The inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2009 was the first ever day-night action and the race was won by Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull after pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton, then driving for McLaren, was forced to retired due to a brake failure.
Jenson Button had already secured the title of world champion in Brazil, but only two points separated the second-placed and third-placed Sebastian Vettel and Rubens Barrichello. Likewise, Brawn GP were declared Constructors’ champions in Brazil with Red Bull second, but third position overall was still undecided between McLaren and Ferrari.
This would be the last race for Nico Rosberg at Williams and for Robert Kubica, who replaced Fernando Alonso at Renault in 2010 at BMW Sauber. This also would be the last race for Nick Heidfeld until the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix and for Kazuki Nakajima and Giancarlo Fisichella and the BMW Sauber and Toyota teams.
At Ferrari, both Kimi Raikkonen and Giancarlo Fisichella struggled and were at the bottom of the timing sheets during the weekend. A pair of last-minute one-lap charges by Raikkonen saved the team from a complete flop.
Vettel and Mark Webber gave Red Bull their fourth one-two finish of the season, with Vettel finishing 17 seconds ahead of his teammate. Hamilton led the race from the start but failed to steal any significant lead and Vettel stayed within a few seconds of him during the early stages of the race.
There was contact between Rubens Barrichello and Webber in the first corner, with Barrichello losing a part of his front wing which put him on the back foot straight away. Hamilton was forced to retire the car after eighteen laps as it was unsafe to continue given the fact that the track had large braking areas.
Renault also struggled all weekend and neither Fernando Alonso nor Romain Grosjean were able to find speed around the circuit.
