Here comes the sun for Hamilton; hard day's night for Vettel

By John Bagratuni Nov 14, 2011, 9:45 GMT

Berlin - Lewis Hamilton restored his dented morale with victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix while world champion Sebastian Vettel had to be content with a bass guitar from Sir Paul McCartney.

Vettel's puncture less than the length of a Beatles song into the race opened the door for Hamilton to claim his third victory of the season after months of feeling more like a fool on the hill than a former world champion because of problems on and off the track.

'I am ecstatic,' said the McLaren driver Hamilton, all smiles after a long and winding road finally ended in his 17th career victory.

'I don't feel I've made a single mistake in the race and with the things that have gone, with the pressure that I've been under and with the doubt that has surrounded me, I felt just massively proud to have put that kind of performance together and to have come out on top.'

'I definitely think that this weekend I've been clearer in my mind and I've had less weighing on me, less thoughts and issues or whatever problems that I've got. I was just able to drive clearly.'

Hamilton had a clear run at the front on Sunday as Fernando Alonso shot right behind him from fifth at the start but his Ferrari did not have the pace to mount a serious attack.

Jenson Button came third after battling Kers problems during a long stretch of the race. That was significant as Hamilton can longer catch him at the season-ender in Brazil on November 27 and will finish behind a team-mate for the first time in his F1 career.

However, that was the least the 2008 champion had on his mind, and he would also not be drawn into a discussion whether he could have challenged the seemingly invincible Vettel had the German not gone out in turn two after winning the start.

'I don't know really. I will tell you when it happens. I think we were clearly very quick and it would have been very close. Every now and then, we need a bit of bad luck to notice the good times, I guess, and I don't remember the last time he had a bit of bad luck,' said Hamilton.

After all, Vettel had completed 19 races in a row - winning 13 of them and getting 18 podiums - since going out with engine problems last year in Korea.

But it wasn't too much of a hard day's night for Vettel who had wrapped up successive world titles last month in Japan. Instead, the German had a day in the life completely different to his usual Grand Prix routine.

Vettel was already an interested observer behind the fence after spinning off in Friday practice, and on Sunday spent the remainder of his race watching from the Red Bull controls.

'There wasn't much we could do, so after that I took the opportunity to learn a little bit on the pit wall,' said Vettel.

Team principal Christian Horner was impressed by this kind of professionalism from Vettel, naming him 'a sponge for information.

'He was interested to see how a race operates and to offer his feedback. That's part of who he is,' said Horner.

While Red Bull and tyre makers Pirelli were probably trying to determine the cause of the puncture, the ardent Beatles fan Vettel was attending a Paul McCartney concert, soaking in the music and probably watching closely how to strum a bass guitar.