Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2011

Said hero had done everything he had always done, everything that was to be expected, facing down the might of McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, taking his Renault powered car to yet another pole position. He tossed off pre-race remarks to the effect that Hamilton would not back off in the first corner this year (does he ever?) and the start was pure Vettel; smooth, rocketing, superior, perfect and by the apex of the first corner he had again achieved a lead of several car lengths over the neutered Hamilton. Alone again, the leader was untouchable, confident, the sure sign of a sure winner. As usual, the race was his, would be his, as would the be the last race at Brazil.

By Turn Two it was over. Whether or not the flat caused suspension damage or the suspension damage caused the flat we’ll probably never know. But for us poor spectators, images of a real race appeared before our groggy East Coast time eyes.

As Vettel made his way back to the pits, I awoke with the hope that we would now surely, see a great race, a whamup bangup affair between McLaren and Ferrari and maybe even Mercedes, what with two DRS passing zones, a wide track, plenty of room to pass and less reliance on tires. Why this would be just like the great racing we’ve seen at times this year, but this time, for the lead, for real. Vettel was out, now let’s get on with real racing. Would Hamilton and Massa knock heads again? Would Alonso definitely be faster than the Brazilian? How would the race play out for Button, whose career seems to be getting a second wind? And what about the Mercedes duo of Rosberg and Schumacher, the old and the new, so far almost equally, or perhaps equally bad? Suddenly we didn’t feel so bad about missing church again.

Half an hour later we needed yet another cup of coffee to keep us awake as the action clearly was not up keeping eyes wide open. Ho-hum even without Vettel. Hamilton walked it, making a mockery of the Italian pit stop of Alonso and making sure he had no chance to catch and pass. Button was lackluster and Massa was simply just there.

And so it was, the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi.

Out of the picture at Abu Dhabi, Vettel will return to dominance in Brazil. Is it Vettel alone? Why can’t Webber do the same? Perhaps dominance in Formula 1 is above all a game of magic combinations; Clark/Chapman, Villeneuve/Ferrari, Schumacher/Todt/Braun, Hamilton/Dennis, Vettel/Horner/Newey: the blending in a specific way of a number of individuals and objects, the total product of which results in often overwhelming superiority, at least while the magic lasts.

Onward to the future. It remains to be seen if Vettel will continue to dominate F1 in the years to come. Or will a new combination with truly powerful magic, perhaps di Resta and Ferrari, arrive on the scene to challenge the German wunderkind?

In the meantime, there is always Starbucks.

Race Results

1	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	1h37m11.886s
2	ALONSO	Ferrari	+ 8.4s
3	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 25.8s
4	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	+ 35.7s
5	MASSA	Ferrari	+ 50.5s
6	ROSBERG	Mercedes	+ 52.3s
7	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	+ 75.9s
8	SUTIL	Force India-Mercedes	+ 77.1s
9	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	+ 101.087s
10	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 1 lap
11	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 1 lap
12	BARRICHELLO	Williams-Cosworth	+ 1 lap
13	PETROV	Renault	+ 1 lap
14	MALDONADO	Williams-Cosworth	+ 1 lap
15	ALGUERSUARI	STR-Ferrari	+ 1 lap
16	SENNA	Renault	+ 1 lap
17	KOVALAINEN	Lotus-Renault	+ 1 lap
18	TRULLI	Lotus-Renault	+ 2 laps
19	GLOCK	Virgin-Cosworth	+ 2 laps
20	LIUZZI	HRT-Cosworth	+ 2 laps
21	RICCIARDO	HRT-Cosworth	+ 7 laps, electrical
22	BUEMI	STR-Ferrari	+ 36 laps, hydraulics
23	D’AMBROSIO	Virgin-Cosworth	+ 37 laps, brakes
24	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	+ 54 laps, puncture damage
Fastest Lap	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	1m42.612s

Note – Maldonado qualified 17th, dropped 10 grid places for using 9th engine. Barrichello didn’t set Q time – raced at stewards’ discretion. Maldonado, Alguersuari given post-race time penalties (+30s, +20s), ignoring blue flags, retain 14th and 15th.

Driver’s Championship Standings

1	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	374 Points
2	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	255 Points
3	ALONSO	Ferrari	245 Points
4	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	233 Points
5	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	227 Points
6	MASSA	Ferrari	108 Points
7	ROSBERG	Mercedes	83 Points
8	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	76 Points
9	PETROV	Renault	36 Points
10	HEIDFELD	Renault	34 Points
11	SUTIL	Force India-Mercedes	34 Points
12	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	28 Points
13	ALGUERSUARI	STR-Ferrari	26 Points
14	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	23 Points
15	BUEMI	STR-Ferrari	15 Points
16	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	14 Points
17	BARRICHELLO	Williams-Cosworth	4 Points
18	SENNA	Renault	2 Points
18	MALDONADO	Williams-Cosworth	1 Point

Constructor’s Championship Standings

1	RBR-RENAULT	607 Points
2	McLAREN-MERCEDES	482 Points
3	FERRARI	353 Points
4	MERCEDES	159 Points
5	RENAULT	72 Points
6	FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES	57 Points
7	SAUBER-FERRARI	42 Points
8	STR-FERRARI	41 Points
9	WILLIAMS-COSWORTH	5 Points