The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Highlights Formula 1

Previously on Formula 1. It is Lewis Hamilton! Side-by-side!

My goodness! Yes! May 17th, Abu Dhabi, this is Formula

1. -- race number 17. Sebastian Vettel could clinch his

fourth consecutive world title. This is all about competing for the

joy. You looked so cool, you like that inside? I am nervous, excited,

to go racing. The International Circuit has been

very good for Sebastian Vettel. He is going to get slower cars that

he will be racing on. As he crosses the line, Sebastian

Vettel is the 2013 World Champion. As he crosses the line, Sebastian

You have done it in style, you are a former crew time World Champion. You

did it, yes! Yes! Unbelievably proud, well done.

did it, yes! Yes! I don't know what to say, brilliant

job. I don't know what to say, brilliant

Words fail me, and unbelievable performance, I am so proud of what

he has done and the team. You gave me so much strength, I love

you. You have four consecutive world

titles. Very special, I love driving the car, but next weekend is a new

challenge and we are here to win. You cannot argue with that. But he

was not the quickest driver here yesterday.

A baking hot welcome to the about W Grand Prix, and we are heading into

the evening -- the Abu Dappy Grand Prix. Yas Marina Hotel circuit

turned into one of the most glitzy in the calendar. -- the circuit.

Still records to be broken, if Sebastian Vettel wins today, he can

equal seven consecutive wins in the season previously achieved by

Michael Schumacher. To be runner-up, Fernando Alonso has to fight with

Kimi Raikkonen and that could prove to be interesting. And Mercedes and

Ferrari have four points between them in the hunt for second in the

constructors championship. David and Eddie are enjoying the

action. Hello. This is such a flamboyant event. It is absolutely

magical because you have to reflect and pinch yourself that ten years

ago, this was a desert, an island in the middle of the ocean. They have

created something brilliant. Great visionary from the people here.

There are music events and water parks and things in the day, it you

could come on holiday here. News, Depeche Mode, everyone you want. --

Muse. All the great names have been here, we are spoilt for choice, this

is real extravagance, we love it! The track tends to divide opinion on

layout, but Sebastian Vettel proved you could take over.

It is possible to overtake if you gear sensibly using the dear RS. --

the DRS. There can be overtaking, but remember Fernando Alonso? He

could not overtake. It will be interesting this afternoon, a lot of

support for Mark Webber. There were a few eyebrow raising moment

yesterday and a shocker for Ferrari. -- moments.

Fernando Alonso 's woes continued and he did not make it into Q3.

Felipe Massa made the cut in eighth place. Kimi Reich putters Lotus into

fifth, but last night, the car failed the test and he was excluded

from qualifying. Nico Hulkenberg add qualified his team-mate Gutierrez

and put his car in an impressive sixth place. Lewis Hamilton was on a

great lap which could have been good enough for pole position but this

put paid to that. His earlier time was quick enough for fourth place,

Nico Rosberg went up to third. Sebastian Vettel, as always, was in

the hunt for pole position but he made a couple of mistakes and Mark

Webber put together a flawless lap, getting his second pole position of

the season. Mark Webber takes his 13th pole

position, it equally the Australian record held by Sir Jack problem. --

Sir Jack Rabbit. -- Jack -- Sir Jack Brabham.

A tough day for Williams, they 14th and 15th. Adrian Sutil is six places

behind his team-mate Paul di Resta. Tools Bianchi takes a grid penalty.

Kimi Raikkonen is at the back. -- Jules Bianchi. It was late in the

night we found out Kimi had been excluded can you explain?

It is a front floor, all the teams have a tight piece which controls

the deflection on the front floor. Romain Grosjean failed that test in

the year and motors have not changed that part so it has failed again. --

motors. If they had changed the part, they would probably have given

him a pass! Because it is second failure coming he has to go to the

back. Things are not going well for Lotus. Kimi said he had not been

paid this year. I am sure he has not been paid and they have now

threatened the team... This is a very serious High Court action to

get a judge to do something like this but I am pleased to say it was

threatened, and secondly, I understand that it is now resolved

and that is good news for everybody. Back to racing, it is going from the

back of the grid, can he come through? He can if he is geared

correctly. There are two DRS zones on the circuit. He might be able to

exploit that. You had better go to the great, we can catch up with Tom,

talking to Mark. Last year, Sebastian Vettel started

from Pitt Lane after being excluded, why have you not done that? We

thought there was more to gain from overtaking cars at the start of the

race, if you start from the pit, you have to wait until the other cars

have passed, the safety cars, so you lose time. My suspicion is that for

him, knowing there might be a corner shunt, maybe they decided to pit

points rather than maximum points. It is different for us and we think

we can score our best result from the back. Does it feel good? Yes, it

feels good, the sun is low and that is the biggest problem. We are ready

to go, mate. The car feels good. We will see how these options go and

get into it after that, but feeling very good. There is a lot of support

for you, but look. Difficult for you, Ferrari is a big name, the

performance of the car, what have you got to say to the fans to give

them hope? Nothing, it it goes without saying. The word does not

help, I cannot promise that this year, it was not an easy year, but

next year we will do all the work to make sure we are competitive again.

Don't forget that the season is but had been two and two if it had gone

in a different way. Stay quiet and keep believing. It is a straight

fight between you and Mark, have you a different approach this afternoon

now you have the fourth title? Not really, I am looking forward to the

race. It is not that far to the first corner, I hope for a good

start and ideally I will pass mark straightaway. It is a long Grace. We

have 55 laps, so let's see what happens. Good luck.

So an expectant crowd at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Mark Webber is

import position. Look out at turn one, Tom and Leo in the pit lane and

your commentators Gary, David and Ben.

The rivalry between the two Red Bull team-mates have been well documented

over the past five years, the latest chapter, the story is about to be

revealed in Abu Dhabi as they read the grid on the formation lap. How

many stops to be a expect today and will we see different strategies? I

think so, two stop is the fastest at one stop is five seconds, ten

seconds slower, so if anybody starts on the option tyres and they picked

before lap ten, it will definitely be a two stop and they have a chance

of doing it at one if it is 15. Lotus like the one stop if possible,

Romain Grosjean might try it, and Kimi Raikkonen, any other teams?

