Räikkönen Win at a Dramatic Abu Dhabi

Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi normally does not bring the words, exciting, thriller, unpredictable and dramatic to mind, but the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was certainly one that did. Abu Dhabi has played many a roles in making the decision for Driver's Title, many had thought the double word champion, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel down and out for the race, but the German made his way through the field (and through the carnage) from Pit Lane start to third on podium. Holding his  lead (if only by ten points) on the WDC.

But it was the returning Finn, Kimi Räikkönen  on the dramatic Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel.

Räikkönen got a good getaway at the start of the race and jumped to second behind Lewis Hamilton coming into turn one. Mark Webber slipped to fourth behind Pastor Maldonado and soon came under attack from Fernando Alonso. 

For the first 19 laps it seemed like it was going to be Lewis Hamilton's race, even after an early safety car between Laps Nine and 14. 

Nico Rosberg had been recovering from an early pit stop due to first lap contact as he came across Narain Karthikeyan's slowing HRT (with hydraulic problems) in the high-speed turn 15. The Mercedes driver had little to no time to react and found himself launched over the back of Kathikeyan and into the distant barrier. Both drivers climbed out of their cockpits uninjured, but the field bunched up as the marshals started a lengthily clean-up operation.

On the race restart, we saw Hamilton soon pulled away again, and was 3.4s ahead of Kimi Räikkönen hen his McLaren lost power resulting in Hanilton pulling off at Turn 14 on the 20th lap. But for Lotus it was a golden opportunity and Räikkönen snatched it by taking the lead and controlling the pace for the rest of the race. 

With Hamilton out and Räikkönen stepping up his pace, Alonso put increasing pressure on Maldonado for second place as Webber and Button gave chase. On lap 21, Maldonado succumbed to Alonso but on lap 23, Webber was involved in an incident when trying to pass Maldonado. This saw the Red Bull half spin and lose places to Button, Massa and Perez. Button then showed how it should be done and at turn 11 made the move stick, taking third place as Webber dropped to seventh. Three laps later Webber had an incident with Massa, which resulted in a spin for Massa and a fantastic image for fans.

All the while, Vettel had made his way into the top ten and when he came up behind the recovering Webber, the number two Red Bull was first advised to allow Vettel to pass, and when Webber answered that with a purple sector on track, he was ordered to pit. That ruined Webber's race and when he was released back onto the track, it put him right behind an intense battle between Romain Grosjean, Sergio Perez and Paul di Resta. The trio of younger drivers bunched up closer and closer and eventually came to somewhat inevitable blows on lap 38.

Lap 38, heading into turn 11, Paul Di Resta pulled a legitimate and clean passing move on Grosjean, but when he was followed by Perez (who tried to pass the Force India in turns 12 and 13). The move didn't work and di Resta was forced across the kerb at turn 13 while Perez ran wide. The Force India just about got away unharmed, but as the Sauber came back onto track, he cut across Grosjean (who had nowhere to go). Webber was keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings but couldn't avoid Grosjean as he joined the accident. Perez was the only one of the three to continue but the stewards took a sour look on his behaviour and gave him a 10-second stop and go penalty as a safety car came out to clear the debris.

In the closing laps of the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Räikkönen  ad control on everything perfectly. Alonso attempted to challenge for the victory with a fast succession of purple laps. He was able to reduced the gap from 3.2s on Räikkönen in the 46th lap to 0.8s by the final. Vettel went from being 29.8s down on Räikkönen to just 3.3s (all thanks to the second safety car deployment). 

It was a fantastic driver by all three, but it is easy to see why Kimi Räikkönen was voted as fan favourite. A three year sabbatical from Formula One and it only took 17 races for the Finn to take his first victory. 

Thought Räikkönen has closed up his distance in the race for the driver's title, it is all whether or not Alonso can beat Vettel to the top spot by the end of the season. It will be decided at the next two races in the USA and Brazil.

Kimi Räikkönen	Winner    Fan's Choice
Fernando Alonso	Second
Sebastian Vettel	Third
Jenson Button	P4
Pastor Maldonado	P5
Kamui Kobayashi	P6
Felipe Massa	P7
Bruno Senna	P8
Paul di Resta	P9
Daniel Ricciardo	P10
Michael Schumacher	P11
Jean-Éric Vergne	P12
Heikki Kovalainen	P13
Timo Glock	P14
Sergio Pérez	P15
Vitlay Petrov	P16
Pedro de la Rosa	P17
Charles Pic	Retired (Engine)
Mark Webber	Retired (collision)
Romain Grosjean	Retired (collision)
Lewis Hamilton	Retired (Fuel pressure)
Nico Rosberg	Retired (collision)
Narain Karthikeyan	Retired (collision)
Nico Hülkenberg	Retired (collision)