Vettel equals Schumacher and Ascari with seventh win in a row

Sebastian Vettel dominated the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday to claim his seventh Formula 1 victory in succession and equal the record for consecutive wins shared by Alberto Ascari and Michael Schumacher. It was the 37th victory of Vettel's career and his eleventh of the year.

Once again the German, who wrapped up his fourth world title on the trot at the previous event in India, was untouchable on race day, although team-mate Mark Webber pipped him to pole position on Saturday.

Nevertheless Vettel, who lined up second, out dragged his Red Bull Racing colleague on the run to the first corner of the race. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, who qualified third, also nipped ahead of the disappointingly slow-starting Webber in the opening turns, while Lewis Hamilton slid back one place to fifth, losing out to Romain Grosjean.

Vettel charged clear in the early laps, building his now-customary lead, as Webber tried to find a way around Rosberg for second place.

A realistic opportunity didn't come his way until after they had made their first visits to the pits for fresh tyres. As Rosberg sought to find a way around the Force India of Paul di Resta, who was on a one-stop strategy, Webber was able to swoop around the Mercedes.

Up at the front, however, Vettel emphasised his dominance by opening up enough of a lead to enable him to make his second pit stop and rejoin still at the head of the field.

Grosjean ran a long middle stint and moved up to second position when Webber and Rosberg pitted for the second time. When he finally pitted on lap 38, the Franco-Swiss driver emerged side-by-side with Felipe Massa, and narrowly fended off the Brazilian, who came in for new tyres a lap later.

Massa enjoyed a positive start to the race, leading Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso for many laps. But the Brazilian's second pit stop was tardy. Alonso remained out on track for six more laps, which meant that when he made his second stop he had less distance to run until the chequered flag so was able to fit soft rubber.

As Alonso exited the pits, however, he was level with Jean-Eric Vergne, who in turn was fending off Massa. The Spaniard had to drive off the track to stay ahead of both men, an incident that attracted the attention of the race stewards, although he was cleared of any wrongdoing after the race.

Massa ran wide off the track in ninth place, although he recovered to overtake Toro Rosso driver Vergne on the following lap. Revelling in the extra grip supplied by his fresh tyres, Alonso swooped ahead of Hamilton for sixth place, and then quickly dealt with di Resta for a provisional fifth on the road.