Posted on 29th November 2016
At the Abu Dhabi GP on Sunday evening, Lewis Hamilton won his 53nd Grand Prix of his career ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel but a second place finish was enough for Rosberg to clinch his first world championship.
Heading into the race, Rosberg only needed a podium finish to secure the title and he weathered a tense opening two stints of the race and made a decisive overtake on Max Verstappen at mid-distance to consolidate second position.
I should also mention that Force India capped its season by finishing as best of the rest behind the top three teams, with Nico Hulkenberg signing off his second stint with the team by finishing seventh ahead of Sergio Perez. The result secured what had already been a likely fourth position in the constructors’ championships, a remarkable achievement for a team competing on a limited budget compared to the top teams.
At the start of the race, Hamilton led away cleanly from Pole Position and got into Turn 1 ahead of Rosberg, who stayed ahead of the Red Bulls and the Ferraris. Behind Hamilton, Verstappen tapped the sidepod of Nico Hulkenberg, spun him around even though Hulkenberg was very lucky to avoid the wall and he rejoined the race in last place.
Meanwhile Verstappen's team mate Daniel Ricciardo dropped behind Kimi Raikkonen at the start as the Finn took advantage of superior grip from his ultra-soft tyres.
In the opening stint of the race, Hamilton did what many expected ahead of the weekend and backed Rosberg into the pack and not opening up a gap. He pitted very early by coming in on Lap 7 for soft tyres, though his stop was delayed slightly for Raikkonen who also took softs from third position.
All of our eyes were then on Rosberg’s in-lap and Rosberg also found himself held in the box as compatriot Vettel came in behind him. Despite the delay in the pit stop, Rosberg emerged marginally ahead of Raikkonen and managed to hold second position.
Rosberg then had to deal with the attentions of Verstappen, who was yet to pit and now acting as rear-gunner for Red Bull as they hoped to bring Ricciardo back into proceedings.
Ricciardo pitted earlier than expected by coming in on Lap 9 and emerging in a tight train of cars behind his teammate. With Rosberg being warned not to take any risks against Verstappen from his team held third position. It then soon became apparent Red Bull and Verstappen were thinking of a one-stop strategy.
The key moment for Rosberg's race came on Lap 19. Shortly after being given a message that he had to pass Verstappen in the next few laps, the two men nearly touched as Rosberg went wheel-to-wheel with the teenager through the second chicane, with Rosberg getting a better exit out of Turn 9.
This meant that Rosberg then got ahead through the kink at Turn 10 to make the move stick. Rosberg then put in two consecutive fastest laps afterward would prove crucial at Rosberg’s next stop, when he emerged ahead of the Red Bull driver, whose one-stop strategy had moved him into podium contention.
What followed for the remainder of the race, there was a final roll of the dice for Hamilton. With Vettel also going for a longer second stint in the lead, Hamilton started to back Rosberg into the chasing Red Bulls behind, despite several hurry-up messages from the Mercedes pit wall.
Vettel’s pit stop on Lap 37 elevated the Mercedes pair back into a 1-2 with Vettel emerging in sixth place behind Verstappen, Ricciardo and Raikkonen but on the super-soft tyre. Hamilton then got another message on Lap 43, saying Vettel, now just 10 seconds down the road, was “an imminent threat” to the lead.
Ten laps later the Mercedes team was instructing Hamilton to up the pace, with the world champion replying: “I suggest you guys let us race,” as Vettel continued to close in for Ferrari. Vettel soon then became a bigger concern as he caught and passed Ricciardo in fine style, with Hamilton’s pace dropping further as the red car got closer and closer.
Hamilton’s tactics set up a grandstand finish, with Verstappen and Vettel edging ever closer to the leading Mercedes drivers. Executive director (technical) Paddy Lowe even got on the radio to instruct Hamilton to speed up, to which the world champion replied he was doing the only thing he could to win a fourth title.
