Hamilton misses out on world title

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (CMC):

For Lewis Hamilton, yesterday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix brought double disappointment, after he finished second in the final race of the season and failed to capture a second world drivers' championship.

Hamilton, the British race-car driver whose roots are buried in the Spice Isle of Grenada, always had a long-shot chance of winning the world title. He needed to win at the Yas Island Marina Circuit and hope that other contenders had ruinous drives.

Once he could not topple Germany's Red Bull driver, Sebastien Vettel, to claim the maximum 25 points, his dreams of another world title crashed.

Hamilton had to settle for fourth in the overall standings on 240 points, with Vettel on 256, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso of Spain on 252 and Vettel's Red Bull teammate, Mark Webber of Australia, on 242, finishing ahead of him.

Final result

The final result also confirmed that Red Bull would hoist the constructors' World Championship with 496 points, ahead of Hamilton's McLaren-Mercedes, on 454, with Ferrari third on 396.

"We've ended this year on a high - to get both of us on to the podium and to clinch runner-up spot in the constructors' World Championship represent a great achievement for the whole McLaren-Mercedes team," said Hamilton.

"I was able to match Sebastian's pace in the early part of the race - but after my pitstop, I was stuck behind Robert Kubica. It was just impossible to get past him - he made no mistakes - so it wasn't possible to resume my attack on Sebastian."

Hamilton added: "But that's the way motor racing goes sometimes. The team has been pushing so hard for the whole season, I'm so proud of everyone.

"Now, though, I'm already looking ahead to next year when I hope our car will be even better, so that we can do battle at the very front from the first race of the season. There are 15 weeks to go until the 2011 season starts. It can't come soon enough!"