2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Results
From India, drivers and teams headed to the desert climate in Abu Dhabi, for the pen-ultimate race in the 2011 F1 Season. In searing heat, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit was full of drama. Not only did Sebastian Vettel not finish a race for the time first this season (his first retirement since the Korean Grand Prix last season!) and Lewis Hamilton’s first win since the German Grand Prix, six races ago. Second place finish went to Fernando Alonso and third place to Jenson Button.
Practice session began under hot, blue skies! Qualifying was highlighted by Vettel spinning out and then Alonso crashing in the same spot. Vettel clinched pole position, his 14th this season. This feat ties him with F1 great, Nigel Mansell’s, record of 14 pole positions in a season. He was following Hamilton in second place, Button, Webber and Alonso.
Shrouded in controversy this season, Hamilton has redeemed himself in Abu Dhabi – driving clean and flawless race. His win at Abu Dhabi is his third this season. The race started on edge, as Hamilton right off the start takes the lead and Alonso quickly passes Button, leaving Webber and Massa in 4th and 5th place, respectively. Vettel gets a tyre puncture, damaging his rear brake in lap 1 and is out of the race! Totally incredible! Hamilton stays in the lead. By lap 22, it’s Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Massa, Webber. But after Vettel’s exit, Webber is looking strong and fast. Surprisingly Kamui Kobayashi is looking strong, moving slowly up from 16th place, he manages to finish the race in 10th place. Lap 30 sees Pastor Maldonado get a drive through penalty for not obeying the blue flags and Webber finally manages to overtake Massa. The rest of race is uneventful, with the top five positions remaining unchanged. Hamilton ends up dedicating his race win to his mother, who is celebrating her birthday.
Since Vettel had to retire from the race, his point standing for the Drivers’ Championship standings remains unchanged with 374 points. Rankings behind Vettel remain unchanged, with Button in second place with 255 points, Alonso in third place with 245 points, Webber with 233 points and Hamilton with 227 points.
There isn’t much left to change in the Constructors’ Championship standings. Even without Vettel, Red Bull charges ahead with Webber’s fourth place finish. The team now has 607 points. Second place is McLaren-Mercedes, which raked in the points in Abu Dhabi with a 1-3 finish, giving them 482 points. Ferrari remains in third place with 353 points. Three teams still have zero points: Lotus, Virgin and HRT-Cosworth.
Full Race Results
- Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:37:11.886s
- Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) +8.457s
- Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) +25.871s
- Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) +35.784s
- Felipe Massa (Ferrari) +50.578s
- Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) +52.317s
- Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) +1:15.964s
- Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) +1:17.122s
- Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) +1:41.087s
- Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber-Ferrari) +1 lap
- Sergio Perez (Sauber-Ferrari) +1 lap
- Rubens Barrichello (Williams-Cosworth) +1 lap
- Vitaly Petrov (Renault) +1 lap
- Pastor Maldonado (Williams-Cosworth) +1 lap
- Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +1 lap
- Bruno Senna (Renault) +1 lap
- Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus-Renault) +1 lap
- Jarno Trulli (Lotus-Renault) +2 laps
- Timo Glock (Virgin-Cosworth) +2 laps
- Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT-Cosworth) +2 laps
- Daniel Ricciardo (HRT-Cosworth) retired, lap 47
- Sebastian Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) retired, lap 18
- Jerome d’Ambrosio (Virgin-Cosworth) retired, lap 17
- Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing-Renault) retired, lap 1