ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Sebastian Vettel won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday, and Mark Webber hung on for second to give Red Bull a one-two finish in the final Formula One race of the season.
Brawn GP driver Jenson Button, who had already wrapped up the drivers’ championship, was third after pushing Webber to the line. Rubens Barrichello and BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld rounded out the top five at the new Yas Marina circuit.
Pole sitter Lewis Hamilton led up to the first set of pit stops, but retired soon after due to a right rear brake failure on his McLaren.
“(Hamilton) had to retire and up to then it was a great race,” Vettel said. “After that I had a cushion to Mark and Jenson behind and was able to pace myself. The car was fantastic.
“It’s a perfect day, to finish the season on a high.”
Toyota driver Kamui Kobayashi, filling in for the injured Timo Glock, was sixth and earned his first F1 points, finishing ahead of teammate Jarno Trulli and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi. BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica was eighth.
Hamilton was expected to dominate the race after a strong qualifying performance, but soon began to struggle with malfunctioning brakes and could not break away from the pursuing Red Bull drivers. Soon after the first pit stop, he was forced to retire.
“I was locking and locking and locking — it was harder than ever to drive the car,” Hamilton said. “It’s a shame as the car felt so good this last couple of days, but we haven’t had many brake problems this year, so there you go.”
Hamilton was one of only two cars not to finish the race, along with Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari after an embarrassing pit stop mishap. His crew was not out for his stop, and he mistakenly stopped at the waiting Red Bull pit crew — which has very similar colors. They waved him on and he was forced to retire soon after.
Neither McLaren nor Ferrari scored a point, meaning McLaren held on to third place in the constructors’ championship, one point ahead of the Italian team.
The best action came on the final lap as Button challenged Webber for second place. The new world champion managed to get even with the Australian on a couple of occasions, but couldn’t pass him for the position.
“Jenson has been very good in passing this year, so I knew I had to perform in the braking points,” Webber said. “A few more gray hairs for everyone.”
Button enjoyed the extra grip offered by soft tires on a cooling track as twilight gave way to night.
“A fair fight — I enjoyed it a lot,” Button said. “Didn’t make the move stick but had a lot of fun.”
In the post-race news conference, Vettel let slip that Button plans to get married in the coming offseason. Button, whose girlfriend is Japanese-Argentine model Jessica Michibata, coyly said he would not be getting married in 2009 but left it at that.
Sunday at Yas Marina circuit
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Lap length: 3.45 miles
1. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Red Bull, 55 laps, 1:34:03.414, 121.036 mph.
2. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 55, 17.857 seconds behind.
3. Jenson Button, England, Brawn, 55, 18.467.
4. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Brawn, 55, 22.735.
5. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW Sauber, 55, 26.253.
6. Kamui Kobayashi, Japan, Toyota, 55, 28.343.
7. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 55, 34.366.
8. Sebastien Buemi, Switzerland, Toro Rosso, 55, 41.294.
9. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Williams, 55, 45.941.
10. Robert Kubica, Poland, BMW Sauber, 55, 48.180.
11. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, McLaren Mercedes, 55, 52.798.
12. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Ferrari, 55, 54.317.
13. Kazuki Nakajima, Japan, Williams, 55, 59.839.
14. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 55, 1:09.687.
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Italy, Force India, 55, 1:34.450.
16. Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Ferrari, 54, +1 lap.
17. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Force India, 54, +1 lap.
18. Romain Grosjean, Switzerland, Renault, 54, +1 lap.
Not Classfied
19. Lewis Hamilton, England, McLaren Mercedes, 20, brakes.
20. Jaime Alguersuari, Spain, Toro Rosso, 18, out of fuel.<
Final Standings
Drivers
1. Jenson Button, England, Brawn, 95 points.
2. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Red Bull, 84.
3. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Brawn, 77.
4. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 69.5.
5. Lewis Hamilton, England, McLaren Mercedes, 49.
6. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Ferrari, 48.
7. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Williams, 34.5.
8. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 32.5.
9. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 26.
10. Timo Glock, Germany, Toyota, 24.
11. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 22.
12. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, McLaren Mercedes, 22.
13. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW Sauber, 19.
14. Robert Kubica, Poland, BMW Sauber, 17.
15. Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Ferrari, 8.
16. Sebastien Buemi, Switzerland, Toro Rosso, 6.
17. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Force India, 5.
18. Kamui Kobayashi, Japan, Toyota, 3.
19. Sebastien Bourdais, France, Toro Rosso, 2.
Constructors
1. Brawn, 172 points.
2. Red Bull, 153.5.
3. McLaren Mercedes, 71.
4. Ferrari, 70.
5. Toyota, 59.5.
6. BMW Sauber, 36.
7. Williams, 34.5.
8. Renault, 26.
9. Force India, 13.
10. Toro Rosso, 8.
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