Five talking points from the Abu Dhabi GP

1) Vettel's failure was cathartic, but ruined the race

For the long-suffering fans of McLaren, Ferrari and even Mark Webber, there was probably a few wry smiles, cheers, clenched fists and the like when they saw Sebastian Vettel's broken car at the side of the road on the opening lap of the Abu Dhabi race. Just as the German executed another perfect getaway and looked set to spend another Sunday idly racking up yet another race win, a dodgy Pirelli tyre delivered a moment of catharsis for the beaten hoards on the 2011 grid.

But, while they may have cheered then, for the neutral fan Vettel's immediate elimination was the worst thing that could have happened. Because the German was always likely to be the only driver capable of challenging Lewis Hamilton for the win at the Yas Marina track. Their fight for pole position on Saturday had been electric, and their tussle for the race win should have been equally absorbing.

But instead, a sudden deflation left the 2011 champion sat watching the rest of the Abu Dhabi race on the pit wall, while Hamilton serenely drove off to take win number three of the season. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but it would have been nice to see him work for it. Instead, we just got a Vettel-esque race of dreary domination from a slightly different member of the F1 grid.

2) Only time will tell if Hamilton has turned a corner

Speaking of cathartic moments, there can be few more needed ones in 2011 than Hamilton's victory itself. Coming into the weekend muttering about trying to find a "happy bubble" to immerse himself in for next season as he attempts to fight back from his recent run of unimpressive results and collisions with Felipe Massa, he almost lucked into the perfect 'clean sheet' moment as Vettel's crash cleared a path for him to return to winning ways.

But, as eternal pessimists and avid birdwatchers will tell you, one swallow does not a summer make, and if Hamilton is to sort himself out for the 2012 season, it is vital that he treats this victory as more of a starting point for his recovery, rather than evidence that his 2011 problems are now behind him.

Signs are positive that this is exactly how he is treating it. "It is early days yet but this is definitely a start," he told reporters in the press conference after his Abu Dhabi win, "You know how it goes, anything can happen." And that is the key point. Celebrating the end of the poor spell now would simply set himself up for another fall in the Interlagos finale. Best to keep quiet for now, and hope for the best.

3) Ferrari need to sort Alonso out with a decent car

Once again Fernando Alonso has put in one of the best drives of the season, and once again his reward is slightly less than he might have expected given that effort. A second place in a dead rubber event that will be quickly forgotten almost as soon as it is inscribed into Formula One's record books hardly seemed a fair prize for the effort that the Spaniard put into his Sunday drive in Abu Dhabi.

"It was an individual race against time," he oddly described his efforts in the press conference afterwards, "I was doing qualifying laps every lap trying to close the gap but it was one tenth up or down for the whole stint." The Spaniard thrashed the life out of his Ferrari trying to somehow manufacture a way to challenge Hamilton for the win, despite the quest appearing impossible and second place being remarkably secure from early in the race.

But wonderful though it is to see Alonso pushing an underperforming car beyond it's limits again, today's drive also serves as a stark reminder of how much work Ferrari have to do for next year. Even their recent new car developments designed with 2012 in mind seem slightly dubious, their flapping front wing, and a rear wing that seemed to cause Alonso all sorts of handling issues in practice. But for the credibility of the championship, the Italian really need to give him a fair chance next season.

4) Force India calmly claim sixth place

The processional nature of most of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix worked very much to Force India's benefit. Having got both of their cars into the top ten in qualifying, they then held those places off the line, benefited from Vettel's retirement, and despite a few hairy moments during Paul di Resta's one-stop strategy, came home in 8th and 9th places without too many worries, comfortably outscoring their nearest rivals in the constructors championship.

With just one race to go, that haul of six points looks to have been enough to cement their sixth spot for good, with the Indian team now 15 points clear of Sauber and 16 ahead of Toro Rosso. Barring some unexpected and serious attrition among the frontrunners in Brazil, they now look uncatchable.

Granted, the team had been eyeing up a higher prize of catching Renault for fifth just a couple of months ago, so simply securing sixth can't be seen as a spectacular achievement, but it will represent their highest-ever position in the points table and another real sign of progress for the former hapless backmarkers, and after a nervy few races where Toro Rosso appeared to be inexorably reeling them in, they secured the position with a very calm, controlled and collected display.

5) DRS and sparkles can't fix a broken track

The spectacular surroundings of the Yas Marina circuit were once again a sight to behold, with incredible feats of engineering such as their colour-changing hotel, or the frankly ridiculous Ferrari World theme park serving to help Abu Dhabi's track stand out as the ultimate in modern F1 facilities once again. The Tilkedrome to end all Tilkedromes (apart from all the other new Tilkedromes being built, obviously).

But for all the fancy buildings, the rollercoasters, the twilight racing and the shiny reflections from the floodlights, it was still a fairly tepid spectacle on the track itself. The FIA's attempt to boost on-track action following 2010's snoozefest by installing, and then extending, two DRS zones did allow for some passing, but it was as bland and uninteresting as any of the DRS-heavy races we have had so far, not to mention that with the two zones immediately following each other, largely pointless, as any car passing through one zone then simply got re-passed in the second.

The authorities in Ahu Dhabi had given serious thought to making actual changes to the track after the 2010 race, with one of the key parts of the plan being a decision to revisit the logic of placing the tight fiddly turn 5/6 chicane directly before a hairpin corner at the end of a straight. Those plans were shelved in order to see how the 2011 tyre-and-DRS zhow would improve things, but after this evening's race at the glittery but tedious track, maybe it is time to revisit those plans for 2012.

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