2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Race 18 of 19 in the 2011 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Race details
Date	13 November 2011
Official name	2011 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Location	Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Course	Yas Marina Circuit
Course length	5.554 km (3.451 miles)
Distance	55 laps, 305.470 km (189.810 miles)
Weather	Fine and Dry Air Temp 25 °C (77 °F)[1]
Pole position
Driver	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault
Time	1:38.481
Fastest lap
Driver	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault
Time	1:42.612 on lap 51
Podium
First	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes
Second	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari
Third	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (formally the 2011 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) was the eighteenth and penultimate round of the 2011 Formula One season. It was held on 13 November 2011 at the Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island, a man-made island on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.^[2] It was the third running of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. As is customary with the race, it was the only twilight Grand Prix of the 2011 Formula One season, with a start time of 17:00 local time.

The race was won by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. Second was Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, with Jenson Button coming third in the other McLaren.

Sebastian Vettel, having won both of the previous iterations of the race for Red Bull Racing-Renault, had been in pole position, but retired after a puncture in the first lap, near the second corner, which was his first retirement since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix, where he encountered a problem with his engine. As a result, this prevented him from equalling Michael Schumacher's record of 13 wins in one season, but Vettel did equal Nigel Mansell's 1992 record of 14 pole positions in one season. This was also the only race of 2011 in which neither Red Bull finished on the podium, as Vettel's teammate Mark Webber finished fourth.