ltc

I agree, Hamilton obviously knows his sport and business more than I would ever claim to.

I'm enjoying DV's blind ambition not being fulfilled while driving for Ferrari.
He has everything he dreamt of before joining Ferrari, but has simply failed to deliver. No excuses, just failure. The choke at Abu Dhabi is right up there with the 2004 Yankees and 2009 Bruins. Epic fail on a worldwide stage.

He will be but a footnote in Ferrari history, soon to be forgotten, never having won a WDC for Ferrari, like Kimi did with an awful car, like Michael did by developing a team and a car.

I simply enjoy watching him underachieve...the Lebron James of F1.
And I admit, I am a bitter SOB, but it's only because I failed in helping Takuma Sato find a seat in F1.

So, please wake me when Alonso does something that is expected of " the best " .... Like win a championship, like all the Faux Champions who have been able to do since Alonso won his last WDC.

the flyin' scotsman

u bet......first lap was amazing!!!

Ray S

The cars look great under the lights

My993C2

Conspiracy Theory Time: A Wayne was seen on the starting grid inserting pins and needles into Vettel's right rear tire. But security detected Wayne prior to him moving on to Button's and Schumacher's cars so the only car that Wayne was able to sabotage was Vettel's.

In all seriousness, Vettel's luck finally wore out and once he was out of the race it was a pretty straight forward win for Hamilton who was the most consistent driver all weekend. Alonso drove a solid race and while Ferrari may not have the qualifying speed that Red Bull and McLaren have, all season long they have shown they do have a good race pace. Too bad Button had KERS issues. He might have been able to challenge Alonso. But we will never know. At times Webber looked good and at other times he looked tentative. Webber's bad 2nd pit stop looked like it would cost him a spot, but Massa's spin soon after solidified the Aussie in 4th place. Not the most interesting race from a passing/drama point of view. But it is an interesting venue and pretty cool to see a race start in the sun and finish under the moon.

PS: Schumacher can breath easy tonight as his record for most wins in a season is now safe.

the flyin' scotsman

man of the race was Button; managing the off, on and off again KERS which really made breaking difficult all the while Webbo and Masa are lurking, bravo Jense bravo.

Seb drives a mechanical piece of equipment and they all fail from time to time.....even Porsches !!!

After lap 1 not too much going on except the aforementioned......whats left for the last race?

(BTW Massa didnt need Hammys help this race.....he spun off all by himself)

Nizer

Not sure I would call flatting from carbon fiber shards left over from GP2 crash a mechanical failure for Red Bull.

Eifeler

Did they confirm that was the cause or was it the suspension failure?

the flyin' scotsman

Was that the absolute conclusion?

If so, Im glad thats all that happend.....the Concorde crash killing 100s is still vivid.

Ray S

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Results - 30 October 2011 - 55 Laps
POS DRIVER NATIONALITY ENTRANT LAPS TIME/RETIRE
1. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 55 1h37m11.886
2. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari 55 8.457
3. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 55 25.881
4. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 55 35.784
5. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 55 50.578
6. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes GP 55 52.317
7. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes GP 55 1m15.964
8. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 55 1m17.122
9. Paul di Resta Britain Force India-Mercedes 55 1m41.087
10. Kamui Kobayashi Japan Sauber-Ferrari 54 1 Lap
11. Sergio Perez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari 54 1 Lap
12 Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 54 1 Lap
13. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault 54 1 Lap
14/ Pastor Moldonado Venezuela Williams-Cosworth 54 1 Lap
15. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 54 1 Lap
16. Bruno Senna Brazil Renault 54 1 Lap
17. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Renault 54 1 Lap
18. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Renault 53 2 Laps
19. Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth 53 2 Laps
20. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy HRT-Cosworth 53 2 Laps

R Daniel Ricciardo Australia HRT-Cosworth 48 Alternator
R Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 19 Hydraulics
R Jerome d'Ambrosio Belgium Virgin-Cosworth 18 Brakes
R Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1 Puncture
FASTEST LAP:
Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 51 1:42.612

Virtual Surgeon

I am glad for LH. He is a very good when his head is in the race. Already looking forward to next season, hoping that McLaren can make it more challenging for Red Bull.

morganabowen

It was a very exciting race and it wasn't until Fernando's last pit stop that we knew who was going to win. Fernando got held up for an additional two or three seconds in the pits which allowed Hamilton to pass him in the pits and win the race. Brazil is going to be a blast

944meister

having a flat tire does not explain why the suspension on his car was broken, the front left of the car visibly lifted when in mid corner of the incident, also the machanic in the pit wiggled the right rear wheel hub which should not have moved as it did, thus they called it game over.

ilko

David Coulthard on BBC was speculating that generally RBR run their tires slightly under inflated compared to the other teams and the tires were also cold at the start of the race, therefore running even colder. Then Vettel ran too wide on the outer sharper edge of the curb and that's the reason for the punctured tire. By the time he drove all the way back to the pits there was almost no tire left on the rim for the Pirelli guys to investigate.

Decent race after all, glad to see someone else win it, Lewis deserved it. For me Alonso was the driver of the race, he did the impossible with that donkey cart. Button had bad luck, but also I don't think he could find the right balance in the car even when KERS was working. Webber was very tentative under braking or he would've done better. And boy was his car slow in the straights compared to the other leading teams. Massa is Ferrari's test driver at this point. They bring him in early, put the prime tires on and see how he does before bringing Alonso in... Rosberg I thought drove a very good race and the strategy worked for him this time around. Schumacher, not so much.

Larry Herman

Didn't Vettel damage the right rear of the car on Friday? Matchett postulated that the control arm could have cracked under the start, and then broke completely under the loading in turn 1. Contact with the suspension is what flatted the tire and he stated that he could see the car lurch a little coming out of 1 and then the spin in 2.

944meister

bingo!