Despite all the opulence, and the stunning Yas Hotel roof whose colours flickered dramatically as day turned to dusk in the inaugural day/night race here, only Jenson Button’s late charge in pursuit of Mark Webber saved the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from being the Abu Dullbi race.
Once a brake problem had stymied Lewis Hamilton’s bold surge from pole position in his McLaren, Sebastian Vettel had no competition as he led Webber home in a season-ending Red Bull one-two. The young German’s brilliant win cemented second place for him in the drivers’ world championship behind Button, who exorcised all his ghosts of any shaky performances this season to enliven what had hitherto been a very tepid affair.
Hamilton led from the start, but was already beginning to experience retardation problems before he refuelled on the 17th lap. Twice he had run wide in the sweeping corners that are a feature of the Yas Marina track, and when Vettel ran three laps longer before stopping he was able to negotiate the unusual underground pit lane exit to emerge comfortably in the lead. Soon afterwards Hamilton’s challenge ended when McLaren had to withdraw his car after the telemetry revealed a problem with the right rear brake pads which were suffering from excessive wear.
Source: The Independent
