A little over halfway through the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the sun had entirely gone down in Formula One’s first twilight race, which started in daylight and ended under the moon and spotlights of the Yas Marina Circuit.
It was the sundown of the Formula One season as well, as it was the final race in the year. And when the man who started the race from pole position, Lewis Hamilton, last year’s world champion, pulled out with brake problems after only 20 laps and handed the definitive lead in the race to Sebastian Vettel, it marked the symbolic sundown of a difficult season for Hamilton and his McLaren Mercedes team.
But it was very much a sunrise for Vettel, who drove his Red Bull to his fourth victory of the season and the sixth for the team. That is just two victories short of the number won by this year’s world champion, Jenson Button, who finished the race in third position.
“Fantastica,” Vettel shouted into his car radio to his team engineers after crossing the finish line. “It was a pleasure, a pleasure tonight. Thank you.”
It was the fifth victory of Vettel’s career, after the German driver won at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza last fall, and it firmed his position in second place in the drivers’ series this year, just ahead of Button’s teammate at Brawn GP, Rubens Barrichello, who finished the race in fourth position.
“The number one target for myself here was to score second in the drivers’ championship and we did it, and to do it with a victory is the best possible result,” Vettel said. “It’s a perfect day, to finish the season on a high.”
But the new world champion did not let down the spectators as the British driver fought a spectacular battle in the final laps with Mark Webber in the other Red Bull for second place. Button, who had been criticized for a lackluster second half of the season as he tried to preserve his lead in the championship without taking risks, had said before the race that he would give it all he had now that he won the title at the Brazilian Grand Prix two weeks earlier.
And the final laps were a demonstration of that as Button chased down Webber and made several daring passing attempts into the final corners. But Webber held on and gave Red Bull its fourth one-two of the season.
“Jenson has been very good in passing this year, so I knew I had to perform in the braking points,” said Webber. “A few more gray hairs for everyone.”
Red Bull finished the season in second in the constructors’ series, behind Brawn.
And if Hamilton dropped out of the race in his McLaren and the other McLaren driver, Heikki Kovalainen, failed to score points, the British team nevertheless held onto third place in the series by one point over Ferrari, as both drivers failed to score any points.
The race also began with exciting battles on the new circuit up and down the pack. Hamilton held onto his pole position, taking off to a comfortable start, while Vettel held off Webber heading into the first corner.
But as Webber settled back behind his teammate he had to fend off an attack from Rubens Barrichello in the other Brawn. Webber squeezed Barrichello into the first corner and the Brazilian lopped off part of his front wing on the rear of the Red Bull.
This did not much affect Barrichello’s speed, but in the meantime, his teammate, Button, passed him to move into fourth position.
Behind, Robert Kubica in a BMW Sauber attacked Jarno Trulli in a Toyota as the two drivers raced side-by-side through several corners before the Polish driver finally passed Trulli for sixth.
Hamilton set fastest lap after fastest lap, but Vettel kept up with him, although he in turn was under pressure from Webber. Finally, it ended after his first pit stop and 20 laps, for Hamilton when his team informed him there was a problem with the brakes.
“I was locking and locking and locking - it was harder than ever to drive the car,” Hamilton said. “It’s a shame as the car felt so good this last couple of days, but we haven’t had many brake problems this year.”
With the 1.2 kilometer straight being the longest straight section of track at any circuit and culminating in a runoff area underneath the grandstand, the Abu Dhabi track held out promise for something better and mostly delivered.
The long straight would be the scene of one of the finest moments in the race. After Button made his first pit stop after 17 laps he rejoined just ahead of the Japanese rookie, Kamui Kobayashi, in a Toyota.
Kobayashi, who had replaced Timo Glock in the Toyota for the two previous races, made two spectacular attempts to pass the new world champion before he succeeded after racing him down the straight and slipping past after Button made a small error in a corner.
The Japanese driver, who had also passed Kimi Raikkonen, another world champion, in a Ferrari at the start, finished the race in sixth position, one spot ahead of his experienced teammate, Jarno Trulli.
“My target was to finish in the points today but I am a bit surprised to be in the top six,” said Kobayashi. “This is a fantastic result and I am extremely happy.”
The race also answered other important questions about the new venue. It is the only circuit on the Formula One calendar where the pit lane exit descends into a tunnel under the track. The tunnel is not subjected to a speed limit, and several drivers said before the race that it was dangerous.
In the end, there were no accidents in the pit lane exit, but it did add a level of suspense for the spectators as they watched the cars slip off line occasionally while negotiating the tricky portion of the track.
Finally, the twilight aspect of the race was a success as spectators saw a constantly changing show from day to night as the sun set over the track, and the roof of the Yas Marina Hotel lit up in its multicolored glass panel top.
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