Sebastian Vettel has recalled his many dramatic moments from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, in which he was forced to storm through the field not one, but twice. Off the back of a pit lane start, the German had to repair front wing damage after smashing through a polystyrene marker board when following Daniel Ricciardo behind the Safety Car.
He qualified third, but was disqualified from the Saturday session as his Red Bull did not carry enough fuel for an FIA sample. Already up to 12th place when the Safety Car was deployed for the Nico Rosberg-Narain Karthikeyan accident, Vettel swerved to miss Ricciardo’s Toro Rosso on the back straight.
“I had a messy start and the target of a podium was starting to drift away a bit,” the German admitted. “We wanted to get past cars quickly but I damaged the front wing (touching Bruno Senna) and then had a bit of a mistake with Daniel because he was braking on the straight and we almost touched.”
Nevertheless, Vettel thoroughly enjoyed his charge up to third, which included an impressive overtake on Jenson Button with just over three laps to go.
“I had a fantastic race and it was a very nice fight with Jenson,” continued Vettel, who had rejoined fourth after a second stop to switch back to the Medium compound tyre. “Jenson was difficult to pass but I squeezed my way past! It was a really thrilling Grand Prix.”
Vettel continues to lead the championship with two races remaining, with Fernando Alonso now the reduced margin of ten points in arrears after finishing second tonight.
Series
Formula 1
Personalities
Daniel Ricciardo
Sebastian Vettel
Teams
Scuderia Toro Rosso
Red Bull
Other
DTM Tickets (best price guarantee!) at Sportstadium.com
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 1:45:58.667 |
| 2. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +0.852 |
| 3. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +4.163 |
| 4. | J. Button | McLaren | +7.787 |
| 5. | P. Maldonado | Williams | +13.007 |
| 6. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | +20.076 |
| 7. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +22.896 |
| 8. | B. Senna | Williams | +23.542 |
| 9. | P. di Resta | Force India | +24.160 |
| 10. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | +27.463 |
| Full results | |||
| Sebastian Vettel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| More Sebastian Vettel photos | |||
| Daniel Ricciardo | |||
 |  |  |  |
| More Daniel Ricciardo photos | |||
English
Nederlands
Español
Italiano
