Raikkonen takes tremendous victory in incident-filled Abu Dhabi GP

Raikkonen surprises many, as Hamilton once again retires

Kimi Raikkonen has stormed to a tremendous victory at the incident-filled Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, securing Lotus’s first race victory since the 1987 Detroit Grand Prix when the great Ayrton Senna drove for the outfit. Fernando Alonso finished an important 2nd, with Sebastian Vettel scything through the field to 3rd!

The race started in frenetic fashion, as Kimi Raikkonen immediately flew into 2nd position from 4th on the grid, as Mark Webber dropped from 2nd to 4th. Lewis Hamilton led at the front, as the Force India duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta came together with the Williams of Bruno Senna. This saw Hulkenberg become the first retirement, as the likes of Nico Rosberg and Romain Grosjean coasted back to the pits with damage and a puncture respectively.

Whilst carnage ensued throughout the midfield, Sebastian Vettel was released from the pit-lane after his controversial exclusion from qualifying. Throughout the opening laps, Hamilton opened up a considerable lead at the front from the Lotus of Raikkonen and the Williams of Maldonado. However, the Briton’s lead was quickly diminished considerably as the safety car was deployed after a huge incident between the HRT of Narain Karthikeyan and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg.

As Rosberg strove to pick up the pieces after pitting for a new front wing, the German driver was caught out by the slow moving HRT of Karthikeyan. Due to the difference in speed between the two, Rosberg flew over the back of the HRT and slammed violently into the retaining barriers. Luckily both drivers were uninjured, as marshals set to clearing the debris and stricken vehicles.

Already Sebastian Vettel was up to 12th position once the safety car was deployed, just behind the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo. As the Australian driver warmed his tyres up during the safety car period, Vettel was forced to take avoiding action by driving off the circuit and through a polystyrene bollard. This added to the German’s already slightly damaged front wing from an earlier collision with Bruno Senna, and forced him to make an early pit stop for a new front wing.

Once the race was resumed on lap 15, Hamilton immediately set to building up another gap to the Lotus of Raikkonen. However, utter disaster struck only several laps later when the 2008 World Champion was seen coasting to a dejected halt on the track with an electrical fault on his car. This gifted the lead to Raikkonen, as Hamilton once again retired from the lead of a race.

As Kimi Raikkonen assumed the lead and opened up a considerable gap to the Williams of Maldonado, Alonso quickly overtook the Venezuelan for 2nd. Mark Webber then began reeling in the Williams driver, however the Red Bull driver tripped up over Maldonado whilst trying to overtake him for 3rd, as the two came together and Webber was tipped into a spin. A lap later Jenson Button demonstrated how to successfully overtake the Williams driver, with an excellent maneuver for 3rd.

By lap 26, the first drivers began making their scheduled pit-stops as Kamui Kobayashi pitted for Sauber. Out on the track, Webber once again struggled to complete a clean overtaking maneuver, as the Australian driver banged wheels with the Ferrari of Felipe Massa. This forced Webber to cut the corner, however upon rejoining the circuit, Massa clipped the kerb and spun.

Immediately after spinning, the Brazilian driver quickly returned to the pits as the likes of Schumacher and Alonso pitted in quick succession. A lap later saw Button and Maldonado pit, with Perez and Webber doing likewise a little later. Whilst the front runners carried out their one and only pit stop, Sebastian Vettel began silently progressing through the points, and by lap 31 was already in 2nd position behind race leader Kimi Raikkonen.

However, Raikkonen had opened up and sizable lead at the front, and was able to safely pit on lap 31 and rejoin in the lead. After pitting during the safety car period, it was believed Vettel would try and run until the end of the race, a feat which would include over 40 laps on the soft tyre. Eventually this plan from Red Bull was thwarted, and on lap 37 Vettel once again pitted and fell through the order from 2nd to 4th.

Further down the order, absolute carnage ensued as Sergio Perez, Paul di Resta, Romain Grosjean and Mark Webber came together through turns 11, 12, 13 and 14. This saw Grosjean and Webber retire, with Perez incurring a ten second stop-and-go penalty for causing the multi-car incident. This brought out the safety car for a second time, allowing Vettel to close the gap between himself and Button for 3rd.

In the closing stages of the race, the gap between race leader Raikkonen and Alonso in 2nd ebbed and flowed, as Vettel strove to snatch 3rd away from the McLaren of Button. Eventually, on lap 52, Vettel stormed around the outside of Button at turn 11, as Alonso began to catch Raikkonen.

However, it was the ‘Iceman’s’ day at the front, as Kimi Raikkonen cruised across the line to take his 19th career victory, and his first since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso followed the Finn home in 2nd, with Sebastian Vettel a tremendous 3rd. The F1 fraternity now leaves Asia for America, for the inaugural United States Grand Prix around the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas in two weeks time.

Follow me on Twitter - @AndyYoungF1