By Jens Marx Nov 1, 2009, 14:22 GMT
Abu Dhabi - Sebastian Vettel won the season-ending Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix Sunday to secure second place in the drivers' championship ahead of Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello.
Teammate Mark Webber confirmed the Austrian-owned team's end-of- season dominance by holding off newly-crowned world champion Jenson Button in the final laps to ensure a fourth 1-2 of the season for Red Bull while Barrichello had to be satisfied with fourth.
Vettel's second win in three races and fifth of his career, which was split by Webber's victory in Brazil two weeks ago, sees the German finish on 84 points after 17 races, 11 behind Button in the overall standings but seven clear of Barrichello.
'The car was a dream today,' said Vettel. 'It's a shame the season ends now.'
A relaxed Button clearly relished his first race as champion, not least his battle with Webber in the closing stages.
'The last couple of laps were a lot of fun for me,' he said. 'We were clean but on the edge, it was perfect.'
Webber also enjoyed his clash with Button, even though he clearly struggled on the last two laps, especially.
'I had to make sure I was accurate with my braking points,' he said. 'In the end we had a good clean fight on the limits.'
Nick Heidfeld managed fifth for BMW-Sauber in his team's final F1 race before withdrawing from the sport while pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton failed to finish after suffering technical problems with his McLaren-Mercedes.
Hamilton got off to a flying start at the first-ever race at the new Yas Marina Circuit, followed by Vettel and Webber, who made contact with Barrichello causing slight damage to the front wing of the Brazilian's car.
With Barrichello initially struggling for pace as a result, Button took full advantage to pass his teammate and move up to fourth on the back wheel of Webber.
Despite taking pole with a lap time over half a second quicker than Vettel, Hamilton was unable to shake off his German rival in the opening third of the race.
Barrichello was the first of the leaders to pit on lap 16, with Button and Hamilton coming in a lap later.
Toyota's Kamui Kobayashi, who was on a one-stop strategy, managed to pass Button on his out lap, echoing his battle with the Briton in Brazil a fortnight ago and showing supreme confidence for a driver competing in only his second GP race.
Webber was next to pit, returning behind Hamilton while Vettel came in with 37 laps remaining, exiting ahead of the McLaren to take over the race lead.
Hamilton's race ended two laps later as a brake problem forced the 2008 champion to retire, while Vettel began pulling away from his Australian teammate.
Kobayashi made his first and only stop with 25 laps to go and eventually had to settle for an impressive sixth behind Heidfeld while the top four absolved their second and final stops without any changes in the overall standings.
Vettel remained in complete control up front and while Button slowly began closing the gap on Webber he was unable to pass him in the final laps.
'Its a perfect end to finish the season on a high,' said Vettel. 'We should come back stronger next year.'
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