Force India might do it but Paul di Resta started on the option tyres so

he has to get to lap 15, for Lotus, Kimi is starting on the medium

tyres. He can see if he can do the long stint to begin with. Fernando

Alonso, he has gone for the soft tyres. It is a strange choice. The

traction of the line is much better so into the first corner, he has to

make up some places. If he can make up those three races, it will be a

different guy. Thank you very much. On board with Lewis Hamilton as he

gets these tyres up to temperature. A long gap to the cars in front, it

had to keep its tightly formed. Not the same when you follow the safety

car when you have to keep Collings between the car in front. As long as

you do not hold the grid to long. -- car lengths. An update from Tom, any

late news? No late news, chaos as the mechanics run back to their

boxes. Anxious faces at Mercedes, there were worries this morning

about Lewis Hamilton 's gearbox after that failure in qualifying.

They have not failed it, so fingers crossed! With Hamilton starts in

fourth place, outpaced by Nico Rosberg when Willis -- Lewis could

not complete his final lap. He could have challenge for pole position. It

did not turn out, Mark Webber is in pole position, can he beat Sebastian

Vettel today? He has got the same tools at his disposal so it will

come down to the software engineer and Mark Webber 's reactions to

those lights going out. Alain Prost, four times World Champion. He

is an ambassador for red note nowadays. -- Renault. Mercedes still

looking for their 100th Grand Prix win. I wonder if they going to be

able to take the challenge to Red Bull today, they are dominating at

this stage the season. Mark Webber pulled up into his grid slot with

focus, I thought he would overshoot his position. He is very far forward

in his box. The last car to move into place is Kimi Raikkonen, just

making his way round the final corner as he begins to come into

position. It is Webber and Vettel upfront. And Fernando Alonso is

starting from 10th position, looking for one of his mighty first laps.

Lights out, away we go, and a good start from the two Mercedes. It is

Vettel who leads into the first corner. Sebastian Vettel leads once

again into the first bend. Massa running very wide. It did not look

as if there was contact in turn two M3. Hamilton looks for a way round

the outside of Romain Grosjean. Vettel leads, Rosberg in second

place, in third Webber and then the two Ferraris. Alonso already gaining

some territory. Raikkonen is out. There must have been contact surely

at the back of the field. That is always the risk when you start at

the very back. Rosberg in second challenging with Mark Webber. Webber

started from pole position but he has lost out on this first lap.

Alonso attacks. I damaged front wing on Button's car.

Hulkenberg runs wide and Hamilton is through. Meanwhile, Alonso was

trying to get past his team-mate but there is not enough space. He may be

vulnerable to Perez. The next turn is flat-out as they run into the

Monte Carlo style part of the lap. Di Resta in 10th place. Maldonado in

11th, Vergne in 12th. Jenson Button we know has got damage on his car.

Nico Hulkenberg is hanging on to sixth place at the moment as the two

Ferraris go past. It is still Massa ahead of Alonso.

The stricken car of Raikkonen is in the background. Let's look at the

start once again. It was certainly a quick getaway from Sebastian Vettel.

It does seem to be marked's Achilles heel getting the car off the line.

Massa had to go wide to avoid contact. Let's keep an eye on Kimi

Raikkonen at the back of the pack as the camera -- if the camera angle

stays with us. Let's see how it looked from Lewis

Hamilton. Initially a good start but then he got boxed in. It is a short

run to the first corner. They have a short run to the first corner. They

have 140 kilos of fuel on board, cold tyres and brakes. It is a

question of how much risk you take. Once he is above 100 K he can

release curves. Mark Webber must have been so frustrated in the

cockpit. Bianchi made some contact with the

Caterham. He is not used to racing those guys. This was the start for

Grosjean. He goes round the side of Hamilton. A nice clean run there.

This is Jensen making his stop. A new set of option tyres and a front

wing. A quick change of the nose cone. Sutil has just found a way

past Gutierrez. Looked as if he sneezed there! Sutil has been told

his front tyre temperature is high. The track temperature will start to

drop. We will go into darkness. It is empty at the moment. Mark Webber

was asking what is wrong with the KERS. A strange situation. We know

the Red Bull does have a vulnerability when it comes to the

KERS system. Although it has a good gravity and weight distribution it

does have issues. I think Mark Webber was answering his own

question when he asked what was wrong with the KERS. It is not

working properly. A stop for Pastor Maldonado. That is relatively early

for him to switch tyres. He has gone out on the medium compound tyre. It

will be a two stop race for him and it was not the fastest of pit stops.

Bianchi has been into the pits. Massa is managing to open the gap

out to Alonso. It seems... Daniel Ricciardo lost a lot at the

beginning of the race. He is now trying to find his way through to

get past Gutierrez. This is the 14th. Sebastian, make sure you can

maintain this place. That is the signal to Vettel. Tom, what have you

got for us? I was going to reflect on how disappointing it is that Mark

is already having a KERS problem. Sebastian very definitely had the

edge with the option tyres. Mark had the edge with the prime tyre. It

would have been a fascinating race between the two of them. Rosberg is

interrupting that battle as well. McLaren should be looking at a two

stop race. Sergio Perez gets rid of the softer tyre, the option tyre as

they call it. He is on his way. That is consistent with what we saw in

India. They are not able to attain a one-stop race. We know Force India

have tried that in the past and successfully done that. Lotus as

well. They are firmly committed to the two stop this afternoon. Lewis

Hamilton in from fifth position. Mercedes likely to be going for the

two stop strategy as well. They had done an extra lap compared to some

of the others. It should not have made too much difference. It made

sense to bring him in a lap earlier than perhaps Nico Rosberg. That was

a good pit stop. Hamilton rejoins once again. He will come out behind

the Sauber there. Lewis Hamilton is in 12th place. Van der Garde has

just come into the pits. Charles Pic has been left out there. Van der

Garde had been complaining over the radio that his team-mate was holding

him up. It might be that we will have to see whether Webber responds

to Hamilton's stop. He will be fast on a set of the medium compound tyre

now. Webber has got to defend from Grosjean. He will have to sure he

does not make a small mistake somewhere. He will have to attack.

