NEW TEAMS WILL NOT BE COMPETITIVE

Lola owner Martin Birrane, whose company was passed over as one of the new teams to join Formula 1 in 2010, believes that the technical capabilities of the aspirants did not play a big enough part in the evaluation process.

Birrane fears that the applicants that were chosen could struggle because they lack the technical infrastructure of Lola. Campos Meta, Manor Grand Prix and US F1 were granted the three new grid slots in June, with Lotus F1 Racing also being granted an entry after BMW Sauber could not commit to signing the Concorde Agreement.

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NEWS OF THE DAY: BRAWN GP = McLAREN GP

Mercedes-Benz has announced that it has taken over the Brawn Formula 1 team and re-named it Mercedes Grand Prix after buying a 75.1 per cent stake in the squad.

The German car giant will retain its role as McLaren's engine supplier until at least 2015, but will sell its 40 per cent stake in the squad back to the team over the next two years.

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2009 ABU DHABI GP: VETTEL WINS INAUGURAL RACE

Sebastian Vettel makes it a hat-trick of wins for Red Bull!

The young German cements runner-up spot in the drivers' series with a commanding win, having easily dispatched the challenge from Hamilton as the McLaren driver battle brake issues.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Yas Marina, United Arab Emirates;
55 laps; 305.470km;
Weather: Dry.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1h34:03.314
2.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    17.857
3.  Button        Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  +    18.467
4.  Barrichello   Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  +    22.735
5.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +    26.253
6.  Kobayashi     Toyota                (B)  +    28.343
7.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +    34.366
8.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    41.294
9.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    45.941
10. Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    48.180
11. Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    52.798
12. Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +    54.317
13. Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    59.839
14. Alonso        Renault               (B)  +  1:09.687
15. Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +  1:34.450
16. Grosjean      Renault               (B)  +     1 lap
17. Fisichella    Ferrari               (B)  +     1 lap
18. Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:40.279

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)    21
Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)    19

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2009 ABU DHABI GP: CAR WEIGHTS

Car weights sorted by grid position:

P.  Driver       Team 
1.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      658.5
2.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      663
3.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      660
4.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        655
5.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        657
6.  Trulli       Toyota                661
7.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            654.5
8.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            664
9.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       665
10. Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    661.5
11. Raikkonen    Ferrari               692
12. Kobayashi    Toyota                694.3
13. Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       704
14. Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    696.5
15. Alonso       Renault               708.3
16. Liuzzi       Force India-Mercedes  695
17. Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  696
18. Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      697
19. Grosjean     Renault               710.8
20. Fisichella   Ferrari               692.5

Heikki Kovalainen will lose five places on the grid of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after needing a gearbox change after qualifying.

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2009 ABU DHABI GP: LEWIS HAMILTON ON POLE

Lewis Hamilton proved his good form with taking pole in Aby Dhabi. Yas Marina track best suited for british driver with time 1:39:873. This is his 4-th Pole this season. McLaren this way have big advantage in batle with Ferrari.

Pos  Driver       Team                       Q1        Q2       Q3
1.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:39.873  1:39.695 1:40.948
2.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:40.666  1:39.984 1:41.615
3.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:40.667  1:40.272 1:41.726
4.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:40.574  1:40.421 1:41.786
5.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:40.378  1:40.148 1:41.892
6.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:40.517  1:40.373 1:41.897
7.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:40.520  1:40.545 1:41.992
8.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:40.558  1:40.635 1:42.343
9.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:40.842  1:40.661 1:42.583
10. Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:40.908  1:40.430 1:42.713
11. Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:41.100  1:40.726
12. Kobayashi    Toyota                (B)  1:41.035  1:40.777
13. Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:40.808  1:40.983
14. Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:41.096  1:41.148
15. Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:41.503  1:41.689
16. Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:41.667
17. Liuzzi       Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:41.701
18. Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:41.863
19. Grosjean     Renault               (B)  1:41.950
20. Fisichella   Ferrari               (B)  1:42.184

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2009 Abu Dhabi GP: Button fastest in final practice

Jenson Button beat Lewis Hamilton by a scant 0.002 seconds in the final Formula 1 practice session of 2009 in Abu Dhabi.Jaime Alguersuari was sidelined for the entire hour as his Toro Rosso team worked to fix a hydraulic problem.

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time              Laps
1.  Button        Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:40.625           21
2.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:40.627 + 0.002   18
3.  Barrichello   Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:40.907 + 0.282   20
4.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:40.934 + 0.309   22
5.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           (B)  1:41.241 + 0.616   18
6.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:41.263 + 0.638   20
7.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:41.310 + 0.685   23
8.  Kubica        BMW Sauber           (B)  1:41.322 + 0.697   20
9.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:41.372 + 0.747   22
10. Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:41.373 + 0.748   23
11. Vettel        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:41.403 + 0.778   19
12. Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:41.478 + 0.853   22
13. Kobayashi     Toyota               (B)  1:41.499 + 0.874   24
14. Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:41.675 + 1.050   20
15. Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:41.682 + 1.057   15
16. Alonso        Renault              (B)  1:41.897 + 1.272   19
17. Nakajima      Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:42.156 + 1.531   21
18. Grosjean      Renault              (B)  1:42.213 + 1.588   19
19. Fisichella    Ferrari              (B)  1:42.351 + 1.726   23

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