Vettel: F1's youngest ever champ

Sebastian Vettel has become Formula One's youngest ever world champion by winning this afternoon's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Vettel dominated the race, leading from pole position and always looking in contention for the victory, even when the order was shaken up by pit-stops, a number of split strategies and an early safety car period introduced when Michael Schumacher's Mercedes was clouted by the Force India of Vitantonio Liuzzi.

See all the pics of the F1 race

The young German's main title rivals - Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber - endured a race to forget after their soft-compound tyres grained badly, prompting early pit-stops for both. They spent almost half of the race behind Renault's Vitaly Petrov, who had switched from the soft tyre to the 'prime' during the safety car period.

Despite Alonso's best efforts, the Russian stayed ahead, frustrating the Spaniard's bid to become a three-times champion. He gesticulated to Petrov during the slowing-down lap - even though the pair had been racing for position throughout.

McLaren's strong pace in qualifying was transferred to the race, with Lewis Hamilton coming in second and Jenson Button - who stayed out for two thirds of the race on his soft tyres - finishing third.

Mercedes' Nico Rosberg, another early stopper, took fourth place, ahead of Robert Kubica, Petrov, Alonso and Webber. The result gave Vettel the title by just four points. At 23 years and 135 days, he eclipses Lewis Hamilton as the sport's youngest ever champ.