Nico Rosberg completed a hat trick of victories to end the Formula One season when he won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday, while his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton was left frustrated by a tire strategy which he believed cost him a shot at winning.
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But the Briton, who will celebrate his third championship at the swanky Viceroy Hotel, which overlooks the Yas Marina Circuit, on Sunday night, is nonplussed about his winless streak.
“I am quicker at the moment and I am very pleased about that and enjoying the moment and happy to be on pole again”, said Rosberg, who had voiced fears after Friday practice that his car’s high-mileage engine would slow him down.
‘Austin was the low point of the season and since then I’ve come back a lot stronger.
Niki Lauda, the Mercedes team chairman, puts the hierarchy change at Mercedes down to Rosberg’s good form, particularly with his engine power deficit in Abu Dhabi.
Rosberg came back at Hamilton in Q3; the champion’s first effort was a disappointing 1m 41.016s as the lap faded in the final sector. Tonight a bit more but it was very close lately in the last two races. “I was a lot more comfortable at the beginning of the year”.
In a bid to cure the problems which have afflicted his qualifying pace since Singapore in September, Hamilton opted to remove part of the W06’s rear suspension this weekend, although later admitted the move had backfired.
“We have been working hard to make some changes”.
Ron Dennis has added fuel to the speculation by declaring in a news conference that a sabbatical year for Alonso in 2016 is a consideration, but in a subsequent (brief) interview with the BBC Alonso said he would be on the grid in 2016. He led by 18.2 seconds after 35 laps, but faced a second stop knowing he really needed an advantage of 22 seconds, if possible. “We were able to improve in every session and the weekend so far has been pretty smooth”.
“The laps have not been ideal”.
“It hasn’t been the best run of qualifying sessions for me lately – but I’ve still managed to turn three of those into wins”.
“The balance has been different for a few races now and I just couldn’t get around it”. “Today was a bit better, but obviously not enough to beat these two”.
And without that burden-something Rosberg seems to have carried with him for much of 2015-the German can enter next year with his confidence at its maximum, knowing he can take on his team-mate and succeed, with no need to resort to desperate tactics and return trips to the drawing board. But the 2007 world champion said that it wasn’t going to be easy against the dominant duo.
“That has been our game-plan all year, and I lost time because of that”.
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The result easily secured the Finn fourth place in the championship behind Hamilton, Rosberg and Vettel after Raikkonen started the race a point behind his countryman Valtteri Bottas of Williams.
