Simply Abu Dhabi VIII

L otus's Kimi Räikkönen took the victor’s crown in a thrilling Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, triumphing over Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso by just a second. There was a packed crowd at the magnificent Yas Marina Circuit, and spectators were utterly gripped by the spectacle: an atmosphere of pure drama prevailed from start to finish. Hamilton retains early lead McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton had gained pole position and retained a lead from the start. In the early stages of the race, Hamilton had to fight off a challenge from Räikkönen for first place, and was heard to complain that his tyres were cold. But after the Brit got into his stride, he looked in control and was completing laps roughly half a second faster than the Finn. By the seventeenth lap, Hamilton was three seconds ahead of Räikkönen, and was looking well-placed for victory in the 55-lap race. Disaster then struck for Hamilton on the 20th lap as his McLaren simply ran to a halt, allowing a determined Räikkönen to inherit the lead. The engine failure will have been deeply frustrating for Hamilton, and may well have Williams’ engineers panicking and under tremendous pressure after a string of similar incidents. And it seemed it was just not the team's day, as on the very same lap the other Williams driver, Pastor Maldonado, was overtaken by Championship contender Fernando Alonso, who thus edged into second place. Vettel claws his way back Behind the main action, current championship leader Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull had been quietly making his way up the field. Vettel began from the pits as a penalty for a technical failure in qualification. But he made a remarkable recovery, taking advantage of a safety car period to battle his way back. A nasty crash in which Nico Rosberg's Mercedes was thrown into the air over Narain Karthikeyan's HRTmeant that the safety car came on to the track. The manoeuvring required at the reduced speed caused Vettel to hit the board at the sides. But Vettel took full advantage of