Sixth Driver of the Weekend win for Vettel

Sebastian Vettel topped of the driver of the weekend poll for the sixth time this season following his dominant drive to victory in Abu Dhabi. Vettel scooped more than twice the votes of anyone else.

A well-judged drive to sixth place on a one-stop strategy earned Paul di Resta enough votes for second in the poll, his second appearance inside the top three this season.

Third place marked Fernando Alonso’s ninth appearance in the top three this year, second only to the all-conquering Vettel.

1. Sebastian Vettel

Started: 2nd
Finished: 1st

Despite being edged to pole position by Mark Webber, Vettel took the lead on the run down to turn one and never looked back.

Vettel was so far ahead of his rivals he was, at stages, setting faster laps on worn tyres than his rivals were on fresh ones. Fastest lap slipped from his grasp however – Alonso claimed it after putting the soft tyres on late in the race.

Vettel celebrated his 11th win of the year with more doughnuts and a rather amusing post-race radio conversation.

Vettel by a mile, marginally off of pole position but embarrassed everybody in the race. His gap even after the first lap was incredible.
Douglas (@mwahahaha)

People forget “the weekend” runs from Friday to Sunday evening doughnuts. Vettel only made one mistake that whole time ?����ǣ first corner of his final run in Q3. Even then, he was just 0.118sec behind Webber.
mda (@mda72)

He crushed everyone else. A bit of a mistake in qualifying, but he even apologised for that on the radio, and I would think his race performance more than made up for that.

On top of that, he gave me a good laugh when I saw the doughnuts and heard the radio exchange with Horner and Rocquelin. I hate that he makes winning look so easy, I hate that other teams can?������t even come close to him; it?������s hard not to like him once you see the funny, human side.

Before, I never said I was a fan of Vettel (not to be confused with hating him, but he wasn?������t the one I was cheering on) but he?������s won a fan in me.
Steven (@steevkay)

2. Paul di Resta

Started: 11th
Finished: 6th

Despite qualifying 12th – that became 11th due to Raikkonen’s exclusion – di Resta was upbeat ahead of the Grand Prix.

By the end of the opening lap the Force India driver was up to tenth and continued to make positions before and after his stop.

He executed a one-stop strategy brilliantly – Force India were the only team to make it work, doing so for both their drivers – holding off the faster Lewis Hamilton in the closing laps.

Paul di Resta is my driver of the weekend. He excellently executed one-stop strategy and managed to keep Hamilton behind in the final laps achieving the best possible result.
@Girts

I went for Di Resta because the “driver of the weekend” means putting everything together. Vettel was obviously unbeatable but Di Resta didn?������t put a wheel wrong all weekend, and his race was magnificent, holding off Hamilton on 30-plus lap old tyres was very impressive.
Jack (@Jmc200)

3. Fernando Alonso

Started: 10th
Finished: 5th

Alonso was knocked out in Q2 for the first time this season however fought back during the race with some strong pace. His strategy came together in the final stint on the soft tyres despite an off-track excursion while passing Jean-Eric Vergne which left him with back pain but no penalty.

Went for Alonso for the fighting and getting a decent result in the end.
@MarcusAurelius

2013 Driver of the Weekend results

2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Image ?�?� Red Bull/Getty