Another thing we have to keep an eye on is with the Mercedes having that

suspension failure in qualifying, is he having to drive in mind of

keeping away from the curbs. Get the tyres but stay out for now.

Hulkenberg being urged to stay out. Incomes Webber and Grosjean. That is

earlier than expected. Will they go all the way to the end? Maybe they

could do knowing the way the Lotus looks after its tyres. Webber comes

in and judges it well. He will get out in front of Grosjean. Hamilton

is just coming around the final turnout. They have to dip down

through the tunnel, go through this little twiddly section and back over

the rise. They are coming out ahead of Lewis Hamilton. He did not have

enough time to make the most of it. I wonder if that was a

straightforward reaction to the Hamilton stopped. Gutierrez sliding

around in front of Webber. Tom? If Lotus want to go to the end of the

race with one-stop, they can. Let's not forget he did 50 laps last

weekend in India and that is a much harsher racetrack than this on

tyres. Webber is getting past Gutierrez. You can see Mark does

have KERS available but whether a use getting a full charge or not

remains to be seen. Let's listen to Rosberg. Do you think you can do two

more naps? Yes. -- a lap. Rosberg is clearly looking after the

tyres well again. That is the first of the TRS zones. -- TRS zones.

Rosberg was saying the rear tyres are going. There is Hulkenberg. He

had a good sequence of four point-scoring results leading up to

the Indian Grand Prix. That was not the best pit stop. Sebastian Vettel

is leading this Grand Prix and still setting fastest sector times so his

tyres are still holding well. Rosberg is currently second. Massa

is up to third. This will bring Alonso up to fourth as Hulkenberg

has rejoined down in 12th position. This is where Mark Webber passed the

Sauber. He has got a chance. He is buzzing the limiter by the sound of

it. That was an easier path than it might have been. Hamilton is behind.

Nico Rosberg is being asked to come into the pits. There are two DRS

zones. Gutierrez was taking full advantage and had a go at getting

past Grosjean. Lewis Hamilton will lose a bit of time behind Gutierrez

in this Mickey Mouse section of the lap. We heard the radio signal for

Grosjean to come into the pits. Let's see how this goes. He had some

bad luck leading up to the race in India. He is on target for a podium

here. Webber will still be a threat for him. He is coming down the start

finish straight. Rosberg will be out ahead of him.

Nico Rosberg has come out in sixth place. Webber has Adrian Sutil ahead

of him. It has not helped Mark Webber. The front left is still

above target. We need you to drop back and look after the tyres. Mark

Webber having made a pit stop. He is in eighth place but has been caught

by Adrian Sutil. So much of the strategy is getting past traffic. In

India it proved easier than some of the teams were thinking. That helped

Vettel and Romain Grosjean. You still need to have your car setup to

perform in this last sector. The Top Gear is crucial for how you can

exploit the DRS. The chances are you are not going to exploit the maximum

torque and performance from the engine in qualifying when you are

not in the slipstream. Sebastian Vettel has opened up to the magic

mark in terms of his lead over Felipe Massa. He has gone over 23

seconds will stop he will drop into the pits now and not lose a

position. If you look at the lap times, that Red Bull, looking after

the tyres, Vettel is obviously driving to the limit. This shows us

once again that it is not just about the car. A lot of it is down to the

driver's style as well. On Friday, we thought Sebastian was driving too

quickly, but these are the same tyres and he has done 12 laps, so

nobody expected that level of difference. Sebastian Vettel is

dominating, what about the Ferrari cars behind? Webber still cannot get

past Adrian Sutil. Being able to get past traffic is crucial and it is

not happening for him. Hamilton against Gutierrez, they are into a

switchback section. It is not was able to find space.

It is not possible, Rosberg is leading the guys that have pitted so

it is looking good for him to pit up the second place again. So Mark

Webber has lost out a bit. He is getting caught in the traffic,

sometimes you get it right and sometimes you get it wrong, or it is

difficult to pass carriers -- has cars even if the tyres are right. --

to pass cars. Pole position here is on the right-hand side, the first

corner is the left-hand corner and Sebastian was able to get a car up

there. Mark could not come across so if you cannot get past, nothing you

can do. It was a good start for both. So Sebastian Vettel is

leading, and he has effectively got a free pit stop but still has not

come in. Hamilton is still trying, this has to be his best chance as he

tries to get into the slipstream. Mark Webber is on the Force India.

It is going to be a pass down the inside and he finally pulls it off.

He needed to get past Adrian Sutil and into seventh. Has Hamilton been

able to do the same? Against Gutierrez. Mechanics are heading

into the pits. It was fairly straightforward, they came from a

way back and incomes Sebastian Vettel to the pits. So the race

leader is in the pit lane and he has built up this margin already over

the next best that has not yet stopped, and he will be in great

shape. He goes out on the medium compound tyres, but will he stop

again? Maybe he will go through the race on the set of tyres. But he has

the option to do either coming he has a decent lead and he can choose

to make a stop or not. Fernando Alonso has got to lap 15

before he makes his pit stop. Whether Ferrari will try to go to

the end on that, I may have an attempt. Grosjean is about to pass

and he does so easily, as they go down into the chicane. And there is

Grosjean getting past Adrian Sutil. He overshot its slightly so Adrian

Sutil will be in the DRS zone into turn in 11. He is coming back at

him, we see this swapping around sometimes and he has lost a place

again. Well done, boys, nice bit of racing. Lewis Hamilton, good chair

is making a lot of moves! You cannot do that in the braking zone, so

expect Lewis Hamilton to be on the radio to his team. Not that they

will need any prompting. Lewis Hamilton is behind Gutierrez. You

have to make your choice, you blocking the inside or the outside?

