Nico Rosberg took a dominant victory in the 2015 F1 season ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday, heading home team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, as Mercedes claimed a record breaking 12th one-two finish of the year.
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Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was ecstatic after wrapping a hat trick of wins this season and said that he wanted to first savour the moment before looking ahead to next year.
Come the end of the 55 laps Rosberg finished 8.2 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who opted for a different race strategy in a bid to find a way past the German, only to fall short.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff speculated after the race that Rosberg’s renewed spark may have been caused by a release of pressure from no longer having to fight for the title.
“Austin (in Texas) was a tough weekend and since then I’ve just come back a lot stronger”, said Rosberg from the podium after spraying the sparkling rosewater used instead of the usual champagne.
“I am so happy that I found some performance at the end of the season”. In the year 2014, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was won by Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes Team.
Meanwhile, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, who finished third to go past teammate Sebastian Vettel with more podiums than the German, said it was encouraging for the team. “I don’t need any holidays”.
“We’ll give it everything over the winter and I’ll try to keep the current form going, starting next year”. Maybe it’s just Rosberg’s will to win and finish the season in style?
“Austin was the low point of the season”, Rosberg said.
He pitted after lap 41 but instead of switching to the softer option tires for the last 14 laps, Hamilton was fitted with another set of the harder prime tires and stood no chance of making up the deficit.
“The team has been has been quite good compared to past year”.
“Maybe a Christmas card”, ventured Rosberg, who is a Monaco neighbour of the Briton and has known Hamilton since they were teenage rivals in karting. As Williams’ Valterri Bottas was coming out of the pits, he clipped an incoming Jenson Button of McLaren, which saw the Finn get slapped with a five-second penalty for his indiscretion.
Behind the Ferraris it was Sergio Perez in fifth pace for Force India followed by Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull, Nico Hulkenberg in the Force India, Felipe Massa in the Williams, Romain Grosjean in the Lotus and Daniil Kvyat rounding out the top ten in the second Red Bull.
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Much could be made of that decision, with one wondering – with nothing to lose and the title long since decided – whether Hamilton could indeed have clung onto his lead.