As the laps ticked down, Vettel soon eased past Verstappen and found himself staring down the gearbox of Rosberg. With third position enough for a first championship, Tony Ross reminded his driver not to do anything stupid if Vettel got close, even though he never did.
Rosberg did not put a foot wrong and drove flawlessly under immense pressure in the closing laps to cross the line as the 2016 world champion. Rosberg held his head in his hands on the cool-down lap, he then celebrated the win by performing some Vettel-esque donuts with his car opposite the main grandstand before returning to parc ferme.
But it was Lewis Hamilton who won the Abu Dhabi GP, his 53rd win of his career left many wondering why he used the tactics that he did towards his team mate. He finished ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg who finished in second place 0.439 seconds behind him.
The title win means Rosberg follows in the footsteps of his father Keke, who won in 1982 and makes him the second second-generation world champion after Damon Hill. Yas Marina’s dramatic finish capped a season which has ebbed and flowed between the Mercedes drivers and means Hamilton has won the final four races of the year without claiming the title.
Rosberg then finished ahead of Sebastian Vettel in third place who finished 0.843 seconds behind Hamilton and ahead of Max Verstappen who was 1.685 seconds behind Hamilton. At the chequered flag the top four were covered by just 1.6s, one of the closest finishes in recent memory and a fitting climax to a close season between Mercedes’ drivers, who have shared 19 of the 21 victories this season.
Daniel Riccardo ended the race in a brilliant fifth place ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in sixth place, Nico Hulkenberg in seventh place, Sergio Perez in eighth place, Felipe Nasr in ninth place (finishing his 250th GP and last ever race in the points) and Fernando Alonso who rounded off the top ten finishers of the race.
Romain Grosjean ended the race just out of the points in eleventh place. But he did finish ahead of Esteban Gutierrez in twelfth place, Esteban Ocon in thirteenth place, Pascal Wehrlein in fourteenth place, Marcus Ericsson in fifteenth place, Felipe Nasr in sixteenth place and Jolyon Palmer in seventeenth place.
Carlos Sainz Jr, Daniil Kvyat, Jenson Button, Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen did not finish the race.
The classification for the Abu Dhabi GP is as follows:-
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.38:04.13
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 0.439s
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 0.843s
4. Max Verstappen, Red-Bull-TAG Heuer, 1.685s
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-TAG Heuer, 30.486s
6. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 18.816s
7. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, 50.114s
8. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 58.776s
9. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 59.436s
10. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 59.896s
11. Romain Grosjean, Haas Ferrari, 1.16.777s
12. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas Ferrari, 1.35.113s
13. Esteban Ocon, MRT Racing, 1 lap
14. Pascal Wehrlein, MRT Racing, 1 lap
15. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 1 lap
16. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 1 lap
17. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1 lap
18. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, Not Classified
19. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, Not Classified
20. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, Not Classified
21. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, Not Classified
22. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, Not Classified
Nico Rosberg is the 2016 Formula One Drivers Champion with 385 points, Lewis Hamilton is in second place with 380 points, Daniel Ricciardo is in third place with 256 points, Sebastian Vettel is in fourth place with 212 points, Max Verstappen is in fifth place with 204 points, Kimi Raikkonen is in sixth place with 186 points, Sergio Perez is in seventh place with 101 points, Valtteri Bottas is in eighth place with 85 points, Nico Hulkenberg is in ninth place with 72 points and Fernando Alonso is in tenth place with 54 points.
Mercedes are Constructors Champions with 765 points, Red Bull is in second place with 468 points, Ferrari is in third place with 398 points, Force India is in fourth place with 173 points, Williams is in fifth place with 138 points, McLaren is in sixth place with 76 points, Toro Rosso is in seventh place with 63 points, Haas is in eighth place with 29 points, Renault is in ninth place with 8 points, Sauber is tenth with 2 points and Manor are eleventh with 1 point.
Big thank you to everyone who has followed Driving For Pleasure's F1 coverage this season. Driving For Pleasure will be covering all the latest F1 news as it hits the paddock, with special articles throughout the off season before the F1 season begins again in March 2017.
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