When Hamilton moved over, you moved back again, you have two Reeve --

you have to leave move -- you have to leave room, you cannot crowd a

car of the circuit. Martin Donnelly is driver Stuart Hall he will be

watching that closely. Fernando Alonso has made his pit stop. He

will have swapped edged -- switched from the soft tyres. He is driving

to move ahead of fully paymaster, but the gap between them before they

came in was four microseconds -- ahead of Felipe Massa. I wonder if

he will be next. Just open up the gap progressively. His pace is

amazing. The next best is Jenson Button. The difference is huge. A

big gap in time performance between Sebastian Vettel and everyone else.

Grosjean is down the inside and as long as he does not run to wide, but

he is wide, the DRS will be for Adrian Sutil on the exit and he will

try to get him back. Lotus is not quick in a straight line, this has

been buried Achilles heel. Soo till is doing a great job, he has not

stopped. -- Adrian Sutil. Hamilton is trying to make a move again on

Gutierrez. There has been no news Gutierrez has picked up a penalty

and Hamilton is still being frustrated and caught by Nico

Hulkenberg. He will be on speed dial cancelling his holiday to Mexico if

he spends much more time behind Gutierrez! He is definitely

frustrated. It looked a bit close to the edge on that. Felipe Massa is in

the pits. This is an important pit stop for Ferrari, will he come out

in front or behind Fernando Alonso? I think he will be well ahead. Let's

wait and see. Grosjean was out of the last corner as Felipe Massa was

leaving his pit box so we will see him rejoin. He has come out and he

is in seventh place. He has come out between the two, with Nico

Hulkenberg behind him and Hamilton in front, but Fernando Alonso

behind. Look at Mark Webber, he is strategically sat back and he has

kept some KERS which he will probably deploy. He does so as he

leaves the turn, he gets the DRS and now he has a chance at Nico Rosberg.

This is crucial for second place and Webber goes round the outside, he

uses the DRS. And that was a crucial pass by -- a crucial pass by Mark

Webber and that could be for second place at the end of the Grand Prix,

Nico Rosberg could not defend. He saved his KERS, he knows that DRS,

you have Nico Rosberg in front, and on the back of the Force India. So

he decided he would overtake in 11. Good thinking, thinking ahead from

Mark Webber. He might be retiring at the end of the season, but you

cannot take anything away from him when it comes to race craft. It all

started much earlier. It locks up a bit but he gets away with it. Nico

Rosberg is positioning his car to the inside and he had to let it go.

It would have been easy to overrun into Paul di Resta, but he has now

stopped. He has done 20 laps on his first tyres. He was on the option

tyres, so it really to job from him. He will make it to the end on the

prime tyres. I suggest you keep a two second cap

to whether, but keep an eye on the gap to Grosjean. -- app. Grosjean is

3.9 seconds behind Nico Rosberg. We are looking at Hamilton. So it is

trying macro Fernando Alonso needs to pass -- it is Valtteri Bottas. He

has done that on one set of tyres but he is on the medium compound

tyre and that is why he has gone so deep. Alonso is using that DRS zone

to good effect. And he squeezes in front of the Williams. He gets the

job done and he moves into ninth place. Breathing in as he pulled out

of the slipstream, it looked as though he would catch the Williams.

He judged that to perfection. Such a late move out of the slipstream. It

looks more gentle from here, but it was incredibly close. Alonso glanced

into his mirror. On board with Hamilton. As he runs in sixth place.

Adrian Sutil is on the harder tyres and has not made a pit stop. He is

going deeper into the race than others because he started on the

harder tyres, but he is doing a good job so far. Behind him as Felipe

Massa getting closer, Nico Hulkenberg and Alonso in the top

ten. Valtteri Bottas has just come in the pits. So he has made his pit

stop and he has done 25 laps at the start of this Grand Prix on the

harder tyre. It was less than a second gap apart from Perez who was

about 4.7 seconds behind Alonso. We will see how that changes over the

next lap or so. That battle for fifth place is close between Adrian

Sutil... And Hamilton with a chance, and he makes it look so

easy. Does he keep it online and can he position the car? Adrian Sutil is

at the back. Mercedes power against Mercedes power, that DRS enabled on

the Force India. Massa goes down the inside, that this is an opportunist

piece of passing, fighting for his career, he has got past Hamilton! A

great piece of driving from the Brazilian and now Nico Hulkenberg is

filling his mirrors. That was a great beast of opportunist riding --

a great piece of opportunist driving. Ferrari just snuck up on

him. Sweet, I like that! How many times have these two had their

incidence? But this was a good clean move. Hamilton is busy watching the

car in front and that was clean driving from Hamilton. He knew

momentum was with the Ferrari. Tom, over to you. They were fighting five

years ago for the World Championship. They are a long way

out that but Alonso to move. He will be in position. It has great drive

of the hairpin, and he who is going -- and he is going round the inside.

That might work because he has DRS. But Alonso would have had DRS from

the detection point. They are side-by-side and Nico Hulkenberg has

the inside line but Alonso will not give up. And he retakes the place.

Who is going to get DRS? Alonso will definitely get it as the DRS

activation as you exit the corner... Felipe Massa has picked

off another one and is into fifth place. Hamilton is really struggling

and Alonso has got past Nico Hulkenberg. There has been some

overtaking and they have had to work for it, great stuff. Ferrari is

entertaining us but can they get more points? In the constructors

championship, the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg is ahead. They have got

amongst Hamilton but that is so significant regarding second race in

the championship and Alonso will know that. But Rosberg is ahead of

them both and has a couple of cars between himself and Ferrari cars.

Behind Nico Hulkenberg is Perez, in 10th position. Doing his stuff! He

should not be surprised to see himself on television! And Adrian

Sutil is in sixth place, Hamilton and Alonso. What is going to happen

when they get to be DRS owns again? -- DRS zones. Alonso goes deeper.

