Abu Dhabi GP: Massive disappointment for Williams F1

The grid for the fifty five lap 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix would see the Williams F1 pair of Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas start from fourteenth and fifteenth. Both drivers have qualified one place lower but had moved up one place when Raikkonen was moved to the rear of the grid due to a penalty. On pole was Webber from team-mate Vettel and the Mercedes cars of Rosberg and Hamilton third and fourth. In fifth was Hulkenberg followed by Grosjean, Massa, Perez, Ricciardo, and Alonso in tenth. Pirelli had supplied the medium and soft tyres for this race with the top nine all having to start on the soft tyre. Hamilton had complained of vibrations on the way to the grid seeing his mechanics hard at work trying to sort the issue out by changing his rear brake disks. For Williams Valtteri would start on the medium tyre and Pastor the soft. Others on the medium were Button, Raikkonen, Gutierrez, and Sutil.

The field would move off on their parade lap with Webber leading. They would come back to the grid and would form up and the lights would go out. It would be Vettel leading into Turn one with Rosberg second. Webber was now third with Grosjean fourth. Raikkonen would retire before the second turn with Button complaining of a damage front wing. Hamilton was now fifth followed by Hulkenberg and Massa. Pastor was up in a great eleventh but Valtteri was down in seventeenth. Alonso was right behind Massa with Perez ninth and Di Resta tenth. Lap two and Vettel was leading by 2.4 seconds as Button pitted. Raikkonen had made contact with Van der Gar seeing his right front wheel damaged, while Button had hit Di Resta. Button was now on the soft tyre after his stop while for Williams Pastor was right behind Di Resta. Button was now running last with four laps completed..

Pastor would pit on lap six joined by Bianchi. Pastor was now on the medium tyre dropping to nineteenth. Ricciardo had dropped well down the order currently running in fourteenth. Perez would pit from tenth on lap seven joined by Chilton from eighteenth. Both would swap from the soft to the medium while the following lap would see Hamilton come in swapping to the medium tyre. Ricciardo and Van der Gar were also in both also swapping to the medium tyre. Webber and Grosjean would both pit on lap nine both taking on the medium tyres coming back out just in front of Hamilton. Webber was now tenth followed by Grosjean and Hamilton. Valtteri was now thirteenth and Pastor sixteenth as Hulkenberg pitted from fourth on lap ten. Webber had passed Gutierrez for ninth and Grosjean would also follow him past the Sauber.

Rosberg would pit from second on lap eleven with Vettel continuing to extend his lead at the front from the now second placed Massa. Alonso was now third followed by Vergne and Sutil. Rosberg was back out in sixth and but ahead of Webber, Grosjean and Hamilton. Vettel was now 23.3 seconds ahead of Massa which was enough to see him pit and come back out in the lead. Button would pit again from seventeenth changing from the soft to the medium tyre. It was looking like the Ferrari's were aiming to try and make it a one stop race. Lap thirteen and Valtteri was now in thirteenth and Pastor fifteenth. Hamilton was trying to get past tenth placed Gutierrez. The top ten was Vettel from Massa, Alonso, Di Resta, Vergne, Rosberg, Sutil, Webber, Grosjean, and Gutierrez.

Lap fifteen and Vettel would pit while team-mate Webber would pass Sutil for seventh. Vettel would take on the medium tyre returning in the lead. Rosberg would get past Vergne for fifth with Webber also targeting the Torro Rosso. Webber would also pass Vergne while Grosjean passed Sutil. But Sutil would use his DRS to re-pass Grosjean. Alonso would pit on lap seventeen taking on the medium tyre returning in fourteenth. Vergne would pit from seventh on lap eighteen while Grosjean would pass Sutil again this time keeping him behind despite Sutil using his DRS. Lap nineteen and Massa would pit with Gutierrez also coming in. Massa would come back out behind Hamilton and in front of Hulkenberg. Di Resta was now second but had Rosberg right behind. Gutierrez was back out on the soft tyre as Webber closed in onto Rosberg with Rosberg and Webber third and fourth. But Webber would pass Rosberg for third using his DRS.

Valtteri was now in ninth and was trying to extend his time on the medium tyre. Di Resta would pit on lap twenty one seeing Webber now second and Rosberg third. The only two drivers yet to pit were Sutil and Valtteri. Alonso would pass Perez for tenth with Pastor now twelfth. But Alonso was able to get past Valtteri seeing the Williams drop back to tenth. Valtteri would finally pit on lap twenty five seeing Pastor move up to eleventh. Sutil and Hamilton were fighting over fifth but Massa would get past Hamilton using his DRS as Hamilton focused on the Force India in front of him. Pastor would pit on lap twenty six while out on the track Alonso would pass Hulkenberg for eighth and Massa would pass Sutil for fifth. Both passes had been achieved using DRS. Valtteri would drop to fifteenth and Pastor sixteenth.

Hamilton would pass Sutil for sixth using his DRS. Out in front Vettel was leading Webber by 28.8 seconds as Hulkenberg and Perez would pit from ninth and tenth. Sutil would pit on lap twenty nine joined by Ricciardo. Valtteri was back out on another set of medium tyres making it a two stop race. Hamilton would pit from sixth on lap thirty. Sutil, Pastor, and Perez were fighting with Sutil running wide in a move to pass Pastor but Sutil would cut the track coming back in front of both Perez and Pastor. Gutierrez would pit from ninth on lap thirty one. Sutil would claim: “Maldonado pushed me off the circuit so I had to cut the chicane.” With other drivers topping Valtteri would move back into tenth while Pastor was fourteenth. But Valtteri would have to pit again having yet to run on the soft tyre.

Hulkenberg would get a drive through penalty for an unsafe release while the incident between Sutil and Pastor was under investigation. Both Webber and Rosberg had pitted on lap thirty four seeing Grosjean move up to second. The gap to Vettel from the Lotus was 40.0 on lap thirty six. Vettel would pit on lap thirty eight resuming back out in the lead. It was announced that no action would be taken over Sutil as Grosjean pitted on the same lap as Vettel taking on medium tyres. Grosjean was able to come back out just in front of Massa and Alonso. Massa would pit on lap thirty nine taking on medium tyres returning in ninth. Valtteri continued to run in tenth and Pastor thirteenth. Lap forty four and Hamilton was close behind seventh placed Vergne and would pass the Torro Rosso using his DRS. Alonso would pit on lap forty five taking on the soft tyre for his final run.