With the final Grand Prix of 2020 Formula One season just days away, we take one final rewind as we head back to the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
As Sebastian Vettel prepares to bid farewell to Ferrari ahead of his move to Aston Martin whilst Daniil Kvyat and Sergio Perez potentially participate in their final-ever F1 Grand Prix, it makes sense to revisit the race where Vettel cinched his first title whilst at Red Bull as 2010 saw a four way fight for the crown.
Fernando Alonso headed into the weekend best placed to win the title with an eight point lead over Mark Webber who was seven points clear of Sebastian Vettel, with Lewis Hamilton 24 points off Alonso and needing a miracle to clinch the championship.
This race would also be the last time that Bridgestone supplied tyres as Pirelli took over in 2011 and continue to be F1’s sole tyre supplier to this very day.
Practice
All three Practice sessions were held in dry conditions with Vettel topping a damp FP1 with a 1m 42.760 ahead of Hamilton and Jenson Button, whilst fellow title contenders – Webber and Alonso were fourth and sixth fastest following a brief pre-session shower.
Lotus’ Heikki Kovalainen meanwhile sat out the session as test driver, Fairuz Fauzy got a run out, ultimately finishing 8.945 seconds off Vettel’s best lap time.
FP2 meanwhile was ran in completely dry conditions as Hamilton topped the session with a 1m 40.888 which was 0.257s quicker than Vettel as Webber and Alonso found themselves third and fourth quickest.
FP3 took place in hotter conditions than seen throughout Friday Practice with Vettel setting the pace on a 1m 40.696 which was 0.133s quicker than Webber as Hamilton and Alonso rounded out the top four ahead of Button.
Qualifying
Q1 saw the usual exits as Lotus lined up on row ten with Jarno Trulli ahead of Kovalainen with Virgin on the penultimate row as Timo Glock outqualified Lucas Di Grassi whilst HRT filled the last row with Christian Klien at the rear behind Bruno Senna, whilst Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi qualified 18th.
Q2 saw a tight battle between several drivers to reach Q3 as Jaime Alguersuari qualified 17th behind Vitantonio Liuzzi, Nico Hulkenberg, Nick Heidfeld, Adrian Sutil, Kamui Kobayashi and Renault’s Robert Kubica who missed out on Q3 to teammate, Vitaly Petrov by 0.122s.
Vettel meanwhile topped Q2 then Q3 to take pole with a 1m 39.394 from Hamilton and Q1 topper., Alonso as Button beat Webber to fourth with Felipe Massa qualifying sixth quickest ahead of; Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and Petrov.
Race
At lights out, Hamilton attempted to challenge Vettel for the lead into Turn One but had to back out due to the German just having that more pace off the line, whilst Button jumped Alonso for third into the first corner after the Spaniard suffered a bad start but the Safety Car was deployed after Schumacher spun at Turn Six when defending from Rosberg.
Schumacher unfortunately found himself facing the wrong direction and Liuzzi’s Force India was launched up and over the front of the Mercedes, narrowly avoiding Schumacher’s head as both drivers were eliminated on the spot.
Racing resumed on lap six with Webber pitting five laps later due to a lack of tyre grip, which left him down in 16th but setting better lap times than the top four, with Vettel and Hamilton both continuing to find more pace on worn tyres as Alonso pitted on lap 15 but both Alonso and Webber were stuck behind Petrov who stopped early.
That battle would ultimately rage to the flag as Alonso struggled to pass Petrov’s Renault despite making an attempt on lap 23 into Turn 11 but almost collided with the Russian.
Hamilton meanwhile pitted on that lap for hard tyres but his undercut was unsuccessful as Vettel pitted a lap later and re-joined still ahead of Hamilton until Button pitted on lap 39 to allow Vettel to retake the lead, as Hamilton set a fastest lap and tried to close in on the German to no avail.
Vettel ultimately took victory from Hamilton by 10.162s with Button in third ahead of Rosberg, Kubica and Petrov who saw off Alonso and Webber, with Alonso having needed fifth to win the title on countback by virtue of more eighth placed finishes than Vettel who won this race
Webber finished eighth ahead of Alguersuari and Massa who rounded out the top ten.
Vettel consequently became the youngest-ever F1 world champion despite not leading the championship at any stage of the season except after the checkered flag fell on the 2010 season finale.
Elsewhere, tensions were evident as Alonso gestured to Petrov on the cool down lap for holding him up and ruining his shot at the title.
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