Formula 1®
Alonso grabs one, Vettel takes it all
Although Alonso raced the Fastest Lap at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Vettel’s six Fastest Laps this year are now out of reach. Sebastian Vettel wins the 2013 DHL Fastest Lap Award.
Two back with three races to go – Abu Dhabi was Red Bull driver Mark Webber’s last chance to attack his teammate for this season’s fastest lap honors – his last stand as he drives off into the Formula 1 sunset. After qualifying on pole, the odds were certainly in the Aussie’s favor and a betting man may have wagered that the race for the 2013 DHL Fastest Lap Award was far from over. Not a bad gamble considering Webber finished second after defending P2 from a threatening Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes. He also drove the fifth fastest lap of the day.
Mark Webber: "[Vettel] was in a different category."
The sure bet, however, was on the 2013 Formula 1 Champion, Sebastian Vettel, who further solidified his dominance of the sport and in Abu Dhabi secured his second consecutive DHL Fastest Lap Award.
But even the Champ – who was “in a different category,” according to Webber – couldn’t hold on to his seventh fastest lap of the season as he drove away from the field to take a well-deserved seventh consecutive checkered flag and his eleventh win this season. He had the fastest lap in the bag until he was forced to slow in traffic in the final stint.
That’s when veteran Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso “pinched it away from him,” as DHL F1 Export and former F1 driver, Christian Danner, said after the race. On soft tires in the final laps, the Spaniard piloted a perfect final lap to win the day’s Fastest Lap – his second of the season. The late charge also moved Alonso fifth place and helped him maintain a sovereign second place in the drivers’ standings.
Though Vettel didn’t grab the Fastest Lap, he put on “a very, very impressive demonstration of [his] abilities, skills and talents,” said Danner.
The German wunderkind’s 11th win this year equals his second championship-winning season in 2011. The 26 year old is on course to tie Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of 13 victories in one season, not to mention Alberto Ascari’s nine consecutive F1 wins – a record he has held for 60 years.
Watch more behind-the-scenes videos and see all of Danner's fastest lap tips and reviews at DHL's YouTube Channel.
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