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F1 analysis: Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi - Team by team analysis of Sunday's season-ending Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix (listed in championship order):

Red Bull (Sebastian Vettel 1, Mark Webber 8)

Vettel's fifth win of the season, from his 10th pole in 19 races, made him the youngest ever world champion at 23. He repeated his Yas Marina win from last year. Red Bull won both titles. Webber started fifth and was first of the title contenders to pit but the gamble did not pay off.

McLaren (Lewis Hamilton 2, Jenson Button 3)

Hamilton finished in the same position that he had started with. Button was fourth on the grid. It was the first time both McLaren drivers had been on the podium together since Valencia in June. Hamilton also set the fastest lap and McLaren scored more than any team on the day.

Ferrari (Fernando Alonso 7, Felipe Massa 10)

Ferrari plucked defeat from the jaws of victory with a strategic mistake that cost Alonso the title. The Spaniard was stuck behind Renault's Petrov for 40 laps after pitting early. Alonso, who would have been the youngest triple champion, still ended the year with five wins.

Mercedes (Nico Rosberg 4, Michael Schumacher retired)

Schumacher's comeback season ended with a crash on the opening lap, after Rosberg had nudged his car while running alongside. The incident brought out the safety car. Rosberg had pitted while the safety car was deployed and benefited from the move, moving up six places from where he started.

Renault (Robert Kubica 5, Vitaly Petrov 6)

Kubica had a clutch problem at the start and was 14th after turn two, having started 11th. Petrov pitted when the safety car was deployed and then kept Alonso behind him.

Willaims (Rubens Barrichello 12, Nico Hulkenberg 16)

Williams pipped Force India to sixth place by a single point, which was their main goal.

Force India (Adrian Sutil 13, Vitantonio Liuzzi retired)

Force India lost out to Williams but still recorded their best championship position. Their 68 points compares to 13 last year and none in 2008. Liuzzi smashed into Schumacher's stationary Mercedes on lap one.

Sauber (Nick Heidfeld 11, Kamui Kobayashi 14)

Heidfeld leaves the team for an uncertain future. Kobayashi's strategy did not work out.

Toro Rosso (Jaime Alguersuari 9, Sebastien Buemi 15)

Alguersuari chalked up his third points finish of the season, having started 17th. He pitted during the safety car period. Buemi stayed out. Toro Rosso celebrated their former driver Vettel's success.

Lotus racing (Heikki Kovalainen 17, Jarno Trulli 21)

Lotus ended the season as the best of the new teams, winning a bet against Virgin's Richard Branson for boss Tony Fernandes. Trulli's race ended in the garage on lap 51 after a rear wing failure with three laps to go.

HRT (Bruno Senna 19, Christian Klien 20)

The team's ninth double finish and fourth in a row.

Virgin racing (Lucas di Grassi 18, Timo Glock retired)

Di Grassi pitted while the safety car was deployed and did more than 50 laps on the one set of tyres. Glock retired with a gearbox failure on lap 43.


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