Hamilton dominates the Abu Dhabi GP as Sebastian Vettel retires

Fernando Alonso was a close second for Ferrari, with Jenson Button completing the podium despite KERS issues on his McLaren.

Vettel had surged into a clear lead from pole at the first corner, but just one bend later his Red Bull was slewing into a wild spin as its right rear tyre deflated. The champion tried to nurse his car back to the pits, but the flailing rubber had already done too much damage, so Vettel posted his first retirement since last year's Korean GP.

That put Hamilton into the lead, with Alonso in second having passed Mark Webber (Red Bull) at the start and then gone around the outside of Button at the end of the back straight to secure second.

There was little to choose between the McLaren and Ferrari for most of the rest of the race - with the gap sometimes barely more than a second. Ferrari tried to gain an advantage by running longer before Alonso's second stop, but to no avail, and in the final stint Hamilton's lead grew to more comfortable levels as he headed towards his third win of an often-troubled 2011 season.

After losing time with a stubborn wheel at his first stop, Webber tried to regain ground with a three-stop strategy that saw him only change to the harder Pirellis on the very last lap. That did not allow him to beat Button - with whom he had battled fiercely for much of the race - but he did take fourth, helped by Felipe Massa's challenge fading when the Ferrari had a quick spin with six laps to go. The Brazilian quickly rejoined to take fifth.

Mercedes duo Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher had a spectacular early battle, won by the younger German, who went on to take sixth, close behind Massa. Schumacher narrowly beat Force India's Adrian Sutil to seventh. Sutil's team-mate Paul di Resta and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi completed the points scorers, the former pulling off a one-stop strategy.

Just outside the top 10, Rubens Barrichello ended Williams's awful weekend on a slightly brighter note by charging from the back of the grid to 12th, right on 11th-placed Sauber driver Sergio Perez's tail.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Yas Marina, United Arab Emirates;
55 laps; 305.355km;
Weather: Clear.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           1h37:11.886
 2.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +     8.457
 3.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    25.881
 4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    35.784
 5.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    50.578
 6.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    52.317
 7.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +  1:15.900
 8.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +  1:17.100
 9.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +  1:40.000
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   Toro Rosso-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

Fastest lap: Webber, 1:42.612

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Ricciardo     HRT-Cosworth                 49
Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari           19
D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth              18
Vettel        Red Bull-Renault             1


World Championship standings, round 18:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel       374        1.  Red Bull-Renault          607
 2.  Button       255        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          482
 3.  Alonso       245        3.  Ferrari                   353
 4.  Webber       233        4.  Mercedes                  159
 5.  Hamilton     227        5.  Renault                    72
 6.  Massa        108        6.  Force India-Mercedes       57
 7.  Rosberg       83        7.  Sauber-Ferrari             42
 8.  Schumacher    76        8.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         41
 9.  Petrov        36        9.  Williams-Cosworth           5
10.  Sutil         34       
11.  Heidfeld      34       
12.  Kobayashi     28       
13.  Alguersuari   26       
14.  Di Resta      23       
15.  Buemi         15       
16.  Perez         14       
17.  Barrichello    4       
18.  Senna          2       
19.  Maldonado      1       
       
All timing unofficial