Former world champion Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) put the lid on his critics with a dominant victory in the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at Yas Marina on Sunday.
He was joined on the podium by McLaren team mate Jenson Button who finished third.
Hamilton won by 8.4 seconds from another former world champion, Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), who was followed by Button (+25.8), Mark Webber (Red Bull) +35.7, Felipe Massa (Ferrari) +50.5, Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) +52.3, Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) +75.9 and Adrian Sutil (Force India) who was the last driver to finish on the same lap as the winner.
2011 world champion Sebastian Vettel failed to finish the race after retiring on the first lap with a puncture. Button remains second in the championship with 255 points, but could still lose that position to Alonso (245) or Webber (233).
Red Bull has already won the Constructors' Championship (607 points) with McLaren finishing second (482) and Ferrari third (353).
The drivers all got away cleanly from the grid and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) got past Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) into fifth.
But there was drama seconds later when world champion Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) punctured his right rear tyre going into the second corner and went off the track.
Hamilton surged past into the lead, followed by Button but before the first lap was over, Alonso got past Button into second. They were followed by Webber, Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) and Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes).
Vettel finally made it back to the pits but the flailing tyre had damaged the exhaust system and the floor, so he was forced to retire.
On lap 5, Webber got past Button, but using his Drag Reduction System, the Briton got back in front again.
The 55-lap race got under way at 17h00 local time on a warm 26ºC evening with the track temperature at 31ºC.
On lap 8, Button set a fastest lap of 1'46.528 and extended his lead over Webber to more than one second, thereby saving himself from any further attacks from the Australian using his DRS.
On lap 9, race leader Hamilton extended the target to 1'45.989 and increased his lead over Alonso to 2.7 sec.
Leading Positions on Lap 10
1 Hamilton
2 Alonso +2.7
3 Button +7.3
4 Webber +9.3
5 Massa +11.6
6 Rosberg +17.2
7 Schumacher +21.3
8 Sutil +22.4
9 Di Resta +32.3
10 Buemi +33.0
Sutil moved to under a second behind Schumacher and was able to start using his DRS to close the gap to seventh place.
The Williams cars of Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado had started from the back row of the grid, and had moved up to 14th and 15th by lap 12. Barrichello failed to participate in qualifying, while Maldonado had fitted a ninth Cosworth engine this season and incurred a ten-place grid penalty.
On lap 14, third-placed Button mentioned a technical problem over the radio and Webber began to close up on him again, getting to within 0.9 sec and into the two DRS zones at Yas Marina.
Buemi got past ninth-placed Di Resta, but the Scot got back past immediately and then ran wide, allowing Buemi back in front again.
The sun was setting and the floodlights now took over the task of lighting up the circuit.
On lap 14, Webber got past Button, but the wily 2009 world champion ducked back underneath the Red Bull and back into third once more.
Massa was the first of the leading cars to pit for new tyres on lap 15.
Hamilton pitted on the next lap, followed immediately into the pit lane by Alonso. They left line astern as Button arrived next in the McLaren pit for his fresh tyres.
Webber was now released into the lead of the race, but had only 1.6 sec over Hamilton. The Australian pitted on the next lap, but there was a problem refitting the right rear wheel and his stop took just under ten seconds, dropping him down to fifth place and 22.8 sec behind the leader.
There were no such problems for Hamilton who immediately set a new fastest lap of 1'44.921.
Button appeared to have a problem with his KERS system but was soldiering on in third.
Leading Positions on Lap 20
1 Hamilton
2 Alonso +3.6
3 Button +16.8
4 Massa +18.6
5 Webber +23.1
6 Rosberg +30.5
7 Sutil +40.4
8 Schumacher +43.6
9 Di Resta +45.9
10 Maldonado +63.0
Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) started to tour slowly and then returned to the pits and retirement.
Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber-Ferrari) got past Maldonado for 10th on lap 23.
Alonso set a new fastest lap of 1'44.762 as Hamilton throttled back to save his tyres, maintaining the 3.3 sec gap between them. Hamilton responded by setting a 1'44.759 on lap 28, extending the gap to 4.1 sec.
Button, Massa and Webber had closed up in the battle for third place, 2.1 seconds covering the three cars as Hamilton set yet another fastest lap.
