Kimi Raikkonen came from fourth to win his first race since his comeback at the start of the year and his first win for Lotus.
The Finn jumped to second after a faltering start by Mark Webber in second before leader Lewis Hamilton suffered an electrical fault which forced his retirement.
The Lotus driver then held off an attacking Fernando Alonso, who managed to finish second, in the closing laps to win the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The race was chaotic with seven retirements, helping Sebastian Vettel to come from dead last to finish third and secure a podium. The fascinating result sees the Red Bull driver maintain a ten-point lead in the championship despite his difficulties which involved two incidents during the race which damaged his front-wing to such an extent he was required to pit for a replacement.
Despite completing two stops and starting from the pits, he made up 20 places, the final overtake coming on the penultimate lap to jump Jenson Button.
The race was action packed with several incidents including Nico Rosberg and Narain Karthikeyan making scary contact as the Mercedes launched itself over the HRT ending both their races.
Toward the end of the race, Sergio Perez was handed a 10-second stop/go penalty for forcing Paul di Resta off-track which led to the retirement of Grosjean and Webber who made contact as they avoided the spinning Perez,
For a full race report, check out our live commentary here.
2012 Abu Dhabi GP Results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Gap | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 25 | |
| 02. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +0.8 | 18 |
| 03. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +4.1 | 15 |
| 04. | J. Button | McLaren | +7.7 | 12 |
| 05. | P. Maldonado | Williams | +13.0 | 10 |
| 06. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | +20.0 | 8 |
| 07. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +22.8 | 6 |
| 08. | B. Senna | Williams | +23.5 | 4 |
| 09. | P. di Resta | Force India | +24.1 | 2 |
| 10. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | +27.4 | 1 |
| 11. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | +28.0 | |
| 12. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | +34.9 | |
| 13. | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | +47.7 | |
| 14. | T. Glock | Marussia | +56.4 | |
| 15. | S. Perez | Sauber | +56.7 | |
| 16. | V. Petrov | Caterham | +1:04.5 | |
| 17. | P. de la Rosa | HRT | +1:11.7 | |
| 18. | C. Pic | Marussia | +14 laps | |
| 19. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | +18 laps | |
| 20. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +18 laps | |
| 21. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +36 laps | |
| 22. | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | +48 laps | |
| 23. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +48 laps | |
| 24. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | +55 laps |
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