Hamilton Redeems Himself

After a 2011 season to forget, Lewis Hamilton made the first steps towards a brighter future with an inspired victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It was the 2008 champion’s third win of a year that will be remembered more for his on-track controversies, most notably his repeated collisions with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. But the 26-year-old answered his critics with a fine drive at the Yas Marina circuit - he is now a best price 11/2 (WilliamHill) to win the 2012 Drivers’ Championship.

It was a rare bad day at the office for this season’s star performer Sebastian Vettel. The dominant Red Bull was forced into an opening lap retirement after a puncture on the second corner. However, the German is still just 6/4 (Betfred) to make it a hat-trick of titles next year.

Abu Dhabi also gave grounds for cautious optimism to Fernando Alonso who pushed Hamilton hard before settling for second spot in his Ferrari. The Spaniard is 6/1 (Skybet) for 2012 glory.

There was another podium finish for Jenson Button, who brought his McLaren home in third despite problems with his Kers power boost system. The 2009 champion is now highly likely to finish a distant runner-up to Vettel in this season’s standings. The former Brawn driver is 10 points clear of Alonso with just the Brazilian Grand Prix to come. Button is 7/1 (WilliamHill) to win the 2012 Drivers’ Championship