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Raikkonen wins Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Kimi Raikkonen won his first Formula One race of the season Sunday, taking the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by 0.8 seconds.

Raikkonen, driving for Lotus, had three seconds and a pair of third-place finishes this season and was consistent enough to be in third in the drivers' standings. But he wasn't able to collect a win until Sunday when he picked up his 19th career grand prix title.

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Raikkonen started in the fourth spot in the grid but jumped into second by passing a pair of cars going into the first turn. Lewis Hamilton, on the McLaren-Mercedes team, led for the first 20 laps and was up by 3.4 second over Raikkonen when Hamilton lost power and retired from the race. Raikkonen led the rest of the way.

Raikkonen completed the 55 laps around the 3.5-mile Yas Marina Circuit in 1 hour, 45 minutes, 58.667 seconds.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was second and Sebastian Vettel, despite a start from the pit lane, came in third, 4.1 seconds behind the winner. Vettel, who drives for Red Bull Racing-Renault, had won the first two Abu Dhabi Grand Prix races.

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Jenson Button, of McLaren-Mercedes, was fourth and Williams-Renault's Pastor Maldonado took fifth.

Vettel retains the drivers' lead with 255 points, 10 more than Alonso. Raikkonen has 198 points for third with Mark Webber, who didn't finish Sunday, fourth at 167 and Hamilton (165) in fifth.

There are two races left on the 2012 Formula One schedule. The United States Grand Prix is in Austin, Texas, on Nov. 18 and the season wraps with the Brazilian Grand Prix Nov. 25.

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