Once again things are a little on the delayed side as a result of rehearsals, normally that's not too bad - its a predicament that I've faced before - but today the good folks down at the BBC must be taking a day off deciding not to bother taking care to update the iPlayer with the race. However they decided to add the post-race form to the internet instead because that's intelligent - posting the results analysis without adding the event itself, a decision so illogical it'd send Spock into a coma.
But instead I was forced to settle for BBC3's effort at highlights - which obviously had more holes in it than Swiss cheese. As minimalistic as it was, where cars would spontaneously disappear from the running order and there is no explanation as to where they when while others would magically reappear towards the back and then still end up finishing in the points at the end - I'm guessing this is what trying to watch a race with no idea how it works is like. It's as if there was some fog coating the broadcast and some pertinent details were absorbed by the mist and lost forever.
This is far from the ideal scenario but it's the only one I've got right now so here it the attempt at race coverage working off some dodgy highlights...
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| Credit to F1Fanatic for the image |
The Race - sort of
I've no idea what the pre-race preamble cited as their outlook for the race considering that degree of information wasn't part of the highlights package - then again not too much was contained in the show at all. Things kicked off without covering the formation lap either - but that is forgiveable considering nothing really happens there - and headed straight for the start of the event.
It was an even start for the top three - Vettel left unchallenged into T1 while Fernando went to the outside of Mark Webber, some payback for all the times the Australian defeated the Ferrari. The Mercedes team were once more in formation - running very close to each other off the line. But things got a little weird, the German Bloke, the one who does all the winning was sliding sideways off the track and onto one of the few pieces of grass in the facility. With the front left cocked in the air during the slide it was clear the right rear had vented it's air and spat the car at the scenery. He didn't hit anything or anyone but the decompostion of the tyre damaged the suspension and put him out of the race for the first time since Korea, which as also from the lead.
Back with the cars that still had all four tyres with air in them and it was Alonso once more was on the attack this time driving past Jenson Button and his moustache on the back straight - and Mercedes were still trying to take each other out of the race running millimetres apart in the breaking zone and swapping positions. It was Rosberg who finally put the conflict to bed by throwing his silver arrow down the inside of turn 11, leaving no room for Schumacher to fight back.
Division one hadn't quite finished battling as Button and Webber swapped places in the first of the DRS zones but given the proximity of the second zone it was easy for Jenson to regain the place in the next zone and take third place back. Also somewhere along the line Perez had damaged his front wing and Kobayashi had jumped up from 17th to 12th already. So a mixed start for the Sauber team.
As if by magic it was lap 13 and Jenson was complaining that something was 'still a problem' it could have been his moustache but apparently it was the KERs system which was behaving intermittently. Also as if by magic both Saubers were now back with the HRTs with Kamui passing both of them at the same time down the middle of the main straight. To try and match that feat One-stop Perez also went three wide with the Spanish team in the beginning into the marina section. With Button now vulnerable to attack Webber had another go into turn 11 but that compromised his run through the subsequent chicane allowing The Stache back in front.
Then it was time for the pit-stop sequence and all was going to plan - except for life in the Red Bull camp as their day was getting worse, a really slow pit-stop was costing Webber time and track position to Felipe Massa. Out at the front of the field Hamilton and Alonso were long gone and a world of their own and were never to be seen of again even if this wasn't the truncated highlight edition of the event. Oh and it appears that both Jerome D'Ambrosio and Sebastien Buemi had both retired for what reason who knows the TV thought that wasn't important enough to recognise either. But some research showed they were both mechanical issues.
More magic was afoot and it turns out we were now on lap 30 some things may have happened in the interim but I don't know what they were and were probably not worth bothering with anyhow. But things were changing as Webber following his poor pit stop had caught Felipe Massa back again, and after the Brazilian ran a little wide in the turn 7 hairpin he was a sitting duck in the first of the DRS zones. His victory was short-lived however as Massa regained the position in the second zone allowing Jenson to pull away
Somewhere off the camera Maldonado was being a bit of a prat apparently - already receiving one drive through penalty for blocking under blue flags he was under investigation for doing it again, as we see footage of Barichello re-passing Hamilton after being lapped only to be waved at rather angrily by the leader. A penalty was also handed to Bruno Senna also for ignoring the blue flags - I personally blame the fact that everything seems to be blue in Abu-Dhabi, the tarmac and the monolithic hotel all bedecked in the blue.
