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Abu Dhabi's twilight stunner

Abu Dhabi - After claiming pole position for a record equaling 14th time this season, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel looked the firm favourite to be victorious at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Unfortunately the 2011 champion suffered a rear puncture during the opening lap at the Yas Marina Circuit.

It paved the way for McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who dominated during the practice rounds, to race to victory and claim his third GP win of the season. Hamilton held on comfortably to the lead and never really looked to be challenged by Ferrari's Fernando Alonso or McLaren team mate Jenson Button.

Alonso should be congratulated for staying close to Hamilton and redeeming imself for a terrible Abu Dhabi race in 2010.

Button was third and Red Bull's Mark Webber and Ferrari's Felipe Massa were fourth and fifth respectively.
A great race for Hamilton who managed to avoid a seventh collision with Massa and race to victory in the penultimate race of the 2011 season.

Toro Rosso's Sebastian Buemi, HRT's Daniel Ricciardo and Virgin's Jerome d'Ambrosio retired from the race.

Formula 1 will now head for Brazil for the final race of the 2011 season on November 27.

Result of the 2011 Abu Dhabi F1 GP at Yas Marina
1 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1hr37min11.886
2 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari +8.457
3 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren +25.881
4 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull +35.784
5 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari +50.578
6 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes +52.317
7 Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes +1min15.964
8 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India +1min17.122
9 Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India +1min41.087
10 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber +1 lap
11 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber +1 lap
12 Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Williams +1 lap
13 Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Renault +1 lap
14 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams +1 lap
15 Jaime Alguersuari (Spain) Toro Rosso +1 lap
16 Bruno Senna (Brazil) Renault +1 lap
17 Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Lotus +1 lap
18 Jarno Trulli (Italy) Lotus +2 laps
19 Timo Glock (Germany) Virgin +2 laps
20 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) HRT +2 laps
Retired
Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) HRT 7 laps
Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) Toro Rosso 36 laps
Jerome d'Ambrosio (Belgium) Virgin 37 laps
Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 54 laps

Drivers’ and Constructors’ standings
after the 2011 Abu Dhabi F1 GP
Drivers points

1 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 374
2 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 255
3 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 245
4 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 233
5 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 227
6 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 108
7 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes GP 83
8 Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes GP 76
9 Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Renault 36
10 Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Renault 34
11 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 34
12 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber 28
13 Jaime Alguersuari (Spain) Toro Rosso 26
14 Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India 23
15 Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) Toro Rosso 15
16 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber 14
17 Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Williams 4
18 Bruno Senna (Brazil) Renault 2
19 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams 1
20 Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) Sauber 0
21 Jarno Trulli (Italy) Team Lotus 0
22 Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Team Lotus 0
23 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) HRT 0
24 Jerome d'Ambrosio (Belgium) Virgin 0
25 Timo Glock (Germany) Virgin 0
26 Narain Karthikeyan (India) HRT 0
27 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) HRT 0
28 Karun Chandhok (India) Team Lotus 0    

Constructors’ points
1 Red Bull 607
2 McLaren 482
3 Ferrari 353
4 Mercedes 159
5 Renault 72
6 Force India - Mercedes 57
7 Sauber - Ferrari 42
8 Toro Rosso - Ferrari 41
9 Williams - Cosworth 5
10 Lotus, HRT, Virgin 0

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