Kimi Raikkonen attains his first race victory of the 2012 F1 season – Formula 1 news
Kimi Raikkonen of the Lotus F1 team gained his first ever race victory of the current season after he won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this Sunday.
Raikkonen had qualified for the fifth position on the grid during the qualifying round of the race on Saturday but like all other drivers was moved one place forward after Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was disqualified. He was able to lead the race comfortably
after McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who had started the race from the first position, had to retire from the race as his car stopped due to a fuel pump failure in the twentieth lap of the race.
After his win, Raikkonen stated that he was very happy for himself and the team. He admitted that the team has been going through some difficult races in the second half of the season so it feels great to have finally achieved a race victory.
His teammate Romain Grosjean was also very excited for him saying that it is a kind of a win the whole team has been waiting for and it was an unbelievable result. Grosjean himself had to retire from the race due to an accident at which he expressed his
disappointment. However, he said that despite him it was a fantastic day for the team.
Following Raikkonen was Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who started the race from sixth position on the grid. The driver battled it out to take the second place behind the Lotus driver in the lap Hamilton retired from the race.
On the other hand, Vettel, who is not only Alonso’s rival for the drivers’ championship this season but also has been in the lead since the Korean Grand Prix. However, the Abu Dhabi GP turned out to be unlucky for him just like last year. The driver was
disqualified qualifying after his car suffered a fuel irregularity on Saturday and did not make it to the pits on its own power which resulted in violation of the FIA rules. Vettel started from the pit lane but still was successful at gaining the third place
by the end of the race.
The 13-point difference between Vettel and Alonso has been narrowed down to 10 points after this thrilling race.
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