Sebastian Vettel wins seventh straight race to equal Michael Schumacher

• German driver clinched victory in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
• Mark Webber finished second, with Nico Rosberg third

Sebastian Vettel equalled Michael Schumacher's record of seven straight F1 wins in a season. Photograph: Valdrin Xhemaj/EPA

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is the only one that starts in sunshine and ends in twilight but for the 21 drivers who follow Sebastian Vettel round in circles, every race must feel like this.

There was an excoriating sense of deja vu as Vettel did his "doughnuts", spins on the pit straight, and squirted his champagne from the podium that now feels like a throne, with no abdication in sight.

This was his 11th win of the season, the 37th of an extraordinary career but at least there was a fresh sense of emotion. His parents, Norbert and Heike, were there to watch as he equalled Michael Schumacher's 2004 record of seven straight victories.

If he wins the final two races of the year, in Austin and Brazil, he will equal the record of nine wins in as many races set by Alberto Ascari, though that was over two seasons. He would also equal Schumacher's record of 13 wins in one year.

With pole man Mark Webber finishing second this was Red Bull's 15th one-two result in their brief history, their 100th podium too.

Even Vettel has rarely been as dominant as this, winning by half a minute and it could have been more, for his advantage stood at 40 seconds at the time of his second pit stop on lap 37. After that it was cruise control.

Through the smoke from the fireworks, which was supplemented by the burning rubber provided by Vettel and Webber as they cavorted at the end, there were more meaningful matters to discuss.

The troubled Kimi Raikkonen had a bitter-sweet day. His race was over after Turn One, when his light collision with Giedo ven der Garde's Caterham broke his suspension. His exit from the track looked quicker that his start off the grid. It was his first opening-lap retirement since 2006.

The good news for him is that a deal appears to have been brokered between his manager, Steve Robertson, and Lotus. If this is confirmed by lawyers, Raikkonen will race in the last two races later in the month. On Friday he threatened to boycott those venues, claiming he had been paid nothing all season.

It was an important race for Mercedes. With Nico Rosberg finishing third, and Lewis Hamilton seventh, they extended their lead in second place in the constructors' championship to 11 points over Ferrari.

It was, however, the fifth time in six races, going back to the Italian round in September, that Hamilton had been bettered by his Mercedes team-mate. Hamilton is still the quicker man on one-lap Saturday qualifying but the signs are that the German has a greater mastery of his Pirellis, though Hamilton was also unlucky to be held up by Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutiérrez.

This was also a significant day for Paul di Resta, who is fighting for his seat at Force India, where he is fighting off competition from Nico Hülkenberg, current team-mate Sutil and possibly Kevin Magnussen, the bright young thing from the McLaren stable.

Employing a one-stop strategy, Di Resta finished sixth after a stirring battle for fifth place that was much more compelling than anything happening at the pointy end of the race.

As for McLaren, Sergio Pérez – another threatened driver – beat the admittedly unfortunate Jenson Button for the second time in as many races. McLaren are expected to confirm, imminently, that Pérez will partner Button – who suffered early damage – once again in 2014. There was another strong drive by Ferrari's Felipe Massa, though he finished only eighth.

His team-mate, Fernando Alonso who finished fifth, had precautionary checks in hospital after hurting his back on a heavy jolt over the kerbs when he ran wide to avoid a collision with Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso. "I still have all my teeth after the impact," he said. "My back is obviously in pain a little bit because it was a big hit." A team spokesman said he had been given the all-clear.

At the end of the evening, though, it was Vettel's performance to which everyone returned. Even Red Bull's team principal, Christian Horner, who could have been excused for exhausting all his superlatives in recent weeks, looked mightily impressed. All over again.

He said: "It was absolutely mind-blowing in many respects. After the start, Seb got his head down and just disappeared. Not only did he have the pace but he kept asking how the tyres were, and they were fine.

"He was truly dominant. He has hit a patch of form that is incredible. We know Mark Webber is a very fine racing driver. And in a race which didn't have any safety cars or issues, to achieve what he's done is quite mind-blowing.

"I don't have words to describe how phenomenal he is." He kept searching, though. So must we all