Well where do I start? That was a sensational GrandPrix from light's to flag. Kimi Raikkonen capped a fantastic comeback season taking his and the Lotus team's first win of the 2012 season, but that is only part of the story. The Abu Dhabi GrandPrix was action packed with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton starting from pole position expecting an easy race with championship leader Sebastian Vettel ll but out of contention starting the race from the pitlane.
Hamilton made a good get away and left Kimi who made a great start going from 4th to second in his wake. Hamilton built up a steady lead however the Iceman managed to stay on his heels. Hamilton retired from the race on lap 20 with a fuel pressure issue. Kimi led from then on and managed to make his first and only stop and still come out in the lead ahead of Fernando Alonso. The Iceman conserved his Prime tyres to hold off a late charge from Alonso to take the win.
It was a dramatic race throughout with Nico Rosberg involved in a horrendous crash with the HRT of Narain Kartikeyan who appeared to have some kind of engine failure. Rosberg closed up on the back of the HRT and was launched like a missile over the HRT landing heavily and retiring from the race. Fortunately both driver's walked away without injury.
Meanwhile through no fault of his own Romain Grosjean was caught up in another first lap incident with Rosberg that resulted in the Lotus driver receiving a puncture. He recovered well however went out of the race following a major crash caused by Sauber's Sergio Perez which took out the Lotus driver, RedBull's Mark Webber, Force India's Paul Di Resta was also involved in the crash and pitted with a puncture however the Scot recovered well to finish in the point's coming home in 9th place.
Sebastian Vettel endured an extremely tough day, having start from the pitlane after failing to provide a fuel sample after qualifying. The German came up through the field twice following an incident with Daniel Ricciardo's Toro Rosso to finish on the podium behind The Iceman and Fernando Alonso. Vettel takes a 10 point lead in the championship as the team's head for new territory next time out in Austin.
So what an incredible season we are having. With Kimi winning in Abu Dhabi, he becomes the eighth different winner this season. That is unprecedented in Formula One. Certainly in my time following the sport I have never seen 8 different driver's win in a season. In my opinion, it was fantastic race for Kimi to win.
So we move on to Austin, Texas, which promise's to be a carnival atmosphere as Formula One ushers in the dawning of new era in the USA. It promises to be an electrifying race with the championship so finely balanced at the top of the championship.
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