The brand new Yas Marina circuit was the highlight of the season from the day it was announced and came through in high style. Lit by 24 huge floodlights, mounted on 40 metre tall towers, for the unique twilight-to-night format of the Abu Dhabi GP, it featured a new luxury resort towering over, and at one point across, the track for the rich and famous and the press, covered grandstands with huge coolers and other unseen levels of infrastructure for the spectators, a huge new Ferrari theme park and a hundred other smaller things that puts most of the other race venues to shame. If this is the future of Formula One then the sport should welcome it with open hands and a wide grin.
The start itself fulfilled all that Abu Dhabi promised, and was a sign of things to come,with a spurt of overtakes, nudges, near misses and the kind of chaos that only comes from hard racing. An out-and-out driver's track with tight corners and long straights, it was a pleasure to watch and undoubtedly a severe strain on the participants who also struggled with the sweltering temperatures and dust storms blowing across the track.
Red Bull wrapped up the 2009 season by conquering the début Abu Dhabi GP with a confident and dominant performance characterised by some brilliant performances from both of their drivers. The drivers were backed efficiently by the team whose fielded solid cars and did not put a foot wrong in terms of strategy and pit-stops.
A brilliant opening stint from Vettel, who began in P2, supercharged the race for Red Bull when he jumped Hamilton's McLaren after the first round of pits to grab P1 in the 18th lap. Ironically the heroics roved to be unneeded since Hamilton retired in the very next lap with a failed rear - brake disc. Vettel quickly distanced himself from all competition and smoothly collected his fifth win of the season. He finished the season in second in the Driver's Championship.
Team-mate Mark Webber had a small incident in the start when Barrichello clipped him but he shrugged it off and continued to have one of the most thrilling races in the grid. He quietly trailed his team-mate for most of the race but in the last five laps Webber came under pressure from Jenson Button and began to suffer from deteriorating brakes, slowing him down even further. Things looked very bad the Australian but Webber rose to the challenge, putting up a stunning defence against the Brawn GP car in the last three laps (when he had Button literally on his rear) and collected his P2 in fine style, also taking third place in the Drivers' Championship. Red Bull finished in second place for the 2009 Constructors' Championship.
It was a satisfying end for Brawn GP, for whom the race was a mere formality since they had already won both Championships. They qualified in P4 and P5 and finished in P3 and P4 without any incidents other than the minor nudge in the start. For Jenson Button, it was a small vindication of his title, which has been under criticism as being 'undeserved'. The World Champion had a flawless run and finished his season on the podium in P3. Team-mate Rubens Barrichello followed Button in P4. Barrichello tried to jump Webber in the start but he damaged is front wing which eventually slowed him down enough to remove him from contention. The P4 also meant he finished the 2009 Drivers' Championship in third.