Different approach to last time. It looked like he was going too deep, a

bit of understeer, so he took momentum out of the car and he has

lost some time. A pass down here. Hamilton on Adrian Sutil,

side-by-side and he sneaks through. Adrian Sutil will hopefully have the

DRS again and we challenge but Hamilton had a good exit. A bit of

struggling. This will allow Alonso may be to lunge down into 11.

Hamilton has got past. And Alonso was not able to complete that. So

finally, Hamilton has got past Adrian Sutil and made the move.

This is the on-board camera from Lewis. You can see how far back you

can come when you have got the RS open. -- DRS. We have a Sauber

coming in. That is Hulkenberg. Perez is also coming in. They are

coming into the pits for their second pit stops. It is very close

as they come back out. Hulkenberg just edging it. That was tight.

There will be a question as to whether that was an unsafe release.

Tom, you were there. I saw a problematic stop once again. The

moment that tyre was put on they just let him go. Sutil is really

struggling for grip. He is finding life hard work. But he has fought

his ground. Hulkenberg gets past Maldonado. Maldonado is down in 15th

position. These guys are having to fight their way back up through the

order again. Sergio Perez is trying to go round Maldonado but Maldonado

will not give it up easily. No reason why he should. He is racing

for his own success here and trying to get into the points. Push hard

now. Still there is no way through for Sergio Perez. He has much

fresher tyres on but he cannot convert it into a pass. Good clean

racing and that is allowing Jenson Button to get up behind his

team-mate. He has an extra stop this afternoon. This was the pass Alonso

made a moment ago on Sutil. Sutil was pulling away until they got into

the DRS zone. Sutil has just made his pit stop at last so he has gone

on to the option tyre. Look at where he has gone out, at limb away with

pasta Maldonado. -- battling away with pasta Maldonado.

There you go, that unsafe release from Hulkenberg. It is being

investigated first of all. They will have a look at it to see if a

penalty is justified. It is a tough call but you have to do it by the

rules. The Venezuelan will not give up.

Sutil cuts back in front. How will that one work-out? He will have to

let Perez go. In missing the chicane he has gained a huge advantage.

Jenson Button trying to take advantage. Lewis Hamilton is in the

pits. Away goes Hamilton. This should take him to the end of the

race now. Will he get a decent top ten finish air today? It has been a

tough run for him. He will be hoping for more than the top ten. He

started in fourth but Grosjean is holding on to fourth place. The

Ferraris have been going well and they could be danger territory. A

good drive this so far, Gary, from the leap a master. Both Ferraris

interesting. They went very largely soft tyre. I think they will try to

do that as Paul di Resta is. The middleman that we do not know who

will do what is Grosjean. He could go for a one-stop as well. He is not

punching hard enough to pull away from Massa but I think he knows a

second position is in there for him if he does

tyres working until the end. We have just had confirmation that

tyres working until the end. We have a drive-through penalty for Nico

Hulkenberg. It was an unsafe release. A looked marginal. He

pulled into the fast lane. If he had stayed in the middle lane it would

have been OK. It is dangerous in the pit lane. The speed is only 80

kilometres but you have got to respect it. Nico Hulkenberg will

definitely have to do his drive-through penalty in a few

moments. That will cost him valuable time. Webber and Rosberg as well

into the pits. This will be their final pit stop. Aid two stop race

for the Red Bull of Mark Webber and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. They

are both on the same type of tyre for the final stint of this Grand

Prix. I wonder how long before Sebastian Vettel comes in? Unless

something goes wrong, he has got it in the bag. Grosjean has to keep

Webber and Rosberg off his tail. I think he can pick up a second place.

One of the main things we have got to keep an eye on is the race for

second place. Currently Grosjean has 14 seconds over Mark Webber. Mark

Webber has made a pit stop recently as has Nico Rosberg. The big

question is can Grosjean hang on until the chequered flag, do the

race on a one-stop strategy not be caught by Mark Webber and Nico

Rosberg? That will be interesting. Rosberg has just set the fastest

lap. They are closing up on Grosjean for second place. He will have got a

hurry up message from the team. Mark Webber, if he wants to get in the

middle is what this afternoon he needs to put the pressure on

Grosjean now. I can see the Red Bull mechanics are routed the pit lane.

That will be for Sebastian Vettel. The second stop, there it is. This

should all be according to plan. He still has a healthy advantage over

Romain Grosjean when he comes out onto the circuit. No other cars to

worry about and he is on his way through the tunnel and back onto the

Abu Dhabi circuit. He lost a victory from pole position here a few years

ago when he had a puncture on the first lap of the Grand Prix. But he

has also tasted success here in the past and it looks as if he is on

target to do the same again here today. Interestingly, Grosjean has

had to stop again. Letters have had to make the extra pit stop. --

looters. He should be able to get out in

front of Massa and Alonso. It will be close with the Ferraris here.

Grosjean just squeezes in front of Felipe Massa. He has dropped back a

little bit. Alonso will see this as an opportunity for him. My goodness,

they are close. Massa went defensive as they went in

to turn seven. Alonso trying to go up the inside. That gives Grosjean a

chance to exploit the fresh tyres. Grosjean emerges in fourth place. It

does not look as if he will get an easy time of trying to get a podium.

He might have a hard time from the Ferraris behind him. Massa and

Alonso have only made one pit stop. That might make them vulnerable in

the latter stages to those behind who have made two stops. It is vital

that Grosjean puts daylight between himself. Massa was ten kilometres an

hour faster in qualifying. Massa is in. Maybe they were trying to do it

on one-stop but it has not happened. That has the benefit of getting out

of Alonso's way. I wonder if we will see Alonso in in the next couple of

laps? He had stopped on 16 and Massa had stopped on 18. That could be a

strategic decision to reposition them. Massa will get an advantage

with fresh tyres. New go out with fresh rubber, the car is lighter. We

are getting information from the Sadie 's engineers telling

Rosberg... Now we are seeing a replay. A slightly slow getaway. Was

there an issue with one of the front tyres? Another element is suspension

design. He went through the chicane with one hand. That is an usual. His

hand is off the steering. A huge amount of break changing going on. I

was going to say the suspension mounting points have different

amounts of how the car are sponsored under braking and that will reflect

how the car feels. Different drivers have different requirements. Some

drivers need a good front end and not being too concerned if the rear

is sliding and other drivers do not like rear ends ability. They like it

to be nice and tight. They preferred to turn in early and allows some

front slip, as they call it, the slip across the track surface.

