Lewis Hamilton wins 2014 Abu Dhabi GP

Lewis Hamilton secured his eleventh race win for the season and his second world championship with victory in the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix overnight.

The 29-year-old Briton made a lightning start from P2 on the grid, powering into the lead leaving his championship rival and teammate Nico Rosberg in his wake. Rosberg wasn’t able to mount a serious challenge and his title hopes were dashed mid-race when his ERS system failed, meaning he lost the ability to boost engine performance by 120kW for 33 seconds per lap.

Despite his engineer asking him to retire with two laps to go, Rosberg held on to finish the race having dropped to a lowly P14 and was also lapped by Hamilton.

Felipe Massa made a late charge and although Hamilton’s winning margin was a reasonably slender 2.5 seconds the Williams driver wasn’t able to get close enough to challenge for the lead of the race. In the end Massa will be happy with P2, his highest finishing position this season.

Valtteri Bottas finished third and proved he’s got some serious potential. The 30 points he collected were enough to elevate him to fourth in the world championship.

After starting from the pitlane due an illegal wing used in qualifying Daniel Ricciardo impressed everyone, but surprised noone to charge his way through the field to finish the race in P4. He also set the fastest lap and a podium finish may have been possible had he been able to start from the P5 he qualified in. Still, it’s a been a great year for Daniel and we hope Red Bull is able to provide him with a decent car in 2015.

Jenson Button finished fifth in what could be his final race in Formula 1. It would be a quiet and understated ending for the likeable Brit if that were the case. As a world champion he probably deserved the right to say goodbye, assuming McLaren has already made up its mind on who will drive for the team next year.

The Force India pairing of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez finished in sixth and seventh, ahead of Sebastian Vettel and the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton’s win is the 33rd of his career, which now moves him ahead of Fernando Alonso on the all time winners list. In addition to his 2008 title, he now joins Jim Clark (1963, 1965) and Graham Hill (1962, 1968) as Britons who have won two world championships.

2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix final placings

1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG – 55 Laps (1:39:02.619) (50 pts)
2. Felipe Massa Williams – +2.5 secs (36 pts)
3. Valtteri Bottas Williams – +28.8 secs (30 pts)
4. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing – +37.2 secs (24 pts)
5. Jenson Button McLaren – +60.3 secs (20 pts)
6. Nico Hulkenberg Force India – +62.1 secs (16 pts)
7. Sergio Perez Force India – +71.0 secs (12 pts)
8. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing – +72.0 secs (8 pts)
9. Fernando Alonso Ferrari – +85.8 secs (4 pts)
10. Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari – +87.8 secs (2 pts)
11. Kevin Magnussen McLaren – +90.3 secs
12. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso – +91.9 secs
13. Romain Grosjean Lotus – +1 Lap
14. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG – +1 Lap
15. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber – +1 Lap
16. Adrian Sutil Sauber – +1 Lap
17. Will Stevens Caterham – +1 Lap

Retired/not classified
Kamui Kobayashi Caterham – 42 Laps (Retired)
Pastor Maldonado Lotus – 26 Laps (Power unit)
Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso – 14 Laps (Power unit)

Fastest Lap
Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing – 1:44.496 (Lap 50)

Note: Ricciardo, Vettel excluded from qualifying, illegal front wings; pit-lane start after parc ferme changes. Grosjean qualified P16, 20-place grid penalty for power unit changes, incurred an in-race drive-through penalty in lieu of undropped places.

[Source: Formula1.com]

2014 F1 world championship – Drivers

1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG – 384
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG – 317
3. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull – 238
4. Valtteri Bottas Williams – 186
5. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull – 167
6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari – 161
7. Felipe Massa Williams – 134
8. Jenson Button McLaren – 126
9. Nico Hulkenberg Force India – 96
10. Sergio Perez Force India – 59
11. Kevin Magnussen McLaren – 55
12. Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari – 55
13. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso – 22
14. Romain Grosjean Lotus – 8
15. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso – 8
16. Pastor Maldonado Lotus – 2
17. Jules Bianchi Marussia – 2
18. Adrian Sutil Sauber – 0
19. Marcus Ericsson Caterham – 0
20. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber – 0
21. Max Chilton Marussia – 0
22. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham – 0
23. Will Stevens Caterham – 0
24. Andre Lotterer Caterham – 0

2014 F1 world championship – Constructors

1. Mercedes – 701
2. Red Bull Racing – 405
3. Williams-Mercedes – 320
4. Ferrari – 216
5. McLaren-Mercedes – 181
6. Force India-Mercedes – 155
7. STR-Renault – 30
8. Lotus-Renault – 10
9. Marussia-Ferrari – 2
10. Sauber-Ferrari – 0
11. Caterham-Renault – 0