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The 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, otherwise known as the II Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (alternately known as the 2010 جائزة الاتحاد للطيران الكبرى في أبوظبي or the 2010 Jayizat Alaitihad Liltayaran Alkubraa fi 'abuzabi in Arabic), was the nineteenth and concluding round of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on 14 November 2010.[1][2] The race would see Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton battle for the title, the first time that a quartet had fought for the crown at the season finale.[2]

Qualifying would see Vettel claim pole position, with Hamilton securing second just 0.031s behind the German racer.[2] Alonso was next up for Ferrari ahead of out-going Champion Jenson Button, while Webber would start from fifth ahead of Felipe Massa.[2]

Vettel aced his start to claim an early lead ahead of Hamilton, while Button took advantage of a slow starting Alonso to secure third.[2] Elsewhere, Michael Schumacher attacked teammate Nico Rosberg, resulting in him spinning, with the rest of the field scattering around the silver Mercedes.[2]

Unfortunately Vitantonio Liuzzi would be powerless to avoid the spinning Schumacher, with the resulting debris field triggering a Safety Car.[2] Six drivers, including Rosberg, would opt to make stops during the SC period, with the race restarting with the top five unchanged.[2]

The early laps would see the top five slowly pull clear, with Webber notably struggling for pace.[2] The Australian racer duly became the first of the leaders to stop on lap eleven, rejoining sixteenth behind Rosberg and two other early stoppers.[2] Massa then pitted, coming out behind Webber, who made a crucial overtake on the Toronto Ross ahead.[3]

Alonso came in next having brushed the barriers at turn nineteen, and would emerge ahead of the delayed Webber.[2] Those two duly battled through as they got caught behind Vitaly Petrov, who was able to keep both of the title pretenders behind him and destroy their races.[2]

Hamilton was the next of the leaders to come in on lap eighteen, rejoining well ahead of the Petrov rolling road block but still in traffic.[2] Vettel reacted by stopping a lap later and rejoined in second, with Button hitting the head of the field, and remaining out to try and aid Hamilton's title bid.[2]

Indeed, Hamilton had to win the race and see the other pretenders fall by the wayside if he was to take the crown, and duly charged through the field to fourth behind Kubica.[2] However, Vettel would not be troubled by Button before the #1 McLaren made its stop, surrendering the lead back to Vettel and dropped to fourth behind Hamilton and Robert Kubica.[2]

With that the fight for victory and the Championship was over, for Vettel had a secure lead over the now second placed Kubica, who had enough pace to keep the two McLarens at bay.[2] They eventually passed the Renault when Kubica stopped, while Petrov remained stubbornly ahead of Alonso and Webber through the closing stages.[2]

Hence, Vettel swept across the line to claim victory and the Championship, becoming the youngest ever World Champion at 23 years, 134 days.[2] Hamilton finished second ahead of teammate Button to complete the podium, with Rosberg a distant fourth.[2] Kubica and Petrov were next ahead of Alonso, who missed on the Championship by four points, and Webber, who finished third in the title hunt on ten points.[2] Jaime Alguersuari and Felipe Massa claimed the final points of the season in ninth and tenth.[2]

Background[]

Fernando Alonso had retained his Championship lead heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi, and would hold an eight point advantage. Mark Webber was the second man in the fight on 238 points, and would have to win with Alonso third or lower to take the title. Sebastian Vettel would arrive in Yas Marina in third, needing to outscore Alonso by sixteen to take the crown, while Lewis Hamilton would have to win and likely see none of the top three score if he was to claim his second World Championship.

In the Constructors Championship the fight was over, for Red Bull-Renault had moved 48 points clear with just 43 points left to fight for Abu Dhabi, handing them their maiden World Championship. McLaren-Mercedes hence had to console themselves with second, although they would have to fend of Ferrari at the finale. However, the Scuderia would have to outscore their Anglo-German rivals by 32 points in the finale to claim the runner-up spot, while Mercedes and Renault completed the top five.