On lap 29, Massa ran wide and allowed Webber to sneak past, but he used his DRS to get back in front again.
Maldonado was given a drive-through penalty for not responding quickly enough to blue flags and impeding the cars lapping him. A few laps after he served the penalty, he did the same thing again - holding up the Massa/Webber battle for fourth place and once again coming under the attention of the stewards.
Meanwhile Button's lap times had suddenly improved and he was able to open up a six-second gap over Massa and Webber.
Alonso set a new fastest lap of 1'44.270 but made no impression on Hamilton who increased his lead to 4.4 sec as he lapped everyone up to 11th place.
Webber made a second pit stop for fresh tyres on lap 35 in a race that was expected to require only one stop. In a slick pit stop, 20 seconds of race time is lost and with 18 laps remaining, Webber was gambling on going over second a lap faster in the remaining laps.
Bruno Senna (Renault) was the next to be given a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags.
Button pitted too on lap 38, taking on medium compound tyres for the final 17 laps.
Webber's first hot lap on his fresh tyres gave him a new fastest lap time of 1'43.671, but he was 47.6 sec behind race leader Hamilton, who could easily pit and rejoin with over 20 seconds in hand.
Leading Positions on Lap 40
1 Hamilton
2 Alonso +3.1
3 Massa +30.2
4 Rosberg +40.7
5 Button +45.7
6 Webber +46.3
7 Schumacher +57.1
8 Sutil +80.1
9 Di Resta +1 lap
10 Perez +1 lap
Hamilton pitted on lap 40 and was followed by Massa, releasing Alonso into the lead with Hamilton 19.9 sec behind.
Webber got alongside Button on lap 42, but Button let him past without a challenge, knowing that the Red Bull would have to pit again anyway.
Race leader Alonso pitted on lap 44 and Hamilton reasserted his lead of 4.4 seconds as Webber set a new fastest lap of 1'43.333 on lap 44 and began closing up on third-placed Rosberg who had only one-stopped. Webber got past without too much effort on lap 46.
Hamilton extended his lead over Alonso to six seconds, with Webber a further 15 sec behind, followed by Rosberg a further 3 sec back being caught a second a lap by Button.
Button made use of his DRS to close right up and got past Rosberg with six laps to go and Webber 8 sec ahead of him. Rosberg pitted as Webber set a new fastest lap (1'42.830) as he ate into second-placed Alonso's 12.1 sec gap.
Daniel Ricciardo retired his Hispania-Cosworth as Webber reduced the gap between himself and second-placed Alonso to 9.3 sec with two laps remaining.
Hamilton continued to extend his lead over Alonso as the Spaniard dropped into the clutches of a rapidly-closing Webber, six seconds behind.
Webber made a mandatory pit stop on the final lap in order to have used both tyre compounds in the race.
2011 Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix Results
Pos Driver Nat Team Time
1 Lewis Hamilton GBR McLaren
2 Fernando Alonso ESP Ferrari +8.4
3 Jenson Button GBR McLaren +25.8
4 Mark Webber AUS Red Bull +35.7
5 Felipe Massa BRA Ferrari +50.5
6 Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes +52.3
7 Michael Schumacher GER Mercedes +75.9
8 Adrian Sutil GER Force India +77.1
9 Paul di Resta GBR Force India +1 lap
10 Kamui Kobayashi JAP Sauber +1 lap
11 Sergio Perez MEX Sauber +1 lap
12 Rubens Barrichello BRA Williams +1 lap
13 Vitaly Petrov RUS Renault +1 lap
14 Pastor Maldonado VEN Williams +1 lap
15 Jaime Alguersuari ESP Toro Rosso +1 lap
16 Bruno Senna BRA Renault +1 lap
17 Heikki Kovalainen FIN Lotus +1 lap
18 Jarno Trulli ITA Lotus +2 laps
19 Timo Glock GER Virgin +2 laps
20 Vitantonio Liuzzi ITA Hispania +2 laps
DNF Sebastian Vettel GER Red Bull DNF
DNF Sébastien Buemi SUI Toro Rosso DNF
DNF Daniel Ricciardo AUS Hispania DNF
DNF Jerome d'Ambrosio BEL Virgin DNF
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