Formula 1 took its drivers' title chase down to the last race of the season Sunday. Sebastien Vettel would start from the pole at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and three other drivers would join him in the final battle for the points championship.

The 23-year-old German Red Bull driver needed to make up 15 points on Ferrari's Fernando Alonso going into the race. The Spaniard started third on the grid, but McLaren's Jenson Button made a dashing start to push him to fourth. Alonso managed to keep Australian contender Mark Webber at bay, but Vettel led at Abu Dhabi.

Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher found himself in the middle of opening lap drama. He got nudged into a spin by Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, then was clobbered by Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi. Liuzzi could not get his car stopped in time, and slid up Schumacher's nosecone.

Ferrari brought Alonso in for harder tyres at the end of lap 15. He managed to exit just ahead of Webber. Red Bull called Vettel in on lap 24. He emerged in second place.

Alonso still led Webber, but was down in 11th place, and he could not get past Renault's Vitaly Petrov. Renault's Robert Kubica climbed up to second. He came in at the end of lap 46. When Kubica emerged from the pits ahead of Alonso, Ferrari's hope was finished for 2010.

Vettel took the chequered flag for the win. Lewis Hamilton was second, Button third, Rosberg fourth, Kubica fifth, and Alonso pulled up alongside sixth-placed Petrov to express his disappointment.

Sebastien Vettel, New F1 World Champion, said, "I am a bit speechless to be honest. I do not know what you are supposed to say at this moment. It has been an incredibly tough season for myself, for all of us. Physically and mentally especially. And to come here ... we have always kept believing in us, in our team, the car. So did I keep believing in myself. So today was a special day all around."

Victory and joy for an emotional Vettel. At 23 and a-half years old, he is the youngest man in history to win the F-1 drivers' title.