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Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) took full advantage of Lewis Hamilton's retirement to take his first victory since coming back to Formula One.
For once, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix kept everyone on the edge of their seat thanks to Sebastian Vettel's surge through the field and Fernando Alonso's late charge over Raikkonen.
Vettel, who was forced to take the start of the race from the pitlane because the stewards were unable to extract the one litre needed for tests purposes from his fuel cell, came through from 21st to 3rd.
Alonso, who thanks to Vettel's though weekend had a chance of re-taking the championship lead, needed to finish as high as possible up the order. Despite putting the pressure on Raikkonen, the Spaniard was unable to overtake him for the win.
Second, he nevertheless finished ahead of Vettel, which means the gap in the title hunt is reduced from 13 to 10 points.
Raikkonen's win, which wouldn't have been possible without Lewis Hamilton's retirement on lap 19, marks Lotus' first triumph since Fernando Alonso won the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix, back when the team was still called Renault.
McLaren, who lost a sure win, still picked up points thanks to Jenson Button's fifth place finish.
Williams managed to get two cars in the top 10, Pastor Maldonado coming in fifth and Bruno Senna in eighth. Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi (sixth), Ferrari's Felipe Massa (seventh), Force India's Paul di Resta (ninth) and Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo (tenth) are the other point scorers.
Mercedes' Nico Rosberg's and Red Bull's Mark Webber are the two most notable retirements of the race.
Rosberg's race ended when his car launched over the abruptly slowing down HRT of Narain Karthikeyan. No penalty were addressed since the fault was handed to a mechanical failure on Karthikeyan's car.
Webber too retired after a collision. The Australian, who had already spun earlier in the race trying to overtake Maldonado, was collected by Romain Grosjean's Lotus on lap 38.
Alonso now has only two races - the American and Brazilian grands prix - left to cover the last 10 points separating him from Vettel.
For once, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix kept everyone on the edge of their seat thanks to Sebastian Vettel's surge through the field and Fernando Alonso's late charge over Raikkonen.
Vettel, who was forced to take the start of the race from the pitlane because the stewards were unable to extract the one litre needed for tests purposes from his fuel cell, came through from 21st to 3rd.
Alonso, who thanks to Vettel's though weekend had a chance of re-taking the championship lead, needed to finish as high as possible up the order. Despite putting the pressure on Raikkonen, the Spaniard was unable to overtake him for the win.
Second, he nevertheless finished ahead of Vettel, which means the gap in the title hunt is reduced from 13 to 10 points.
Raikkonen's win, which wouldn't have been possible without Lewis Hamilton's retirement on lap 19, marks Lotus' first triumph since Fernando Alonso won the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix, back when the team was still called Renault.
McLaren, who lost a sure win, still picked up points thanks to Jenson Button's fifth place finish.
Williams managed to get two cars in the top 10, Pastor Maldonado coming in fifth and Bruno Senna in eighth. Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi (sixth), Ferrari's Felipe Massa (seventh), Force India's Paul di Resta (ninth) and Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo (tenth) are the other point scorers.
Mercedes' Nico Rosberg's and Red Bull's Mark Webber are the two most notable retirements of the race.
Rosberg's race ended when his car launched over the abruptly slowing down HRT of Narain Karthikeyan. No penalty were addressed since the fault was handed to a mechanical failure on Karthikeyan's car.
Webber too retired after a collision. The Australian, who had already spun earlier in the race trying to overtake Maldonado, was collected by Romain Grosjean's Lotus on lap 38.
Alonso now has only two races - the American and Brazilian grands prix - left to cover the last 10 points separating him from Vettel.