How Seb got lucky in Abu Dhabi

Sebastian Vettel’s comeback drive in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was superb. Starting from the pit lane after his disqualification in qualifying, he produced arguably the drive of his career to come from last all the way to third place.

Vettel drove brilliantly on Sunday, and fully deserved to finish on the podium, of that there is no doubt. But he did benefit from a huge amount of good fortune without which he would not have been able to reach the podium.

Let’s go back to Saturday night to see where Vettel got the breaks that allowed him to gain 21 places on race day.

Car Changes

Having been put to the back of the grid for not having enough fuel left in the tank after qualifying, Red Bull took Vettel’s car out of parc ferme and modified it extensively. The gear ratios were changed and the amount of downforce on his car was reduced, giving him a higher top speed and giving him a greater opportunity to overtake in the race.

In addition Vettel’s engine was changed and he was able to start the race with a fresh set of hard tyres, which gave him a much better set-up in race trim than he would otherwise have enjoyed.

First Lap Incidents

There were two notable incidents from which Vettel gained at the start. The first was the turn one collision between the Force Indias and Bruno Senna, and the second at turn nine when Nico Rosberg ran into Romain Grosjean, leaving them both needing to pit for repairs.

This removed four cars which Vettel would otherwise have had to pass on the track, cars which would not have been easy to pass once the field had sorted itself out, and left Senna within easy reach of the Red Bull. This made his progress into a points paying position significantly easier.

These incidents benefitted Vettel to such an extent that by the end of the second lap the only cars separating him from the points were the Caterhams, Marussias, Toro Rossos and Michael Schumacher, all of whom (with the possible exception of Schumacher) the Red Bull would be expected to pass easily.

Collision with Ricciardo and subsequent pit stop

When Vettel was caught out by Daniel Ricciardo’s Toro Rosso behind the safety car and hit a marker board, forcing him to change his front ring, it looked as though he could’ve been facing disaster.

However, the chance to pit behind the safety car gave him the opportunity to change his nose, which was already damaged after a small collision with Bruno Senna on the second lap, and also allowed him to change to a set of soft tyres which increased his pace dramatically.

It meant that once the race resumed Vettel was right behind the cars he had already passed with ease at the start, and this time with much better tyres than the first time around, which meant it was easier for him to progress through the field at the second time of asking.

The Grosjean Factor

This was something not picked up by a lot of people, but in the laps before Vettel made his pit stop Romain Grosjean was running fifth and holding up a train of much faster cars which included Pastor Maldonado, Sergio Perez, Mark Webber and Felipe Massa.

Grosjean was lapping more than a second slower than Vettel before the Red Bull pitted, which allowed him to build up enough of a gap that he was able to rejoin in fourth after his pit stop, a position which may not have been possible had Grosjean not been holding up the pack behind.

Second Safety Car

Vettel made his second pit stop just two laps before the safety car was deployed for a second time for an accident between Sergio Perez, Romain Grosjean and Mark Webber. Not only did Red Bull time his stop perfectly in that it prevented him losing out dramatically by having to pit again under safety car conditions, but it also wiped out the 14 second deficit to Jenson Button which meant any work Vettel had to do to catch the McLaren was effectively done for him by the race being neutralised.

Whilst it is possible that Vettel could still have caught Button, and his pace at the end of the race once he had passed the Englishman suggested that he may have been able to catch him before the race, the safety car gave him the perfect opportunity to pass Button for the podium, and it was something he took full advantage of.

There is no doubt that Vettel drove superbly in the race, there is no disputing that. When he had to pass cars he did it quickly and efficiently, he put in some stunning laps before his second pit stop that allowed him to move into fourth and he took full advantage of the breaks he got to get himself a podium finish that few predicted he would be able to achieve before the race.

However, in a normal race, without the collisions, and without the safety cars, would he have had as much luck as he did and would he have progressed as far up the field as he did? The answer is probably not. He’d have scored a few points, but it would’ve taken a superhuman effort for him to get much further than the lower reaches of the top ten.

But that will not concern Vettel, whose drive was undoubtedly the performance of the race and whose podium ensures that he goes to Austin in two weeks time with a 10 point lead over Fernando Alonso in the drivers' championship.

Stephen D’Albiac