Tyre smoke, not spirits, as Sebastian Vettel wins in Abu Dhabi – results
Copyright: Batchelor / xpb / 1st place Sebastian Vettel (GER), Red Bull Racing – Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 17, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Sunday Podium, 01.11.2009 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates November 1, 2009 5:51 PM Filed Under: F1
There was no champagne on the podium, but Sebastian Vettel ensured the 2009 season got a fitting send-off with a series of doughnuts to toast his Abu Dhabi victory.
Sparkling rosewater was the order of the day on the podium, and as Mark Webber stepped back into the paddock of the Yas Marina Circuit, he reported that the liquid soaked into his Red Bull overalls hadn’t tasted “too good”.
Alcohol was strictly banned on the man-made Yas Island throughout the weekend, and even F1 teams’ catering staff were unable to smuggle the odd bottle of wine into the circuit to use as food ingredients.
However, as BMW -Sauber staged its farewell to F1 with a Marina-side party for the entire paddock on Saturday night, it can be revealed that alcohol was not in short supply despite the wishes of the Muslim location.
Less thrilling was pole sitter Lewis Hamilton’s final fling as world champion as he retired as a precaution with a brake problem, but the incoming champion Jenson Button showed his flair with a late-race stoush with Webber to the chequered flag.
PosNoDriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPts115Sebastian VettelRBR-Renault 551:34:03.414210214Mark WebberRBR-Renault 55+17.8 secs38322Jenson ButtonBrawn-Mercedes55+18.4 secs56423Rubens BarrichelloBrawn-Mercedes55+22.7 secs4556Nick HeidfeldBMW Sauber55+26.2 secs84610Kamui KobayashiToyota55+28.3 secs12379Jarno TrulliToyota55+34.3 secs62812Sebastien BuemiSTR-Ferrari55+41.2 secs101916Nico RosbergWilliams-Toyota 55+45.9 secs9105Robert KubicaBMW Sauber55+48.1 secs7112Heikki KovalainenMcLaren-Mercedes55+52.7 secs18124Kimi RikknenFerrari55+54.3 secs111317Kazuki NakajimaWilliams-Toyota 55+59.8 secs13147Fernando AlonsoRenault55+69.6 secs151521Vitantonio LiuzziForce India-Mercedes55+94.4 secs16163Giancarlo FisichellaFerrari54+1 Lap201720Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes54+1 Lap17188Romain GrosjeanRenault54+1 Lap19Ret1Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes19+35 Laps1Ret11Jaime AlguersuariSTR-Ferrari17+37 Laps14