Hamilton is very much in the zone where he can find a way past

Jean-Eric Vergne. He is doing a good job, the Frenchman. He had his best

result of the year in Canada. He has had a lot of non-finishes since

then. He will be a sitting frog. Lets see! Hamilton takes the place

away from Jean-Eric Vergne and Massa will do the same.

Toro Rossos historically set their car up to be quite slippy. That

affects the load. Ferrari power against Ferrari power. Jean-Eric

Vergne, no points scored at all since the trading Grand Prix. He has

had six non-finishes this year. He has been eclipsed by his team-mate.

Alonso within. He has made a stop with just ten laps to go. He has put

the option tyre back on, interestingly, for the final ten

laps. He has come out right alongside the

Toro Rosso. They almost bang wheels. He is ahead of Massa. Massa nearly

hits the back of the. He takes the escape route. Alonso cut the corner.

That is something we saw from Lewis Hamilton in free practice ahead of

qualifying. We know he had a suspension failure in qualifying.

Fernando Alonso had himself on the outside of the Toro Rosso. Let's see

the replay. That was brave by Alonso, your

commitment. He just kept his foot in. Alonso and Jean-Eric Vergne

tried to take his place. It taught him into seventh place for Fernando

Alonso, behind Lewis Hamilton. -- it put him. And the tyres have done a

lot of of laps so Alonso could chase down the Mercedes and maybe gain

another place. He will not get a podium finish but another place is a

possibility. Paul di Resta still in fifth place and he has just done a

really good lap. That is a Williams coming in. Valtteri Bottas makes his

final pit stop. Paul di Resta, a solid job. He has done one pit stop

and he has done a personal best time. He has a 3.5 second advantage

over Lewis Hamilton. He was told by his engineer to pit up the pace.

Hamilton is in front of Jean-Eric Vergne and he has been able to do

that but has the enough life left in those tyres to hold off Hamilton?

Massa is now trying to get past, to move into eighth position. He has

got DRS so it should simple. It looks like Jean-Eric Vergne is not

going to fight it, and both Ferrari drivers are in the top ten. Is

Jean-Eric Vergne going to get points? I am not sure, Adrian Sutil

is next. Adrian Sutil has been good here. He has been trying to get

through this race on one stop. He has done 28 laps on these tyres and

everybody around him, they are on younger tyres. Perez is 11th but he

has a chance at getting into the points. That curb Alonso went over

did the damaged Hamilton yesterday, I think. The incident involving

Alonso under investigation. So he is on track, then off-track. That is

tough. It should not be. I have consistently said wide lines are

there to help the track limits. A problem for Valtteri Bottas, he has

lost ground and he has come back out in 17th place. Alonso is in seventh

place, he is fastest on track at the moment with the softest -- with the

softer tyres. And he is a threat to Hamilton, Hamilton is a threat to

Paul di Resta who has made one pit stop, this could change. At this

stage, with light fuel levels, this is the best the track has been all

weekend. We have had the support races, we have had the Grand Prix of

50 laps. It allows the tyres to grip, they do not slide and generate

as much friction. It is a gamble, but if it works out, this could give

Alonso serious points. This is Pastor Maldonado, did he pass

Jean-Eric Vergne? Yes, he did. He executed it well before the braking

area. That is Alonso on the back of Lewis Hamilton. Old arrest has

pressure here. It is crucial. -- Paul di Resta. He picked up points

in India after a difficult run, uncertainty about his career next

year so he could do with holding of these two drivers. -- off. But his

tyres have done a lot of work. Hamilton 's tyres have done around

20. It is going to be difficult for him to hold the others back. But

getting any points would eat a major result for Force India. And Adrian

Sutil, imposition nine. -- in position nine. Every time he is on

track, all takes the maximum out of the car and he will surely be on the

grid next year. DRS is enabled, he has a chance to get as Lewis

Hamilton. But he is in the limiter and you lose acceleration. He is

trying to force Hamilton to go tight in the first part of the chicane to

get a better drive into the back straight. He is in the DRS and

slipstreamed zone. This is Alonso on Lewis Hamilton and he has got the

move! Nothing Lewis Hamilton could done, superior grip from the softer

tyres. And the DRS zone to help, and Fernando Alonso is chasing Paul di

Resta who has been given leading space, because they were so busy

fighting each other. Anything could happen, they might

have an accident, so be careful. Sebastian Vettel is in amongst the

traffic but he has a comfortable lead. Took its tight, before pulling

out. Massive overspeed so Lewis Hamilton could not do anything. So

Lewis Hamilton is now in seventh place, his team-mates Nico Rosberg

is third. Ferrari against Mercedes, Mercedes, which Rosberg 's

performance, have had the edge over Ferrari. -- with Rosberg 's

performance. Every points will be vital for the Constructors'

Championship. Rosberg is only five seconds behind Mark Webber. Alonso

is going for that deep entry. Happen again, he tries to get the run out

of the corner. -- hairpin again. Alonso catches up and the DRS is in

operation, Ferrari moving to the inside. He is on the Superior tyres

and Fernando Alonso moves into fifth position, having started in 10th.

