Sebastian Vettel equaled Michael Schumacher's record of seven wins in a row, after dominating the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by over half a minute to his soon-to-retire teammate Mark Webber. 

It is only the third 1-2 for Red Bull Racing this season, but Mark Webber, who pipped the four-time Formula One World Champion to pole, was happy to finish runner-up. 

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg finished third while Lewis Hamilton, who started the race from fourth, admitted that he struggled for pace but could not explain why. The 2008 Formula One World Champion finished seventh.

Webber lost out to Vettel and Rosberg on the start, allowing Vettel to build up a comfortable lead, which he maintained throughout the race. Webber moved past Rosberg on lap 20, from which point on the Red Bull duo pulled out a considerable lead.

Kimi Raikkonen – who had started from 22nd following his disqualification after qualifying – was an early casualty. The Finn had contact with a Caterham in the first corner that broke his front suspension and he retired after just two corners.

"That was a tough race this evening for me," explained Lewis Hamilton after a two-stop strategy. "My race just didn’t quite come together and I’m not really sure why as I gave it my all out there. I had some problems with grip and, of course, it’s so difficult to overtake here when you are in traffic but we also need to figure out why I’m not getting the maximum performance from the car at the moment. 

"The guys worked so hard this weekend to get my car repaired and ready for the race so it’s frustrating not to have delivered a better performance for them. A massive thank you to everyone for their efforts and it’s great that we have extended our lead for P2 in the Constructors’ Championship. All points count but Nico did a really good job today to maximise the potential of the car. Hopefully the last two races will be stronger for me and I look forward to that challenge."