No matter what happened, the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was going to be a race to remember. It was the conclusion to a hard-fought season, one in which four drivers could still be crowned World Champion. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso led his rivals in the points tally, and his having won three of the previous five races made his winning the title seem that much more likely.
The other three championship contenders wouldn’t go without a fight, of course. Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel sat second and third in the points, followed by McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. But if Alonso won or finished second, he would be crowned champion for the third time no matter what they did, joining the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.
QUALIFYING DIDN’T EXACTLY GO FERRARI’S WAY. Vettel took pole position, followed by Hamilton and Alonso. Webber sat in fourth, with McLaren’s Jenson Button in fifth and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa in sixth. If the race finished in this order, Alonso would win the title. Indeed, so long as Webber didn’t pass him, the Spaniard only had to finish fifth.
At the start, Button got by Alonso, dropping the Ferrari to fourth. Fernando let the Briton go without a fight, apparently content with keeping Webber behind and holding onto a championship-winning position.
The race stayed green for only a few more corners, then Michael Schumacher spun his Mercedes and collected the Force India of Vitanio Liuzzi. The safety car was called out as course workers removed the wreckage, and two cars—Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes and Vitaly Petrov’s Renault—dived into the pits to make their mandatory tire change.
When racing resumed, the front-runners held their positions, with Vettel slowly pulling away. The Ferraris, McLarens and Red Bulls had all started the race on the soft tire compound, which quickly lost its potency. Webber was the first to pit for hard rubber, on lap 11. On lap 13, Massa entered the pits. Ferrari clearly hoped to get the Brazilian back on track in front of the Aussie, but it wasn’t to be.
One lap later, Alonso pitted. He did manage to come out ahead of Webber, but found himself behind Petrov, who had already pitted. And there the two-time World Champion would stay, lap after lap, unable to get past the Russian rookie. While the Ferrari was quicker in the tight sections, the Renault was faster down the straights. Alonso stuck to Petrov’s tail and twice went off course trying to get by, all to no avail.
