Lewis Hamilton took the victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ahead of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.  World Champion Sebastian Vettel could only make turn 2 before a puncture sent him off the track, with the subsequent damage putting him out.

Vettel had got away very well at the start and was comfortably ahead into turn 1.  But heading into turn 2 he lost the back end due to a puncture and in recovering the car to the pits he damaged the right rear suspension and was out of the race.  Fernando Alonso got his customary good start, jumping Button round the outside in turn 8 with Mark Webber behind in fourth.

Hamilton managed to pull a gap to Alonso in the first laps but the Ferrari was able to keep with Hamilton and maintain the gap.  The pair pitted together for a new set of soft tyres on lap 16, with Alonso gaining a small amount.  Behind them Button was fending off Webber for third despite having a KERS problem and having to drive without the boost system.  Button managed to remain ahead of Webber through the first stops thanks to a slow pit stop for Webber which dropped him down behind Massa.

With Webber having dropped down the field thanks to the slow first stop he pitted early on lap 36 for another set of soft tyres and tried to put in a series of quick laps to jump up the field.  Hamilton then pitted on lap 41 with Alonso staying out longer to try and jump the McLaren by staying on the soft tyres.  But despite having the softer tyre Alonso was unable to pull a big enough gap and came in for his final stop on lap 43.

At the front the gaps then held steady for the remainder of the race.  Webber managed to get ahead of Button on track for third but would drop behind when he made his third and final stop.  Massa lost out on the chance for fourth after spinning at turn 1 on lap 49, allowing Webber enough of a time gap to jump him.

Nico Rosberg had a solid race to sixth, ahead of team-mate Michael Schumacher.  The Force India’s came in eighth and ninth with Sutil ahead of the one-stopping Paul di Resta.  Kamui Kobayashi made something of a return to form by coming in tenth ahead of is team-mate Perez.

Outside the top-ten Rubens Barrichello did well to drag his Williams from the back row to 12th.  There were also issues with blue-flags for Maldonado, who served a drive-through penalty for ignoring the flags and will be investigated after the race for another infringement along with Alguersuari.  Bruno Senna also managed to get himself a drive through for ignoring the blue flags.  As well as Vettel’s retirement Jerome D’Ambrosio’s Virgin was also unable to make the flag while Buemi’s Torro Rosso retired with suspected suspension damage and Daniel Ricciardo stopped on track.

The win for Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi confirmed that he is rediscovering his form as well as becoming the first driver apart from Vettel to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.  While we would obviously have liked to see how the race would have played out with Vettel still running it was a nice change to see a battle for the lead that did not involve the German World Champion and his relentless pace at the front.  So on we go to the final Grand Prix of 2011 in Brazil for what will surely be a carnival to send us on our way to the winter break.

For full results follow the link below:

http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2011/847/