Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2010 - Race Schedule and Countdown

Sebastian Vettel claimed his maiden World Championship in the most dramatic four-way title showdown in Formula 1 history, winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale to snatch the crown from Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, and Lewis Hamilton in a race where any of the four could have become champion. The 23-year-old German, starting the weekend as the underdog in fourth place in the standings with 231 points, executed a perfect race from pole position while Ferrari's catastrophic pit stop strategy condemned Alonso - the championship leader with 246 points who needed only fourth place - to a devastating seventh-place finish trapped behind Vitaly Petrov's Renault. Vettel became the sport's youngest-ever world champion at 23 years and 134 days, winning the title by just four points in the tightest, most unpredictable championship battle the modern era had witnessed.

The season finale presented unprecedented championship mathematics - four drivers separated by just 24 points with all mathematically capable of winning the title. Alonso led on 246 points and controlled his destiny, needing only fourth place to guarantee the crown regardless of other results. Webber on 238 points had to win and hope Alonso finished lower than second. Vettel, the outsider on 231 points, needed victory plus failures from his rivals. Hamilton on 222 points required a perfect storm but remained in mathematical contention. Vettel seized pole position with a lap of 1:39.394 and made a clean start, controlling the race from the front while the championship drama unfolded behind. Alonso ran comfortably in the top four through the opening stint, perfectly positioned to claim his third world title. Then came one of the most catastrophic strategy calls in Ferrari history - when Webber pitted early from second place on lap 35, Ferrari panicked and brought Alonso in immediately from fourth without analyzing the consequences, a reactive decision made in fear rather than logic. The premature stop dropped Alonso into traffic behind Petrov's Renault, and the championship leader found himself trapped.

Despite having newer tires and a significantly faster car, Alonso could not find a way past the defensive Petrov on Yas Marina's processional layout where overtaking proved nearly impossible. Lap after agonizing lap, the Spaniard lunged and probed, growing increasingly desperate as he realized the championship was slipping away. Vettel cruised to victory, with Hamilton finishing second and Jenson Button third for McLaren. Webber's own aggressive tire strategy gamble failed spectacularly, and he finished eighth, out of championship contention. When the checkered flag fell, Alonso remained stuck in seventh place behind Petrov - the title lost not through his own mistakes but through Ferrari's strategic blunder. Vettel had claimed the championship with 256 points to Alonso's 252, Webber's 242, and Hamilton's 240 - the four drivers finishing within 16 points of each other after 19 races. The German's emotional celebrations contrasted sharply with the devastation at Ferrari, where Alonso sat motionless in his cockpit, processing the crushing reality of a championship that had been in his hands thrown away by his team's panic. The 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix concluded the most competitive season in modern Formula 1 history, with five different drivers having led the championship throughout the year and four arriving at the finale with realistic title hopes - a scenario unprecedented in the sport and unlikely to ever be repeated.