Knowing he is on the older tyres, no point getting dust, it is about not

being under pressure from Hamilton. He is looking back but the incident

involving Alonso going wide will be investigated after the race. It is

not going to be a drive-through penalty for Alonso in the race but

if a penalty as applied afterwards, that could change the result. That

is Lewis Hamilton, can he passed Paul di Resta? -- can he pass. Paul

took a wider line to get the straightest acceleration and it has

worked very well. Not giving much away in the Mercedes pit as they see

if Hamilton will get this place, but he is not close enough. And he is

running out of laps, 53 have been completed by the race leader. We are

on 54 out of 55. Hamilton needs to get on with it and it is not easy,

Force India has decent straight-line speed and it will not easy for

Hamilton to pass. Two British drivers going for it in the closing

laps of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and no question who will win it, barring

a mechanical misfortune, it is this man, Sebastian Vettel, who has

dominated the race from the start. Mark Webber was on pole position but

the inside line was enough for Sebastian Vettel to take the lead

into the first corner and he has not seen much of the opposition since.

He had an early advantage. Others made earlier pit stops and he lapped

consistently to open up the gap. That is around 30 seconds now. He is

dealing with the traffic comfortably, it looks Serena for

Sebastian Vettel. -- serene. Hamilton is only 0.5 of a second

behind Paul di Resta. It is about positioning the car. Hamilton will

be thinking about his strategy. To get past the Force India. Can he

keep the gap? Hamilton lights up the rear tyres and it looks Paul -- it

looks like Paul might have done enough to keep behind. Nice and tidy

in the braking zone, Paul, and you might be able to keep it together.

They will have one more run through this section of track so there will

be another chance for the Lewis Hamilton. Adrian Sutil is still in

ninth, but look at Sergio Perez, he is trying to take that away. Behind

them, having dropped a bit, Pastor Maldonado does not look like he will

get into the points, with nobody really struggling. Adrian Sutil has

got through this race on one-stop so he still to be defensive. And he has

to be happy there is only one car behind him. Force India, great

work, they have been able to get both cars into the points. In both

India and Abu Dhabi. They have come back from a lean period and after

they changed the tyres, they dropped off in form. The team will be happy

with that performance. Sebastian Vettel, taking things steady. Alonso

has got fastest lap in this race on those soft tyres. I do not Vettel

will be able to do anything about that. But it is the victory that

counts. He has already wrapped up his fourth World Championship title

but if he takes the victory here, he will be matching more records of

Formula 1. He is coming through the last turn and Sebastian Vettel takes

his 11th win of the season, his third win here in Abu Dhabi, and his

seventh successive Grand Prix victory, matching Michael Schumacher

in 2004. The record is nine in succession and if you discount the

Indianapolis race he did not enter, so he could match that target in the

final race in Brazil. Second place will go to Mark Webber. Mark Webber

is again on the podium in this Countdown to the end of his Formula

1 career. Nico Rosberg in third place for Mercedes, Grosjean is

fourth, denied a podium. But another controlled race from the Frenchman.

Alonso will finish in fifth, the fireworks go off over the marina.

Alonso is to be investigated after this race for perhaps exceeding

track limits. That was a World Champion 's job, well done,

brilliant job. Yes! That was absolutely wonderful! I don't know

what you have done, it was really, really good. Thank you, you do not

get to ride cars like this too often. I love you, guys. Yes! Paul

di Resta has just held off Lewis Hamilton. Sixth place for him,

seventh place for Hamilton. That was a good drive I Paul di Resta.

Maximum points for Red Bull even though they have already won the

Constructors' Championship. Ferrari getting both cars in the points and

taking that new record of consecutive point finishes. A

one-stop strategy for Paul di Resta. Adrian Sutil also on a one-stop

strategy. Pastor Maldonado just denied the points. Jenson Button,

his chances dented by that contact. Toro Rosso losing out. Different

strategy, it it did not come together. The first time in Abu

Dhabi they have not scored a point. Giedo van der Garde wonder young

team 's back -- Giedo van der Garde won the battle of the young riders.

Just one retirement, Kimi Raikkonen because he made contact with the

Caterham. 21 out of 22 cars finished this race and it is against

Sebastian Vettel who is on top, his 37th career when. Only four behind

the record. -- win. You have to think that will be caught relatively

quickly, two more Grand Prix competitions this year. It has been

a tremendous track. He took his first World Championship here in

2010 and now is a four times champion. And he has won here again.

One, two finish for Red Bull their third of the season, in Abu Dhabi.

And another podium on this occasion. And the trophy goes to Sebastian

Vettel. He has done it before here in Abu Dhabi, he knows the feeling.

And he has a great relationship with this track. Kimi Raikkonen was last

year 's winner. And Gavin Ward, the performance engineer for Mark

Webber, he is getting the constructors trophy for tea macro.

-- Red Bull. Mark Webber to receive his trophy, it yet to have a victory

in what has been a dominant season for the team. I wonder if he can

snatch a victory out of the two remaining competitions in Texas and

Brazil. Nico Rosberg has put that bad luck behind him. They had

difficulties but that seems to have gone as he has taken a second and a

third place in the last two races. Celebration time for the drivers and

the dignitaries trying to get out of the way! A big smile for Mark

Webber. I think today was incredible. The

pace we had was scary at some stages. I felt very good on the

softs. It was crucial to have a good getaway. It was crucial to pull a

massive gap in the first couple of laps. What is the inspiration behind

the doughnuts? It is not to give the stewards are hard time. I do bought

the car back in one piece. I am hopefully able to provide a fuel

sample. I brought it back to parc ferme. Just before the race you said

you were more nervous than at any other race. There was no need, was

there? It was like a cup final. I knew both drivers were motivated to

win this race. The start is always critical. Sebastian managed to make

an incredible start. Mark had some clutch slip and then hit the KERS

Button too early. From there Sebastian was able to get away. It

is interesting that you said he hit it too early. He seemed smiley

enough at the end. He knows he drove a very good race. When you see the

start I think Mark's reaction was fine. You cannot take the KERS until

you hit a certain speed. That 90 horsepower, I wish it was 90

metres! That is absolutely crucial. I have to ask you about these

doughnuts. How can you possibly say you are not going to pay his fine

when you bear in mind how much he has brought here, the success and

money. The problem is it is catching. Not only is he doing it,

Mark is doing it. It cost us 25,000 euros last week and we have eaten a

few as well. Hopefully the stewards will be generous about it. Hopefully

they will be fine about it. It is exciting for the fans to see that

celebration. It is great for the drivers to let off a bit of steam

and the exuberant. It is not good for the car, for the gearbox or the

tyres but there are only two races to go and it is all part of the

show. Thank you. Let's hear from Mark now. I'm not sure how you feel

after all that. I think I would have been caned anyway if I got to the

first corner first. There is strong in that first stint. Soup,

super-quick and tyres not wearing out. That is the recipe for disaster

for the opposition. Nico Rosberg used a lot of his KERS on the first

straight. I would use the DRS and position myself for the next section

because the more time you spend behind people, the more you hurt

your tyres. I do not know how exciting the race was at the front

but it would have been nice to get a better result. In the end, I did not

deserve it, I got second and I will try and do better.

