Mercedes Nico Rosberg is the 2016
World Champion, emulating his father Nico’s achievement after a tense 2016
Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in which he finished a pig in the
middle second as winning team mate Lewis Hamilton attempted to back him up as
much as possible into the clutches of Ferrari Sebastian Vettel and Red Bulls
Max Verstappen in an enforced but finely judged master class of race craft.
Less than two seconds covered the
top four at the chequered flag as Hamilton ignored instructions from the
Mercedes pit wall to up his pace in the closing laps. Daniel Ricciardo followed
his Red Bull team mate home, with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen taking sixth ahead
of Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Williams’ Felipe Massa and
McLaren’s Fernando Alonso completed the top ten.
The start saw the two Mercedes lead
off the line, with Hamilton heading Rosberg, as Raikkonen passed Ricciardo for
third. Things got worse for Red Bull as Verstappen, in sixth, ran out of room
exiting Turn 1 and spun after making light contact with Hulkenberg. Hamilton
and Rosberg moved clear until their first pit stops, respectively on the
seventh and eighth laps, after which Hamilton led again but with Verstappen
having risen to second ahead of Rosberg.
Hulkenberg took a fine seventh for
Force India, and with team mate Sergio Perez eighth Force India easily secured
their fourth position in the constructors’ stakes. But Perez only just got home
ahead of the fighting Williams of Felipe Massa, who signed off on his F1 career
by maintaining his record of scoring points in each Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in
which he has competed, and Fernando Alonso, who took the final point for
McLaren.
