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Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber secured Red Bull’s fourth 1-2 finish of the season in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

After qualifying it looked like Lewis Hamilton would easily drive away from the two Red Bulls in the race but despite setting six consecutive fastest laps and opening a gap of two seconds on Vettel, a brake problem forced Hamilton to retire after 20 laps.

The billion dollar Yas Marina circuit looked spectacular as twilight faded into night and while there are some interesting sections to the track, including a pit exit tunnel, for the most part the race was pretty uneventful.

The most excitment came in the closing laps as Mark Webber came under attack from Jenson Button and only just managed to hold him off with some great defensive driving.

It’s hard to see how an old airfield in Northamptonshire can compete with a city that sits on one-tenth of the world’s oil reserves and whose citizens (not including foreign workers) are worth about $17 million each. But Sunday’s race showed that while money can buy spectacular, it can’t buy history and it can’t neccessarily buy good racing.

2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Race Results

Image: Red Bull

The McLarens have looked strong all weekend in Abu Dhabi but while Heikki Kovalainen stopped in Q2 with drive problems it all came together for Lewis Hamilton as he took a stunning pole position for Sunday’s season-ending Grand Prix.

Lewis looked completely at home on the new circuit and as twilight faded quickly to darkness he was nearly a second faster than the two Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber behind him.

Speaking after qualifying, Lewis said:

The car is the best it has been all year. It was a smooth lap, and it just kept getting better and better.

Rubens Barrichello beat his team mate, and new World Champion, Jenson Button to fourth place on the grid.

Jarno Trulli got his Toyota up into sixth place ahead of the two BMWs with Rosberg and Buemi rounding out the top 10.

Ferrari had a disappointing session with Fisichella dropping out in Q1 in last place and Raikkonen only making it to P11.

2009 Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Qualifying Results

Image: McLaren

And so we come to the final race of 2009!

Abu Dhabi will be a race of firsts and lasts. Not only will it be the first time Formula One will visit the new Yas Marina circuit but it will also be the first time a Grand Prix has started at twilight and finished at night time. The race will start at 5pm local time and the flood lights will be on throughout the race so a consistent lighting level is maintained.

The last race of the calendar, Abu Dhabi will play host to a number of other lasts.

Some time during the race a car will make the last stop for fuel in a Grand Prix; refuelling is banned for 2010.

McLaren are hoping it will be the last win for a KERS powered car on Sunday. While KERS is still allowed under the 2010 rules, the teams have agreed not to use the energy recovery technology next year.

BMW Sauber will be contesting their 70th and last Grand Prix this weekend and unless one of the other new teams fails to show up on the grid next year it is unlikely the team will carry on under new owners Qadbak.

With the driver market still in a state of flux it is not known how many drivers will be making their last appearance on Sunday. If everything goes to plan, Giancarlo Fisichella will make way for Felipe Massa at Ferrari next year while Kazuki Nakajima and Romain Grosjean both look likely to miss out on a race seat.

Jenson Button and Brawn GP may have clinched both Championships in Brazil but with McLaren and Ferrari battling for third in the Constructors’ and Barrichello and Vettel freed from worrying about the Championship, Sunday’s race should provide plenty of excitement.

To make your predictions in round 17 of the F1 Buzz prediction game (and be in with a chance to win some nice prizes), just leave a comment on this post with your driver predictions for the race in the following format:

Pole:
First:
Second:
Third:
Fastest lap:

Remember, the deadline for entries is start of qualifying on Saturday, that’s 13:00 GMT.

Good luck!

Image: McLaren

For the first time, the final race of the 2009 Formula One World Championship will be held at the new Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.  Despite rumours that the circuit will not be ready for the inaugural race in November, the circuit’s developers are confident everything is going according to schedule.

But should Formula One even be going to Abu Dhabi?

A report in the Observer on Sunday claims the US has videos of a member of the Abu Dahbi royal family torturing at least 25 people.  Sheikh Issa bin Zayed Al Nayhan is the son of the late United Arab Emirates President Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and the brother of the present ruler of Abu Dhabi.

A video shown on ABC News shows the prince, with the help of a man in police uniform, torturing Mohammed Sha Poor, an Afghan grain merchant.  In the video, the prince beats the man with a wooden plank with nails in it, sets him on fire and attacks him with a cattle prod before running him over several times in his Mercedes SUV.

The UAE Ministry of the Interior said it had reviewed the tape and in a statement said:

The incidents depicted in the video tapes were not part of a pattern of behavior.  All rules, policies and procedures were followed correctly by the Police Department.

WTF?

It turns out the Minister of the Interior is also a sibling of Sheikh Issa.

The new Yas Marina circuit looks like it could be pretty spectacular but it calls into question Bernie Ecclestone’s strategy of selling Formula One to the highest bidder.  The UAE might have lots of money but they have few Formula One fans and some serious human rights issues.