I know you always like to finish higher up than when you started,

tell me about your race, there was a lot going on out there. I was not

quick enough today. I am not sure why. I gave it my all. We heard you

talking about problems with grip. How bad was that out there? It was

obviously good on one of the cars, there was no reason why it should

not be on my car. Nico was doing it the job with the car. I have to try

and figure it out. From your point of view, how frustrating is it to

see that? Do you have to switch it into a positive way and learn from

that? There is nothing positive so I have to keep working hard.

So, struggling today and arguably a fourth. Shall we take a look,

David. It sounded like he made a good

start. Then he spun off his tyres. Crucially going into the apex he

almost made contact with Webber. Then Grosjean got round the

outside. Frustrating for Hamilton. It was frustrating because he made

no visible effort to get by people in front of him. Paul di Resta had a

massive fight. Fantastic for him but Lewis Hamilton should be in front of

him. It was a great day for his team-mate Nico Rosberg on the

podium, let's get his thoughts. If you take the Red Bulls out, you have

the phrase best of the rest. I hoped for one place better. I had Mark at

the start. I did not get my setup quite right. I was not going that

strong. And then I got caught out with the traffic from Paul di Resta

and Mark got me. He did a good job there. That was a bit of a pity. At

the last stop I saw my setup and I felt comfortable in the car for the

last stint and was going strong. It was too late to get Mark.

How close were you to be able to get into a one-stop strategy? I think it

would have been tight and maybe a little bit dangerous for the

constructors championship and everything. I thought it was good to

be safe and go for two stops. I had a very good top speed. Every time I

was passing the Force Indias they overtook me back.

Do not think he is continuing his good form out there? He is the most

improved driver of this year. A Formula 1 race is not the same

without Kimi Raikkonen in the mix. We had the fantastic radio messages

last year. He had the problem in qualifying and he was put to the

back of the grid. We hoped he could leapfrog a number of cars into the

first corner. He positioned himself at the apex. He did not expect that

cartoon turning, he broke his front suspension and it was an early exit

for the Iceman. Horrible decision from the team in my view. I am

critical of them. He should have started from the pit lane. I cannot

understand how they allowed their prize driver to be put in this

situation where an accident would happen right in front of him. A

really dreadful decision. It's great news that we get his big to Paul di

Resta today. What a terrific drive finishing sixth. I think we were up

against it. Losing the front wing at the beginning of the race was not

easy. I think our prediction of going for a race car as we did in

Singapore, we finished off the job we should have done there. We were

quick when we had to be quick in the race. Equally, getting all the

information we needed. You were the only team to one-stop this

afternoon. Explain to us the pressure when you had Lewis Hamilton

coming out in front of you with fresh tyres. I think more to the

point their car was quicker than ours. Right from the beginning I

felt really comfortable. Qualifying yesterday and being a 10th of QC.

The soft tyres do not last that long. Just using the tyres up in the

last lap and being able to go half a second quicker which was the

important part. This time of year, a beauty parade for drivers next year,

where does this put you in touch with some teams? It is a bit of a

nightmare in the midfield, the likes of Sauber and Williams, nobody knows

who will be driving there. If I get the tools I can deliver. I have got

to keep doing what I am doing. Vijay Mallya is giving off good signals

for next year but I would like them to make a decision soon. Ultimately,

it is their team. I can deliver what I can do. The objective was to take

more points of Sauber and we did that. We will head to Austin and

that will be a good race for us. You turned up the volume today, thank

you for your time. Thank you. Fernando, some big battles out

there. Just tell us about what is being investigated at the moment. It

looked like a great move past Jean-Eric Vergne but maybe the

stewards did not think so. In my opinion he should be penalised. When

I was alongside him he kept going and used the full width of the track

which would you are not allowed to when you have a car alongside you.

The stewards have now decided that Fernando Alonso will not be

penalised. Let's have a look at that incident. Your thoughts, it dated.

As Fernando came outside I would expect he would strategically use

his KERS to give a boost. It is questionable whether all four wheels

went beyond the white line but the stewards have said he did not gain

an advantage from it. Massa probably took a breath as all this action was

happening. Mathur then ran wide in shock I think that his team-mate was

brave enough to hold it around the outside -- Mass. It was a good race

for Masser. It is shame he did not finish in front of Alonso. It looks

as if he is being relieved. All the pressure from RE has gone from him.

It was a very good move. Very well positioned by the car. He is driving

on top of his game at the moment. Nico Hulkenberg is also looking for

a good team next year. He had a nightmare with this unsafe relief.

The right rear sticks ever so slightly. David was right in the

commentary. This should never have been released like this and a real

team problem. Let's confirm the result from today's Abu Dhabi Grand

Prix for you. This was a big day for Force India.

They have caught up with McLaren. McLaren need to start looking over

their shoulders little bit. You have to say it was a terrific day once

again for Sebastian Vettel. A very dominant day. It was only in

Singapore when he managed to win the race by 32 seconds, it was 30

seconds today. It is a pretty crushing victory over his team-mate

Mark Webber. It certainly was. We will be back in a fortnight's time

in Austin, Texas. The stampeding bulls decided it will be a little

bit of desert dominance today and determined they were as well. A few

doughnuts thrown in at the end. Thank you for watching, good night.