There was no champagne on the podium, but Sebastian Vettel ensured the 2009 season got a fitting send-off with a series of doughnuts to toast his Abu Dhabi victory.
Sparkling rosewater was the order of the day on the podium, and as Mark Webber stepped back into the paddock of the Yas Marina Circuit, he reported that the liquid soaked into his Red Bull overalls hadn't tasted "too good".
Alcohol was strictly banned on the man-made Yas Island throughout the weekend, and even F1 teams' catering staff were unable to smuggle the odd bottle of wine into the circuit to use as food ingredients.
However, as BMW-Sauber staged its farewell to F1 with a Marina-side party for the entire paddock on Saturday night, it can be revealed that alcohol was not in short supply despite the wishes of the Muslim location.
Less thrilling was pole sitter Lewis Hamilton's final fling as world champion as he retired as a precaution with a brake problem, but the incoming champion Jenson Button showed his flair with a late-race stoush with Webber to the chequered flag.
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 55 | 1:34:03.414 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | 14 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 55 | +17.8 secs | 3 | 8 |
| 3 | 22 | Jenson Button | Brawn-Mercedes | 55 | +18.4 secs | 5 | 6 |
| 4 | 23 | Rubens Barrichello | Brawn-Mercedes | 55 | +22.7 secs | 4 | 5 |
| 5 | 6 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 55 | +26.2 secs | 8 | 4 |
| 6 | 10 | Kamui Kobayashi | Toyota | 55 | +28.3 secs | 12 | 3 |
| 7 | 9 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 55 | +34.3 secs | 6 | 2 |
| 8 | 12 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 55 | +41.2 secs | 10 | 1 |
| 9 | 16 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 55 | +45.9 secs | 9 | |
| 10 | 5 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 55 | +48.1 secs | 7 | |
| 11 | 2 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 55 | +52.7 secs | 18 | |
| 12 | 4 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 55 | +54.3 secs | 11 | |
| 13 | 17 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 55 | +59.8 secs | 13 | |
| 14 | 7 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 55 | +69.6 secs | 15 | |
| 15 | 21 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 55 | +94.4 secs | 16 | |
| 16 | 3 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Ferrari | 54 | +1 Lap | 20 | |
| 17 | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 54 | +1 Lap | 17 | |
| 18 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Renault | 54 | +1 Lap | 19 | |
| Ret | 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 19 | +35 Laps | 1 | |
| Ret | 11 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 17 | +37 Laps | 14 |