Entry List[]

The full entry list for the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is shown below:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-25 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-25 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
3 Germany Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team Mercedes MGP W01 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
4 Germany Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team Mercedes MGP W01 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB6 Renault RS27-2010 2.4 V8 B
6 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB6 Renault RS27-2010 2.4 V8 B
7 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F10 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
8 Spain Fernando Alonso Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F10 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
9 Brazil Rubens Barrichello United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW32 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
10 Germany Nico Hülkenberg United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW32 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
11 Poland Robert Kubica France Renault F1 Team Renault R30 Renault RS27-2010 2.4 V8 B
12 Russia Vitaly Petrov France Renault F1 Team Renault R30 Renault RS27-2010 2.4 V8 B
14 Germany Adrian Sutil India Force India F1 Team Force India VJM03 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
15 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi India Force India F1 Team Force India VJM03 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
16 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR5 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
17 Spain Jaime Alguersuari Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR5 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
18 Italy Jarno Trulli Malaysia Lotus Racing Lotus T127 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
19 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Malaysia Lotus Racing Lotus T127 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
20 Austria Christian Klien Spain Hispania Racing F1 Team HRT F110 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
21 Brazil Bruno Senna Spain Hispania Racing F1 Team HRT F110 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
22 Germany Nick Heidfeld Switzerland BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber C29 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
23 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Switzerland BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber C29 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
24 Germany Timo Glock United Kingdom Virgin Racing Virgin VR-01 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
25 Brazil Lucas di Grassi United Kingdom Virgin Racing Virgin VR-01 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only
19 Malaysia Fairuz Fauzy Malaysia Lotus Racing Lotus T127 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
Source:[4]

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Q1[]

Q2[]

Q3[]

Qualifying Results[]

The full qualifying results for the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
Pos. Time Pos. Time Pos. Time
1 5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Austria Red Bull-Renault 3 1:40.318 1 1:39.874 1 1:39.394 1
2 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 4 1:40.335 5 1:40.119 2 1:39.425 2
3 8 Spain Fernando Alonso Italy Ferrari 1 1:40.170 6 1:40.311 3 1:39.792 3
4 1 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 6 1:40.877 2 1:40.014 4 1:39.823 4
5 6 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 5 1:40.690 4 1:40.074 5 1:39.925 5
6 7 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 8 1:40.942 7 1:40.323 6 1:40.202 6
7 9 Brazil Rubens Barrichello United Kingdom Williams-Cosworth 7 1:40.904 9 1:40.476 7 1:40.203 7
8 3 Germany Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes 12 1:41.222 8 1:40.452 8 1:40.516 8
9 4 Germany Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes 2 1:40.231 3 1:40.060 9 1:40.589 9
10 12 Russia Vitaly Petrov France Renault 10 1:41.018 10 1:40.658 10 1:40.901 10
11 11 Poland Robert Kubica France Renault 13 1:41.336 11 1:40.780 11
12 23 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Switzerland BMW Sauber-Ferrari 11 1:41.045 12 1:40.783 12
13 14 Germany Adrian Sutil India Force India-Mercedes 15 1:41.473 13 1:40.914 13
14 22 Germany Nick Heidfeld Switzerland BMW Sauber-Ferrari 14 1:41.409 14 1:41.113 14
15 10 Germany Nico Hülkenberg United Kingdom Williams-Cosworth 9 1:41.015 15 1:41.418 15
16 15 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi India Force India-Mercedes 16 1:41.681 16 1:41.642 16
17 17 Spain Jaime Alguersuari Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 17 1:41.707 17 1:41.738 17
18 16 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 18 1:41.824 18
19 18 Italy Jarno Trulli Malaysia Lotus-Cosworth 19 1:43.516 19
20 19 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Malaysia Lotus-Cosworth 20 1:43.712 20
21 24 Germany Timo Glock United Kingdom Virgin-Cosworth 21 1:44.095 21
22 25 Brazil Lucas di Grassi United Kingdom Virgin-Cosworth 22 1:44.510 22
23 21 Brazil Bruno Senna Spain HRT-Cosworth 23 1:45.085 23
24 20 Austria Christian Klien Spain HRT-Cosworth 24 1:45.296 24
Source:[5]
  • Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.

