Sebastian Vettel wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix summary

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Sebastian Vettel claimed his seventh consecutive victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, leading every lap of the way.

Vettel dominated proceedings, finishing half a minute ahead of team mate Mark Webber who he passed for the lead on the first lap.

Webber slipped behind Nico Rosberg in the opening exchange but retook the Mercedes driver in the middle of the race to ensure Red Bull’s third one-two of the season.

Romain Grosjean finished fourth ahead of Fernando Alonso, who remains under investigation having passed Jean-Eric Vergne off the track following his final pit stop.

Alonso went on to pass Paul di Resta, who took sixth, and Lewis Hamilton, who fell to seventh from fourth on the grid, losing time early in the race behind Esteban Gutierrez’s Sauber.

Felipe Massa fell behind his team mate during the final stint leaving him eighth ahead of Sergio Perez and Adrian Sutil.

A trying weekend for Kimi Raikkonen ended in disappointment within seconds of the start when he broke his suspension in the first corner, making him the race’s only retirement.

2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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33 comments on “Sebastian Vettel wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix”

  1. Great job from him :)

  2. loved the donuts again! obviously the redbull car has no worry of being underweight, as most drivers try to stick bits of rubber to their tyres to increase weight. Hamilton’s race was very poor beaten by Alonso who started 7 places behind and diresta

  3. And here comes the FIA hate.
    I should know, I’m part of it right now.

    1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      3rd November 2013, 15:10

      @bosley what do you mean? About Alonso not getting a penalty he deserved?

      1. And Hulkenberg getting a penalty his team deserved, not him.

      2. to OmarR-Pepper
        What penalty are you talking about? I stopped watching on 34th lap. It was absolutely disgusting race. So I’d like to know)

        1. He’s talking about Alonso not giving the position back after overtaking off track.

        2. if you stopped watching on 34th lap, what made you log in to an f1 forum to comment on something you didn’t watch?

      3. @omarr-pepper Well theres that but more so the fact they basically gave up on track limits.

      4. @omarr-pepper
        What deserved penalty? He was forced off the track.

        1. @kingshark: Hülkenberg and others argued that way in Singapur 2013, Vettel argued that way in Germany 2012. All got a penalty or had to give the position back. It’s not like Alonso had no possibility to not give the position back.

          It’s really a clear case.

          1. And shouldn’t JEV get a penalty for illegally forcing Fred out of the track? He was well alongside him while yet in the track. I can’t see how can the FIA penalise Fred and not JEV.

          2. @xenomorph91
            Vettel was by no stretch of the imagination “pushed” wide at Germany 2012. I did not watch the first half of Singapore 2013, so I can’t comment on that one.

          3. @kingshark: I didn’t say he was pushed. He argued that way. Small but fine difference.

          4. @xenomorph91
            Yeah, but Alonso was actually pushed, while Vettel was not. That’s a crucial difference which the stewards can see.

          5. @kingshark: Yes, I know that Vettel hasn’t been pushed – hence why I said he argued. And if he has been pushed: that’s no argument that he can’t give the position back like Hülkenberg had to do in Singapur 2013.

            And in Singapur 2013 Hülkenberg has been pushed. The stewards saw it and forced Hülkenberg to give the positon back to Perez.

          6. Alonso was ‘pushed’ wide because he kept his foot on the throttle. The same situation with Vettel in Germany: because Vettel choose to keep his foot on the throttle, he had ‘no choice’.

        2. I’m split in the middle: I do think Alonso was somewhat crowded, but I also think that he was trying his luck a bit in thinking he could maintain the position without having to go off the track.

          I would say morally he doesn’t deserve the penalty, but by rigid application of the rules his case is pretty similar to Hülkenberg’s in Singapore – the only difference being he was exiting the pits.

          We shall see what his fate is.

  4. Can anybody bombard Bernie Ecclenstone to end 2013 and skip straight to 2014 with 2 races in Austin and Interlagos?

  5. Vettel is amazing. Outsding performance. And great celebration!
    The way things are heading is more likely that Vettel gets punished for the donuts than Alonso for a illegal overtake.
    Ludicrous.

    1. Possibly not, since last time it was for not proceeding straight to Parc Fermé, which he did this time.

      1. maarten.f1 (@)
        3rd November 2013, 16:01

        @vettel1 Article 43.3 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulation states:

        After receiving the end-of-race signal all cars must proceed on the circuit directly to the post
        race parc fermé without any unnecessary delay, without receiving any object whatsoever and
        without any assistance (except that of the marshals if necessary).
        Any classified car which cannot reach the post race parc fermé under its own power will be
        placed under the exclusive control of the marshals who will take the car to the parc fermé.

        Question is, do the stewards deem the donuts as unnecessary delay. If so, it might net him another reprimand :/ Guess we’ll see :)

        1. The real question is, can the stewards argue ‘unnecessary delay’ if Vettel still arrived in the pits earlier than Webber?

    2. what illegal overtake, he came out on the track in the same spot as another driver, he had nowhere to go, the other driver should have seen him in mirrors and left a car width (I know other people will argue against that, but honestly he gained no advantage, more likely he lost time going off track)

  6. His donuts + quoting Raikkonen was awesome.

  7. Why exactly wasn’t Sutil given a penalty considering he essential overtook two drivers by cutting the track. A lot worse than what Alonso did in my opinion. Maldonado must be feeling robbed considering if Sutil had got a drive through, Williams would’ve doubled their points tally.

    1. It looks like what Facu Regalia did in yesterday’s GP3 race, the only difference was the lack of yellow flags. He got a post-race 20 second penalty for it.

      Here’s a video from the incident, skip to the end to see Regalia’s perspective:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFcjepKNJ4k

  8. Anticlimactic for Kimi after the drama frenzy filled last few days to say the least. Only saw one or two brief replays and it looked like Pic closed down on him. Hard to see what led up to the contact the replays were so brief. I notice the stewards didn’t spend any effort on the incident.

    Vettel, zoom.

    Hulkenberg, good drive, race killer penalty. Unsafe release not really his fault and a pretty close judgement call by the team in that spot, to release or hold until Perez goes by.

    For what it’s worth, DRS and varying tire strategies at least allowed for some passing on a circuit where overtaking is very difficult otherwise.

  9. What was the point in running this race, or the next 2?

    Skip them, it’s just torture.

  10. Both Andrew Benson at the BBC and Tom Cary of the Daily Telegraph said that this was Vettel’s second win of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. But isn’t it his third – 2009, 2010 and 2013?

  11. I think its about time Vettel looked at a challenge !!! He has mastered the red bull car so now prove in a less superior car that he can change a team, and become world champion that way. As soon as he took the lead I stopped watching, it’s become boring and predictable. Some races have been exciting but domination makes sport boring…well done seb, great job but find a challenge..

    1. Why should it be Vettel who should find a challenge? He is already doing his best with the kit that he is given. It is up to the other teams and drivers to challenge him and not the other way around.

      Look it up. In almost anything, there is a champion and one or more challengers.

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