Bull who appeared to maintain supremacy on the longer stints – on both sets of tires. The biggest splash came when both Alonso and Vettel had major offs during the session heading into turn one. Neither driver suffered any damage to themselves or their respective cars. Vettel would return to the session while Alonso sat out the remaining minutes. In the end, the grid saw the two McLarens on top – with Hamilton setting the session’s fastest time – followed by the Ferraris and then the Red Bulls.

In free practice three Hamilton would set a record lap time for Yas Marina – nearly a half second faster than Vettel. Webber would run third in the session. As qualifying approached, the top four drivers in the session were separated by a paper thin 0.5 seconds. And with this, an exciting qualifying session was in the cards.

Hamilton would continue his blistering pace in qualifying. Yet, it was only good enough for second best. Squeezing everything he could out of the first two sectors, Vettel – once again – secured pole position by the slimmest of margins. Hamilton appeared to have the pace to beat Vettel. In fact, his Q2 time was faster than the German’s pole time. But Hamilton clocked in 0.02s slower in the all-important final session and let it slip away. On the other hand, Vettel would improve where Hamilton fell off and capture his 16th pole of the season. Jenson Button – who lapped only 0.009s slower than Hamilton – would start third.

When the lights went out in Abu Dhabi, Lewis Hamilton was looking to exorcise the demons that have plagued his 2011 season. If he was to accomplish that feat, he had to beat Vettel into the all-important first turn. If Hamilton allowed Vettel to best him at the start, he would be left to fight with his teammate for second place. In fact, Hamilton had let Vettel know before the race that he would not be giving an inch going into turn one. This set the stage for a particularly exciting start.

Nevertheless – in the blink of an eye – Vettel made all of the drama disappear. The two-time champ got one of the quickest starts of the season and was a solid two car lengths ahead of Hamilton coming out of turn one. But on turn two, Hamilton would receive a bit of redemption – and more than a little luck. As Vettel entered the second turn, he suddenly suffered a puncture to his rear tire, spun out of control and into the grass. The deflation was instant and spontaneous. Vettel had made no contact with other drivers during his getaway and had not attacked the curbing too aggressively. The cause of the puncture was and remains a mystery. When Vettel returned to the pits, his car was deemed too damaged to continue. It was his first retirement of the season.

As soon as the lead fell to Hamilton, he began to dominate. He survived a tremendous drive by Alonso who had surged into second place by overtaking both Mark Webber and Jenson Button. The only real drama occurred when Alonso was able to squeeze a few extra laps out of his soft tires approaching the final pit stops. But traffic in the pits and a slow stop would end the Spaniard’s march to victory. He would end the day in second place.

A KERS issue would plague Jenson Button and cause him to fall well behind the Ferrari into third place. His drive to the podium – however – was still one for the ages. At the start of the race his KERS system had completely failed. This allowed both Webber and Massa to gain the upper hand against him. Still, Button somehow found a way to reset his KERS on-the-fly which allowed him to pull away from his rivals.

Webber would not give up and continued to take the fight to Button. But a bad first pit-stop and a late strategy change would push him down the grid. Utilizing a three-stop plan conceived and implemented during the race, Webber made a strong charge on soft tires into the final laps, passing Button in the process. Yet, his compulsory tire change came on the penultimate lap and allowed Button to slip by him again. Webber’s pace forced Massa into a mistake late in the race which gave him the breathing room necessary to secure fourth place and push Massa to fifth.

As Hamilton stood atop the podium in Abu Dhabi for the first time since July, he appeared to be reinvigorated. His trademark smile was once again on full display. He had exorcised some demons. “I think it was one of my best races,” he said. “I am ecstatic, really very happy to be back up here. This is great and I can get on the flight tonight and smile.” Victory – and a little bit of luck – tends to have that effect.

 

good too see Lewis smile again, and i bet it brought a smile to your face when Vettel's tyre blew on the first lap..

 

Clearly, it was Hamilton' skill and pace that caused that puncture.

 

Fantastic recap Dana, thanks!

 

You must have been so happy to write this review. Great stuff!

 

Thanks for the recap, Dana.

 

 

 

Great recap, Dana! This year's race in Abu Dhabi was far more exciting than last year, despite having the WDC locked up already.

I wonder if Hamilton would've gotten the puncture going into T2 if he had qualified on pole. It's doubtful but you do have to wonder...