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Kimi wins, Vettel clings on to lead
Source: AFP |
November 5, 2012, Monday
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KIMI Raikkonen claimed his first win for three years yesterday as Sebastian Vettel clung on to his championship lead by finishing third in a dramatic and incident-packed Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The 33-year-old Finn, who returned to Formula One this season after a two-year absence, grabbed his win after early leader Lewis Hamilton was forced into retirement by a power failure on his McLaren.
Raikkonen won convincingly ahead of Fernando Alonso of Ferrari who pushed hard for victory in the closing laps of an extraordinary 55-laps contest that included two prolonged safety car periods and a rash of major accidents.
Defending champion and series leader Vettel started from the pit lane in his Red Bull car and produced one of the greatest drives of his career to finish third. Vettel's phenomenal drive, including clocking a fastest lap, kept him 10 points ahead of Alonso in the title race with two laps remaining.
The German leads on 255 points with Alonso on 245 and Raikkonen on 198.
This was Raikkonen's first win since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix and his 19th career win.
He is the eighth different victor of the season and he gave the Lotus name a victory for the first time since Ayrton Senna won for the original Lotus team in the United States in 1987.
On a hot afternoon, producing a track temperature of 33 degrees Celsius, Hamilton made a near-perfect start to pull away from his 25th pole position and into a clear lead.
Behind him, Raikkonen enjoyed a fast getaway and seized second ahead of a slow-starting Mark Webber. Alonso sized up Webber and the Spaniard made his pass on the second straight after a dramatic wheel-to-wheel tussle through turn eight.
On the second lap, Vettel in 20th, damaged the front wing of his Red Bull in a collision with Bruno Senna's Williams.
On lap nine Nico Rosberg ran into the back of Narain Karthikeyan's Hispania car and flipped into an airborne ride across the Indian's car and over his head at more than 300 kph.
He slid heavily into the barriers and triggered the introduction of a safety car for six laps during which Vettel, having risen to 14th, ran too close to Daniel Ricciardo's Toro Rosso and swerved wide, hit a bollard and almost hit the barriers.
This further damaged his front wing and he pitted on lap 13, rejoining 22nd to endure a close scrap with Romain Grosjean's Lotus, the Frenchman having re-entered the fray after his eighth opening lap crash of the year.
If it appeared to be ill-fortune for Vettel, it was not as this early stop enabled him to take full advantage as the race unfolded.
Hamilton's superb drive ended on lap 20 when his McLaren lost all power.
He pulled up, retiring from the lead for the second time in six races. It was his fifth 'did not finish' of a frustrating year.
Pole-sitter Hamilton's demise left Raikkonen in the lead while behind Vettel had climbed into the points ahead of the midway pit stops.
As Felipe Massa, Webber and Raikkonen made their stops, Vettel rose to second, taking full advantage of his luck.
As Vettel struggled to hang on soft tires his team chose to call him in on lap 38 for a pit stop that saw him rejoin fourth ahead of a multi-car battle for fifth that exploded into another multiple collision on lap 39.
The 33-year-old Finn, who returned to Formula One this season after a two-year absence, grabbed his win after early leader Lewis Hamilton was forced into retirement by a power failure on his McLaren.
Raikkonen won convincingly ahead of Fernando Alonso of Ferrari who pushed hard for victory in the closing laps of an extraordinary 55-laps contest that included two prolonged safety car periods and a rash of major accidents.
Defending champion and series leader Vettel started from the pit lane in his Red Bull car and produced one of the greatest drives of his career to finish third. Vettel's phenomenal drive, including clocking a fastest lap, kept him 10 points ahead of Alonso in the title race with two laps remaining.
The German leads on 255 points with Alonso on 245 and Raikkonen on 198.
This was Raikkonen's first win since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix and his 19th career win.
He is the eighth different victor of the season and he gave the Lotus name a victory for the first time since Ayrton Senna won for the original Lotus team in the United States in 1987.
On a hot afternoon, producing a track temperature of 33 degrees Celsius, Hamilton made a near-perfect start to pull away from his 25th pole position and into a clear lead.
Behind him, Raikkonen enjoyed a fast getaway and seized second ahead of a slow-starting Mark Webber. Alonso sized up Webber and the Spaniard made his pass on the second straight after a dramatic wheel-to-wheel tussle through turn eight.
On the second lap, Vettel in 20th, damaged the front wing of his Red Bull in a collision with Bruno Senna's Williams.
On lap nine Nico Rosberg ran into the back of Narain Karthikeyan's Hispania car and flipped into an airborne ride across the Indian's car and over his head at more than 300 kph.
He slid heavily into the barriers and triggered the introduction of a safety car for six laps during which Vettel, having risen to 14th, ran too close to Daniel Ricciardo's Toro Rosso and swerved wide, hit a bollard and almost hit the barriers.
This further damaged his front wing and he pitted on lap 13, rejoining 22nd to endure a close scrap with Romain Grosjean's Lotus, the Frenchman having re-entered the fray after his eighth opening lap crash of the year.
If it appeared to be ill-fortune for Vettel, it was not as this early stop enabled him to take full advantage as the race unfolded.
Hamilton's superb drive ended on lap 20 when his McLaren lost all power.
He pulled up, retiring from the lead for the second time in six races. It was his fifth 'did not finish' of a frustrating year.
Pole-sitter Hamilton's demise left Raikkonen in the lead while behind Vettel had climbed into the points ahead of the midway pit stops.
As Felipe Massa, Webber and Raikkonen made their stops, Vettel rose to second, taking full advantage of his luck.
As Vettel struggled to hang on soft tires his team chose to call him in on lap 38 for a pit stop that saw him rejoin fourth ahead of a multi-car battle for fifth that exploded into another multiple collision on lap 39.
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