It was time for more pit-stops and it was assumed these would be the final round, as this was lap 36, but Webber came in and put on another set of the soft compound meaning he needed to come in again to use up the harder tyres as per the regulations. All the other division one runners opted for the logical option of the harder tyres with the aim of running to the end. The one thing you notice about the highlights show is that cars outside the top division get rather less coverage, but there we saw One-stop Perez passing Wing Commander Petrov to move into the points and knocking the Russian out of them.
Fernando elected to stay out for longer than Hamilton in an attempt to erase the gap between them - a final effort for the lead but his challenge was crushed when he caught an HRT in the entrance to the pit-lane and that was followed by an average stop - sealing the top two places in the race. The other Ferrari was on course to capitalise on Webber's unusual strategy but managed to execute a half spin on the exit of the first corner losing significant amount of time.
Much further towards the back, Daniel Ricciardo in the HRT pulled his car off the road with an unknown mechanical failure - and the a trackside camera suffered a very known failure at the hands of One-Stop Perez. Sergio if you are going to vandalise track property, don't hit something that is watching you do it.. However
But the laps had all run out - Webber had pitted for his obligatory harder tyres dropping him back to forth and the German bloke was sitting on the pit wall this time as Hamilton crossed the line as proof that being single makes you faster - doesn't explain why my top speed is slower then continental drift however, suppose there are going to be exceptions. Alonso and Button completed the podium with Webber and Massa behind. Mercedes finished in the formation they started the race in with Rosberg ahead of Schumacher. Also in formation were Force India getting both cars into the points with Sutil the leader of the pair. In the final points position was Kobayashi - who knows how he got there ahead of team-mate One-stop Perez is a complete mystery.
The Official Bonus Points Championship points winners
Ah now how to assign points to a race I didn't see too much of due to the editing system of the BBC - although it was a whole lot better than anything Eurosport have done to the GP2 races earlier in the season, those things were barely recognisable after they'd got their hands on them. But as challenging as it will be here are the points from the Abu Dhabi GP.
10pts - Kamui Kobayashi - for a strong drive into the points from a long way back, but mainly for passing two cars through the middle
8pts - Fernando Alonso - for passing Webber on the outside and for keeping close to Hamilton in an off pace Ferrari
6pts - One-Stop Perez - for also passing both HRT's at once but to the inside
5pts - Barrichello - for un-lapping himself against Hamilton mad but hilarious
4pts - Mercedes - for allowing their drivers to give each other hell on the opening lap
3pts - Force India - for being the best team from division two closing in on 5th constructors place
2pts - Yas Marina - for being the coolest looking facility on the calendar
1pt - Maldonado - for almost being the first car to hit the wall in the pit tunnel - one day it will get someone
The Also Official Penalties Championship
This weekend penalties seemed to all dished out for ignoring blue flags one drive-through a piece for Maldonado and for Bruno Senna for ignoring them. But Maldonado was investigated for a second infringement of the blue flag kind and I don't know the result of that investigation yet.
The Still Official Dubious Dealings Championship
Well there is definitely one point going to the iPlayer who at this point still haven't uploaded the actual race yet which would have made this blog review take place several days from now so that's why the highlights show was brought into play. Not a bad job but cramming a race into 40 minutes was going to be flawed. There are other places I'd like to dish out penalty points but in the interest of maintaining the integrity of the championship standings I'll have to pass on those.
Looking ahead to Brazil
And so here it is, the final round of the race of an exciting season, yes the points have been all sorted out for the top two in the drivers standings and the top four places in the constructors championship but that doesn't mean the year can't end on a high. We trade in the space age world of Abu-Dhabi for the traditional and culturally rich city of Sao Paolo in Brazil and the Interlagos circuit. A race that has been affected by rain on the last few occasions, rain that decided the championship in the final corner in 2008 - those accolades may not be on the table next time out but the rain might be.
However what hasn't been decided is the much more important bonus points championship and with only ten points remaining there are many contenders for the title. Any one of the top four could leave Brazil with the title of the 2011 inaugural Bonus Points Champion. In the other two championships it looks like Hamilton has those in the bag - not that they are anything to be proud of by any stretch. Unfortunately there are no trophies I can send out to the official title winners but rest assured the winner will be acknowledged in some way when I figure out how that is going to work out.
It is a little sad sitting here knowing there is only one race left this year before we are plunged into the winter off season. When all the deals will be made and drivers hired and fired - where we will find out whether the Brazilian GP will be local driver Ruben's Barrichello's final race after a massive career. It also marks the time when this little corner of the internet has nothing to talk about - but I will find something to do and keep going. However for now, until Brazil this is farewell for now.
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