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| Kimi Raikkonen, Yas Marina 2012 |
The last time a Lotus, in Black and Gold livery won a Grand Prix was in Detroit in 1987 with Ayrton Senna behind the wheel. On Sunday at Yas Marina, Kimi Raikkonen certainly "knew what he had to do" and did what Michael Schumacher with the might and budget of Mercedes behind him could not in two seasons of racing... and he almost smiled on the podium!
Quite a race, possibly the most exciting this season, a total surprise from this track usually pretty but boring. The Championship is closer now but not as close as as it could have been.
Vettel is the luckiest driver in F1?
Without taking anything away from his driving proficiency consider this:
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| oh, the cruel irony of Kimi winning in a dry country! |
With their time disqualified, they are allowed by the rules to start from pit lane meaning they could essentially rebuild the car overnight and completely change the setup. In my view this is an error in the regulations, if you commit an infraction, you should not be able to remedy an advantage, Vettel should have started 24th on the grid with the car in parc fermee mode like everyone else.
2. Formula 1 has had what, 99% reliability? 7 cars did not finish Sunday, De La Rosa had to start behind Vettel. Grosjean had a flat on the fist lap, Di Resta had a flat as did Senna. Two Toro Rosso simply moved over and Massa, that fool, managed to lose his head and spin. Perez had a flat and a drive though. Webber moved over. That's 13 cars out of the way and left only Button Alonso and Raikkonen once you take away all the moving chicanes. Add safety cars at favorable times and his getting away with hitting cars and Styrofoam signs, passing off the track and making two blocking moves and Vettel's comeback looks less epic.
Still, you need luck and you need skill, Webber had a pretty lame race with the same car. Vettel, as much of a bulldog as Alonso is even if blessed with a better car at the moment, did not "settle" for fourth when he easily could have, he attacked Button.
Who deserves to win the Championship more, Alonso or Vettel? Tough one, it's Red Bull's to lose but I'm suspecting most racers would say Alonso because he's fighting as the underdog.
But enough about those two, it's Raikkonen and Lotus' day. Super happy for them and Kimi of course, was just vintage Kimi wasn't he?
"Just leave me alone, I know what I'm doing".
Awesome!
PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi;
55 laps; 305.355km;
Weather: Clear.
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1h45:58.667
2. Alonso Ferrari + 0.852
3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 4.163
4. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 7.787
5. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 13.007
6. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 20.076
7. Massa Ferrari + 22.896
8. Senna Williams-Renault + 23.542
9. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 24.160
10. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 27.463
11. Schumacher Mercedes + 28.075
12. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 34.906
13. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 47.764
14. Glock Marussia-Cosworth + 56.473
15. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 56.768
16. Petrov Caterham-Renault + 1:04.595
17. De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth + 1:11.578
Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:43.964
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Pic Marussia-Cosworth 42
Grosjean Lotus-Renault 38
Webber Red Bull-Renault 38
Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 20
Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 8
Rosberg Mercedes 8
Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1
World Championship standings, round 18:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. Vettel 255 1. Red Bull-Renault 422
2. Alonso 245 2. Ferrari 340
3. Raikkonen 198 3. McLaren-Mercedes 318
4. Webber 167 4. Lotus-Renault 288
5. Hamilton 165 5. Mercedes 136
6. Button 153 6. Sauber-Ferrari 124
7. Massa 95 7. Force India-Mercedes 95
8. Rosberg 93 8. Williams-Renault 73
9. Grosjean 90 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 22
10. Perez 66
11. Kobayashi 58
12. Hulkenberg 49
13. Di Resta 46
14. Maldonado 43
15. Schumacher 43
16. Senna 30
17. Vergne 12
18. Ricciardo 10
All timing unofficial