The victory was the sixth of the season for Germany’s Rosberg and third in a row – he also won in Brazil and Mexico.
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Hamilton stayed out in front until lap 42 but this long spell allowed Rosberg to close in and when Hamilton re-emerged on soft rather than super-soft tyres, the German led by more than 12 seconds. Thanks so much to my team for this wonderful Silver Arrow – everyone at the factories and the track has done such an incredible job all year.
Mercedes were mysteriously off the pace at the Singapore Grand Prix, and Hamilton has said he’s felt uncomfortable with the balance of the vehicle since. Next season can start tomorrow for me!
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 a little later, Rosberg said: “To finish the season in such a manner, it’s been a special end to the year – to have found more performance through the season”. I really have to take my hat off to this team.
“Our 2016 season now starts in just 48 hours time when we embark on a 12-hour test throughout Tuesday, during which we will be testing the new ultrasoft tyre as well as new constructions for 2016”.
Having gone that long, Hamilton asked over the radio whether he could try to race to the end on the current tyres and try to hold off Rosberg on fresher rubber, only to be firmly told by the team that “it wouldn’t work”. “I said to my race engineer [Peter Bonnington], we really need to sit down to try to figure out how we are going to rectify this”.
Ferrari had a good day, despite Vettel starting in 15th after the team screwed up qualifying, with Raikkonen holding on to his third place on the grid and Vettel storming through the field to take a well-deserved fourth spot.
Mexican Sergio Perez finished fifth, with Australian Daniel Ricciardo sixth for Red Bull and splitting the Force India cars with Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg seventh.
So the season ended as it began – and has run since they were teenage team-mates – bitterly divided but in the same team. “But since then I’ve come back a lot stronger”.
The German must either rise to the challenge and follow in the footsteps of father Keke, Finland’s 1982 world champion, or be written off as a number two. So the end result hasn’t been great many times but today, or this weekend, was a bit better.
“We know what’s changed on the auto, but I just tried to figure out why I couldn’t seem to get a comfortable balance”, Hamilton added. Bottas’ hopes vanished on lap nine when he clipped Jenson Button of McLaren in the pit lane, had to pit again immediately and was penalized for causing the collision. McLaren’s Fernando Alonso made contact with the Sauber of Felipe Nasr and hurtled out of control into the blameless Pastor Maldonado of Lotus. Alonso was given a drive-through penalty for his transgression.
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Manor’s Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi brought up the rear in 18th and 19th.
