Simply Abu Dhabi VIII

8 8 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I the necessary pit stop to put on a fresh set of tyres. With skill and resolve he then worked his way up the field again with a series of deft passes. When the frontrunners began to make pit stops at around the thirty lap mark, Vettel continued to push hard and eventually found himself in second place. Spectators wondered whether the German could now last the full race without new tyres, but he pulled in to the pit stop on the 37th lap to re-emerge in fourth position – behind Räikkönen, Alonso and McLaren's Jenson Button. It had been an impressive fightback! Crash throws race open again – Räikkönen clings on With thirteen laps to go, another crash involving Sauber's Sergio Perez, Lotus's Romain Grosjean and Red Bull's Mark Webber meant the safety car was out once again. In the battle for fifth place, Paul di Resta of Force India overtook Grosjean before Perez made a reckless decision to try to take themboth. The result proved disastrous: Perez hit Grosjean, who in turn spun into Webber. The incident meant that Webber and Grosjean were forced to retire but Perez – who will join the Williams teamnext year – was recognised as responsible, and given a ten-second penalty. In the confusion that followed, the confident leader Räikkönen was heard to dismiss instructions from his team, assuring them that he knew best. The safety car period brought the cars closer together and after the restart, Vettell was hot on the heels of Jenson Button of McLaren, and pressurising him for third place. The courageous German driver repeatedly tried to overtake Button, finally succeeding on lap 52. It is at times like this, rather than when winning from pole position, that a champion really proves his mettle. Team Lotus