A surprisingly action packed Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, a race that previously has only been won from the front row. Pole position doesn't seem to be a good place to be in Abu Dhabi either, in 2009 Hamilton started on pole and retired on lap 19, in 2011 Vettel on pole, retired on lap 1 after a puncture and now again in 2012 with Hamilton on pole, retired on lap 19, again.

Post-race Statistics of the Abu Dhabi GP

JackStatMan November 4, 2012 Abu Dhabi, Grand Prix, Post-race stats, Stats 1 Comment 1,902 Views

A surprisingly action packed Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, a race that previously has only been won from the front row. Pole position doesn’t seem to be a good place to be in Abu Dhabi either, in 2009 Hamilton started on pole and retired on lap 19, in 2011 Vettel on pole, retired on lap 1 after a puncture and now again in 2012 with Hamilton on pole, retired on lap 19, again.

In the title hunt Alonso has closed the gap by just 3 points so the gap is now just 10 points, prior to the race Vettel had a 13 point lead, after being dropped to the pit lane I thought Alonso would have closed in and possibly even taken the lead but Vettel gained 21 places from his starting position. The top three drivers in the World Drivers’ Championship all finished on the podium, which last happened at the British Grand Prix this year, when Alonso, Webber and Vettel were the top three.

Less than 1% of all F1 drivers have been Finnish, but Raikkonen’s win has put the combined points from all 8 Finnish F1 drivers up to 1504.5, with 45 wins combined. The Finns have the 6th most combined points, every nation above them has had at least three times as many F1 drivers. The Italians are 500 points ahead of Finland, but have had 90 more drivers.

Not many changes in the Championship standings, but Felipe Massa has jumped ahead of Nico Rosberg and Romain Grosjean while Pastor Maldonado has passed Michael Schumacher. The Constructors standings have stayed the same, again.

In qualifying Lewis Hamilton achieved his 25th pole position, which gives him the 7th highest pole position percentage of all time, just ahead of Michael Schumacher but some way behind Sebastian Vettel. The “Lotus” team won their first race since the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix, with Fernando Alonso at the wheel. But the last win for a team named Lotus was even further back, at the 1987 Detroit Grand Prix, which Ayrton Senna won.

The 2012 Formula One season has now had 8 winners from 6 different teams, last happening in the 1983 season, which Piquet won after three wins and just one pole position.