Fastest lap times: Vettel walks away with the double

Sunday 1st November 2009

Sebastian Vettel ended his season in the best possible way on Sunday by adding the fastest lap to his Abu Dhabi Grand Prix victory.

The Red Bull driver started the inaugural day-night race next to pole sitter Lewis Hamilton, but he moved into P1 after the first round of pit stops. He never relinquished the position and cruised home to his fourth victory of the season.

Hamilton, who was low on fuel, set the early pace for the fastest lap, but once the Red Bulls got going there was no turning back.

Vettel and team-mate Mark Webber exchanged fastest laps for most of the afternoon and it was the German who came out tops with a 1:40.279 late in the day. Surprisingly, Sebastien Buemi was second fastest on the day and his time was just 0.50 outside that of Vettel's.

The Toro Rosso driver was followed by Hamilton and Rubens Barrichello while Mark Webber had to settle for fifth place with a 1:40.571.

Interestingly, the Renault of Fernando Alonso - the worst car on the track according to the Spaniard - was 10th fastest while rookie Kumai Kobayashi, who scored his first points with a sixth-place finish, managed the 11th fastest lap. Ferrari were once again lagging behind with Kimi Raikkonen's best time of 1:40.843 only good enough for 12th place.

Times
01 S Vettel Red Bull 1:40.279
02 S Buemi Toro Rosso 1:40.326
03 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:40.367
04 R. Barrichello Brawn 1:40.449
05 M. Webber Red Bull 1:40.571
06 J. Button Brawn 1:40.642
07 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:40.672
08 J. Trulli Toyota 1:40.723
09 K. Nakajima Williams 1:40.754
10 F. Alonso Renault 1:40.757
11 K. Kobbyashi Toyota 1:40.779
12 K. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:40.843
13 A. Sutil Force India 1:40.904

14 R. Kubica BMW 1:40.924
15 N. Rosberg Williams 1:40.997
16 G. Fisichella Ferrari 1:41.132
17 A. Liuzzi Force India 1:41.277
18 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:41.316
19 R. Grosjean Renault 1:42.274
20 J. Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:43.318

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