Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) took full advantage of Lewis Hamilton's retirement to take his first victory since coming back to Formula One.
For once, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix kept everyone on the edge of their seat thanks to Sebastian Vettel's surge through the field and Fernando Alonso's late charge over Raikkonen.
Vettel, who was forced to take the start of the race from the pitlane because the stewards were unable to extract the one litre needed for tests purposes from his fuel cell, came through from 21st to 3rd.
Alonso, who thanks to Vettel's tough weekend had a chance of re-taking the championship lead, needed to finish as high as possible up the order. Despite putting the pressure on Raikkonen, the Spaniard was unable to overtake him for the win.
Second, he nevertheless finished ahead of Vettel, which means the gap in the title hunt is reduced from 13 to 10 points.
Raikkonen's win, which wouldn't have been possible without Lewis Hamilton's retirement on lap 19, marks Lotus' first triumph since Fernando Alonso won the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix, back when the team was still called Renault.
McLaren, who lost a sure win, still picked up points thanks to Jenson Button's fourth place finish.
Williams managed to get two cars in the top 10, Pastor Maldonado coming in fifth and Bruno Senna in eighth. Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi (sixth), Ferrari's Felipe Massa (seventh), Force India's Paul di Resta (ninth) and Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo (tenth) are the other point scorers.
Mercedes' Nico Rosberg's and Red Bull's Mark Webber are the two most notable retirements of the race.
Rosberg's race ended when his car launched over the abruptly slowing down HRT of Narain Karthikeyan. No penalty was addressed since the fault was blamed on a mechanical failure on Karthikeyan's car.
Webber too retired after a collision. The Australian, who had already spun earlier in the race trying to overtake Maldonado, was collected by Romain Grosjean's Lotus on lap 38.
Alonso now has only two races – the American and Brazilian grands prix – left to cover the last 10 points separating him from Vettel.
Race results* – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Yas Marina circuit)
1 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) - 55 laps 1.45'58"667
2 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) - 0"852
3 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 4"163
4 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 7"787
5 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) - 13"007
6 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 20"076
7 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) - 22"896
8 - Bruno Senna (Williams FW34-Renault) - 23"542
9 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 24"160
10 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 27"463
11 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W03) - 28"075
12 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 34"906
13 - Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 47"764
14 - Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 56"473
15 - Sergio Perez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 56"768
16 - Vitaly Petrov (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1'04"595
17 - Pedro De La Rosa (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 1'11"778
Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel 1'43"964
Retirements
Lap 1 - Nico Hulkenberg
Lap 8 - Nico Rosberg
Lap 8 - Narain Karthikeyan
Lap 20 - Lewis Hamilton
Lap 38 - Mark Webber
Lap 38 - Romain Grosjean
Lap 42 - Charles Pic
Drivers' championship
1.Vettel 255; 2.Alonso 245; 3.Raikkonen 198; 4.Webber 167; 5.Hamilton 165; 6.Button 153; 7.Massa 95; 8.Rosberg 93; 9.Grosjean 90; 10.Perez 66; 11.Kobayashi 58; 12.Hulkenberg 49; 13.Di Resta 46; 14.Schumacher, Maldonado 43; 16.Senna 30; 17.Vergne 12; 18.Ricciardo 10.
Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 422; 2.Ferrari 340; 3.McLaren-Mercedes 318; 4.Lotus-Renault 288; 5.Mercedes 136; 6.Sauber-Ferrari 124; 7.Force India-Mercedes 95; 8.Williams-Renault 73; 9.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 22.
*Unofficial results
For once, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix kept everyone on the edge of their seat thanks to Sebastian Vettel's surge through the field and Fernando Alonso's late charge over Raikkonen.
Vettel, who was forced to take the start of the race from the pitlane because the stewards were unable to extract the one litre needed for tests purposes from his fuel cell, came through from 21st to 3rd.
Alonso, who thanks to Vettel's tough weekend had a chance of re-taking the championship lead, needed to finish as high as possible up the order. Despite putting the pressure on Raikkonen, the Spaniard was unable to overtake him for the win.
Second, he nevertheless finished ahead of Vettel, which means the gap in the title hunt is reduced from 13 to 10 points.
Raikkonen's win, which wouldn't have been possible without Lewis Hamilton's retirement on lap 19, marks Lotus' first triumph since Fernando Alonso won the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix, back when the team was still called Renault.
McLaren, who lost a sure win, still picked up points thanks to Jenson Button's fourth place finish.
Williams managed to get two cars in the top 10, Pastor Maldonado coming in fifth and Bruno Senna in eighth. Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi (sixth), Ferrari's Felipe Massa (seventh), Force India's Paul di Resta (ninth) and Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo (tenth) are the other point scorers.
Mercedes' Nico Rosberg's and Red Bull's Mark Webber are the two most notable retirements of the race.
Rosberg's race ended when his car launched over the abruptly slowing down HRT of Narain Karthikeyan. No penalty was addressed since the fault was blamed on a mechanical failure on Karthikeyan's car.
Webber too retired after a collision. The Australian, who had already spun earlier in the race trying to overtake Maldonado, was collected by Romain Grosjean's Lotus on lap 38.
Alonso now has only two races – the American and Brazilian grands prix – left to cover the last 10 points separating him from Vettel.
Race results* – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Yas Marina circuit)
1 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) - 55 laps 1.45'58"667
2 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) - 0"852
3 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 4"163
4 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 7"787
5 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) - 13"007
6 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 20"076
7 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) - 22"896
8 - Bruno Senna (Williams FW34-Renault) - 23"542
9 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 24"160
10 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 27"463
11 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W03) - 28"075
12 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 34"906
13 - Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 47"764
14 - Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 56"473
15 - Sergio Perez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 56"768
16 - Vitaly Petrov (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1'04"595
17 - Pedro De La Rosa (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 1'11"778
Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel 1'43"964
Retirements
Lap 1 - Nico Hulkenberg
Lap 8 - Nico Rosberg
Lap 8 - Narain Karthikeyan
Lap 20 - Lewis Hamilton
Lap 38 - Mark Webber
Lap 38 - Romain Grosjean
Lap 42 - Charles Pic
Drivers' championship
1.Vettel 255; 2.Alonso 245; 3.Raikkonen 198; 4.Webber 167; 5.Hamilton 165; 6.Button 153; 7.Massa 95; 8.Rosberg 93; 9.Grosjean 90; 10.Perez 66; 11.Kobayashi 58; 12.Hulkenberg 49; 13.Di Resta 46; 14.Schumacher, Maldonado 43; 16.Senna 30; 17.Vergne 12; 18.Ricciardo 10.
Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 422; 2.Ferrari 340; 3.McLaren-Mercedes 318; 4.Lotus-Renault 288; 5.Mercedes 136; 6.Sauber-Ferrari 124; 7.Force India-Mercedes 95; 8.Williams-Renault 73; 9.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 22.
*Unofficial results