Vettel leads Red Bull one-two in Abu Dhabi

Sebastian Vettel recorded a seventh consecutive Grand Prix victory with a dominant performance in Abu Dhabi.

A week after securing his fourth consecutive championship title, Vettel led every lap at the Yas Marina Circuit to beat home team-mate Mark Webber by in excess of half a minute.

Pole-sitter Webber dropped to third behind Vettel and Nico Rosberg at the first corner and struggled for speed while running on the soft tyre in the first stint.

Happier once on the mediums, the Australian eventually managed to make his way back around the Mercedes driver prior to half distance.

Romain Grosjean took fourth for Lotus on a day where a first corner incident for rear-of-grid starting team-mate Kimi Raikkonen hurt the team’s chances of second in the Constructors’ title.

The battle for fifth captured much of the late race interest as a one-stopping Paul di Resta attempted to hang onto the spot.

The former DTM champion could not repel the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso, but did manage to hold out Lewis Hamilton to secure sixth.

Hamilton had found himself boxed in at the first corner, falling one place from his grid slot to fifth, and lost crucial time in his second stint caught behind long opening stint runners Nico Hulkenberg and Adrian Sutil.

Sutil eventually finished 10th – a fine recovery from 17th on the grid – while Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez were eighth and ninth respectively.

Massa had run ahead of team-mate Alonso for much of the race but lost out behind a slow Jean-Eric Vergne at the start of the Ferrari’s third stint.

Alonso emerged from his last stop side-by-side with Vergne; spectacularly sweeping ahead of the Toro Rosso despite being forced off the circuit.

Vergne’s late-race struggles saw the Frenchman forced into an unscheduled second stop, dropping him one place behind team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who had proven uncompetitive from the outset.

Two races now remain in the 2013 championship, ensuring Vettel can still equal, but not beat, Michael Schumacher’s 2004 record of 13 wins in a single season.

A seventh consecutive victory from Vettel equals the greatest streak in a season, set by Schumacher during that dominant 2004 campaign.

See below for the full race result

See below for the updated points standings