Vettel signs off in style

Britain’s Jenson Button,who clinched the title in the previous Brazilian Grand Prix,rounded off his season with third place after hunting down Webber and chasing him nose-to-tail in the closing laps. A mere 0.6 of a second separated the two cars at the chequered flag.

It was Button’s first appearance on the podium since Italy last month after a season that started with him winning six of the first seven races for a team that emerged at the 11th hour from the remains of departing Honda.

The Briton ended the season with 95 points to Vettel’s 84,an unthinkable outcome at the end of last year when he ended the campaign with just three points after McLaren and Ferrari battled for supremacy.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton had led from pole position but the Briton’s hopes of becoming the first winner in Abu Dhabi vanished after 20 laps when he retired with a brake problem.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello finished fourth with Germany’s Nick Heidfeld fifth in BMW-Sauber’s last race before the German manufacturer leaves the sport.

Kamui Kobayashi scored his first points in Formula One with sixth place for Toyota ahead of veteran Italian team mate Jarno Trulli in seventh. Swiss rookie Sebastien Buemi took the final point for Toro Rosso in eighth place.

Force India end ninth

Vitantonio Liuzzi and Adrian Sutil finished 15th and 17th respectively as Force India ended the season in ninth place with 13 points.

Liuzzi,who started 17th at the grid in Abu Dhabi,improved two places while team mate Sutil could gain one place after starting at 18th.