Grid[]

Pos. Pos.
Driver Driver
______________
Row 1 ______________ 1
2 Sebastian Vettel
Lewis Hamilton ______________
Row 2 ______________ 3
4 Fernando Alonso
Jenson Button ______________
Row 3 ______________ 5
6 Mark Webber
Felipe Massa ______________
Row 4 ______________ 7
8 Rubens Barrichello
Michael Schumacher ______________
Row 5 ______________ 9
10 Nico Rosberg
Vitaly Petrov ______________
Row 6 ______________ 11
12 Robert Kubica
Kamui Kobayashi ______________
Row 7 ______________ 13
14 Adrian Sutil
Nick Heidfeld ______________
Row 8 ______________ 15
16 Nico Hülkenberg
Vitantonio Liuzzi ______________
Row 9 ______________ 17
18 Jaime Alguersuari
Sébastien Buemi ______________
Row 10 ______________ 19
20 Jarno Trulli
Heikki Kovalainen ______________
Row 11 ______________ 21
22 Timo Glock
Lucas di Grassi ______________
Row 12 ______________ 23
24 Bruno Senna
Christian Klien ______________

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

The full results for the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Austria Red Bull-Renault 55 1:39:36.837 1 25
2 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 55 +10.162s 2 18
3 1 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 55 +11.047s 4 15
4 4 Germany Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes 55 +30.747s 9 12
5 11 Poland Robert Kubica France Renault 55 +39.026s 11 10
6 12 Russia Vitaly Petrov France Renault 55 +43.520s 10 8
7 8 Spain Fernando Alonso Italy Ferrari 55 +43.797s 3 6
8 6 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 55 +44.243s 5 4
9 17 Spain Jaime Alguersuari Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 55 +50.201s 17 2
10 7 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 55 +50.868s 6 1
11 22 Germany Nick Heidfeld Switzerland BMW Sauber-Ferrari 55 +51.551s 14
12 9 Brazil Rubens Barrichello United Kingdom Williams-Cosworth 55 +57.868s 7
13 14 Germany Adrian Sutil India Force India-Mercedes 55 +58.325s 13
14 23 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Switzerland BMW Sauber-Ferrari 55 +59.558s 12
15 16 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 55 +1:03.178 18
16 10 Germany Nico Hülkenberg United Kingdom Williams-Cosworth 55 +1:04.763 15
17 19 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Malaysia Lotus-Cosworth 54 +1 Lap 20
18 25 Brazil Lucas di Grassi United Kingdom Virgin-Cosworth 54 +2 Laps 22
19 21 Brazil Bruno Senna Spain HRT-Cosworth 54 +2 Laps 23
20 20 Austria Christian Klien Spain HRT-Cosworth 54 +2 Laps 24
21* 18 Italy Jarno Trulli Malaysia Lotus-Cosworth 51 Rear wing 19
Ret 24 Germany Timo Glock United Kingdom Virgin-Cosworth 43 Gearbox 21
Ret 3 Germany Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes 0 Collision 8
Ret 15 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi India Force India-Mercedes 0 Collision 16
Source:[6]
  • * Trulli was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.[6]

Milestones[]

Standings[]

Sebastian Vettel was declared as the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship Champion, having only moved to the top of the Championship as a result of the season finale. He won the Championship with a tally of 256 points and five race victories, leaving him four clear of Fernando Alonso in second who had also secured five wins. Mark Webber, meanwhile, had slipped to third on the final day on 242 points, two ahead of Lewis Hamilton, while Jenson Button bowed out as World Champion in fifth on 214 points.

In the Constructors Championship Red Bull-Renault had arrived in Abu Dhabi as the Champions, and would hence round out the campaign on 498 points. McLaren-Mercedes finished as runners-up with 454 points, while Ferrari were in third on 396 points. Mercedes were next up on 214 points, having bought Champions Brawn at the end of 2009, while none of the three new constructors had scored points in 2010.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 Germany Sebastian Vettel 256 ▲2
2 Spain Fernando Alonso 252 ▼1
3 Australia Mark Webber 242 ▼1
4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 240
5 United Kingdom Jenson Button 214
6 Brazil Felipe Massa 144
7 Germany Nico Rosberg 142
8 Poland Robert Kubica 136
9 Germany Michael Schumacher 72
10 Brazil Rubens Barrichello 47
11 Germany Adrian Sutil 47
12 Japan Kamui Kobayashi 32
13 Russia Vitaly Petrov 27 ▲2
14 Germany Nico Hülkenberg 22 ▼1
15 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi 21 ▼1
16 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi 8
17 Spain Pedro de la Rosa 6
18 Germany Nick Heidfeld 6
19 Spain Jaime Alguersuari 5
World Championship for Constructors
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 Austria Red Bull-Renault 469
2 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 454
3 Italy Ferrari 396
4 Germany Mercedes 214
5 France Renault 163
6 United Kingdom Williams-Cosworth 69
7 India Force India-Mercedes 68
8 Switzerland BMW Sauber-Ferrari 44
9 Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 13

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

References[]

Images and Videos:

References:

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 '19. Abu Dhabi 2010', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/abou-dhabi.aspx, (Accessed 30/03/2020)
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 Craig Llewellyn, 'Vettel victory secures 2010 world title', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 14/11/2010), https://www.crash.net/f1/race-report/165065/1/vettel-victorious-as-title-rivals-tyre-out, (Accessed 30/03/2020)
  3. https://f1-analysis.com/2023/10/27/2010-abu-dhabi-strategy-review/
  4. 'Abu Dhabi 2010: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/abou-dhabi/engages.aspx, (Accessed 30/03/2020)
  5. '2010 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2010), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2010/races/878/abu-dhabi/qualifying.html, (Accessed 30/03/2020)
  6. 6.0 6.1 'Abu Dhabi 2010: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/abou-dhabi/classement.aspx, (Accessed 30/03/2020)
V T E United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Circuits Yas Marina Circuit (2009–present)
Yas Marina Circuit
Races 200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
V T E 2010 Formula One Season
Teams McLaren | Mercedes | Red Bull | Ferrari | Williams | Renault | Force India | Toro Rosso | Lotus | HRT | BMW Sauber | Virgin
Engines Mercedes | Renault | Ferrari | Cosworth
Race Drivers 1 Button | 2 Hamilton | 3 Schumacher | 4 Rosberg | 5 Vettel | 6 Webber | 7 Massa | 8 Alonso | 9 Barrichello | 10 Hülkenberg | 11 Kubica | 12 Petrov | 14 Sutil | 15 Liuzzi | 16 Buemi | 17 Alguersuari | 18 Trulli | 19 Kovalainen | 20 Chandhok | 20 Klien | 20/21 Yamamoto | 21 Senna | 22 de la Rosa | 22 Heidfeld | 23 Kobayashi | 24 Glock | 25 di Grassi
Other Drivers Paffett | Turvey | Bird | Hartley | Ricciardo | Coulthard | Fisichella | Badoer | Gené | Bianchi | Bottas | Stoneman | Maldonado | Tung | d'Ambrosio | Charouz | Aleshin | di Resta | Felix da Costa | Buurman | Vergne | Fauzy | González | Arabadzhiev | Valsecchi | Kral | Gutiérrez | Pérez | Soucek | Razia | Haryanto
Cars MP4-25 | MGP W01 | RB6 | F10 | FW32 | R30 | VJM03 | STR5 | T127 | F110 | C29 | VR-01
Tyres Bridgestone
Races Bahrain | Australia | Malaysia | China | Spain | Monaco | Turkey | Canada | Europe | Great Britain | Germany | Hungary | Belgium | Italy | Singapore | Japan | Korea | Brazil | Abu Dhabi
Team Reports McLaren | Mercedes | Red Bull | Ferrari | Williams | Renault | Force India | Toro Rosso | Lotus | HRT | BMW Sauber | Virgin
Driver Reports Button | Hamilton | Schumacher | Rosberg | Vettel | Webber | Massa | Alonso | Barrichello | Hülkenberg | Kubica | Petrov | Sutil | Liuzzi | Buemi | Alguersuari | Trulli | Kovalainen | Chandhok | Klien | Yamamoto | Senna | de la Rosa | Heidfeld | Kobayashi | Glock | di Grassi
Tests Barcelona 1 | Valencia | Jerez 1 | Jerez 2 | Barcelona 2 | Vairano | Paul Ricard
See also 2009 Formula One Season | 2011 Formula One Season | Category
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