Lewis Hamiton wins Abu Dhabi and wraps up Drivers' Championship after rival Nico Rosberg suffers power failure
- Rosberg started Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from pole position but was overtaken by Hamilton at the first corner
- Rosberg finished outside the points as he suffered power failure with his car and was lapped by his team-mate
- Felipe Massa finished second in his Williams while his team-mate Valtteri Bottas was third
- Jenson Button, in what could be his final grand prix, finished fifth
Lewis Hamilton is the King of the Track again. History fell to the 29-year-old from Stevenage under the dark sky of Abu Dhabi, the fireworks greeting only the fourth Britain to win multiple Formula One world titles.
The fourth in the line to the throne – Prince Harry of Wales – went to the pit wall to say: ‘You are an absolute legend.’ They told him, too, that he was Mercedes-Benz’s first champion since a chap called Juan-Manuel Fangio, in 1955. He was the greatest of them all, but Hamilton is hardly a slouch. Hamilton's response was simple - 'Wooo-Hooo...World Champion'.
He even managed to pass Nico Rosberg on the penultimate lap to take the race win and the title by 67 points. Double scoring was an irrelevance, thankfully.
Lewis Hamilton is paraded in front of the world's media after celebrating his second world championship triumph in Abu Dhabi
The Briton is drenched in bubbly after posing for a team photo with his Mercedes crew in the Abu Dhabi pit-lane
Hamilton fought back the tears on the podium as the British national anthem played, and right, with the trophy and pointing to the crowd
Hamilton punches the air as he crosses the start-finish line to claim his 11th victory of the campaign
Hamilton leapt out of his Mercedes and ran to his family and girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger, giving the popstar a kiss
Rosberg congratulated his team-mate before the victorious Briton headed out on to the podium
Hamilton celebrates on the rostrum with Toto Wolff, Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, who completed a strong result for Williams
| Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes 384 | 384 |
| Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 317 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 238 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 186 |
| Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 167 |
| Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 161 |
| Felipe Massa | Williams | 134 |
| Jenson Button | McLaren | 126 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 96 |
| Sergio Perez | Force India | 59 |
Add Hamilton’s name to Graham Hill, Jim Clark and Sir Jackie Stewart in the pantheon of British double title winners. Six years separated Hamilton’s first and second championships, but now the greatness he promised as a rookie of prodigious gifts has been rewarded as richly as his talent warrants.
The race had been set up perfectly by Rosberg searing to pole position by of 0.386sec 24 hours before. Saturday has been his day all year.
But it is Sunday that counts and after a weekend of fraying nerves, it took Hamilton even less time – a blink of an eye – to establish a lead in the race. Rosberg was stuck to his grid place like glue. Hamilton powered ahead, swept to his right in front of Rosberg and flew threw the first left-hand corner.
By the time Rosberg came round it, Hamilton was in Dubai. Or another planet.
A weekend of visible jitters, exasperated answers in press conferences, and false protestations that he was cooler than a cucumber in a tumbler of Hendrick’s – all consigned to history in one faultless move.
From that moment on the grid until the end of the 55th and concluding lap, the outcome seemed inevitable.
But, still, we held our breath for we had been to the brink of championship glory before with Lewis, the master of suspense. In 2007 he started the last race seven points ahead of Kimi Raikkonen only to suffer gearbox failure, finish seventh and miss the title by a one point.
Prince Harry congratulates Hamilton over the team radio, and right, the Mercedes man celebrates his triumph with Nicole Scherzinger
Hamilton won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix having lead the race from the first corner after overtaking Nico Rosberg
Hamilton ended the season with a win which sealed him the second F1 Drivers' Championship of his career
Hamilton held on to win by just under three seconds from Felipe Massa, with Valtteri Bottas also getting on the podium for Williams
A year later, he again took a seven-point lead into the finale, this time in Interlagos, against Felipe Massa. Hamilton was in sixth place as Massa crossed the line but scampered through the rain to move up to third on the final lap. There is more drama around this boy than Shakespeare.
So, heavens, we could not entirely discount the unpredictable, even though Rosberg has converted just three of his 10 poles into victory this season.
How must it have felt for Hamilton’s family who were late arrivals at the track, despite being told by their son he was better focused going to work without them being attendance? His father Anthony paced up and down as his wont. Nicole Scherzinger, step-mother Linda and brother Nic, in a Mercedes top, were all in the garage, their eyes fixed on the timing screens.
Rosberg had a race to forget as he lost the lead on the first corner of the race and then suffered with a power failure
Hamilton takes the lead on the very first corner of the race after overtaking Rosberg who started on pole
Hamilton got off to the best-possible start as he overtook Rosberg on the first corner and saw his car home to win the grand prix
But before the sun had set, in the twilight of the Abu Dhabi evening, Hamilton had gone into a comfortable lead. By his first stop, 10 laps in, the gap was 2.7sec. Rosberg stayed out a lap longer but it did him no good on rubber that was only getting worse.
Rosberg’s engineer Tony Ross came over the radio to explain their remedial strategy: ‘Keep the gap to him (Hamilton) manageable, and we’ll go long.’
But within minutes, the German veered off track. That was nothing compared to the problems with his car’s battery gizmos: the energy recovery system (ERS). ‘It’s failed,’ he said over the radio. That was costing him 160bhp and three seconds a lap.
Hamilton came in for new tyres as his time was dipping – Scherzinger bottom lip quivered – but he only needed to be re-shod. He came out and zoomed straight past Rosberg. Both men were totally fair and clean. Hamilton was away.
Now Rosberg had just one chance, scoring heavily enough to take the title if Hamilton were to stop. ‘Just get me into the top five or six as safely as possible,’ he said. Actually, he would need fifth mathematically to have a hope in hell.
‘How am I looking?’ he inquired, while lying seventh and slithering further back.
Williams' driver Felipe Massa took the lead in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but came second in the final race of the season
A TV broadcast shows Lotus' Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado leaving his burning car during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
‘Not good at the moment,’ he was told.
‘What the hell does that mean? What do I need to do?’
‘Just drive flat out.’
It was truly the most pathetic exchange of the season.
But it was not the last. ‘Hey, guys, what’s going on?’ he asked. ‘The car switched off and now the throttle is all over the place. Get my brake pedal back now please.’
As for Hamilton, the message was brighter. ‘Please don’t turn up the car (engine). Leave it alone. It is all working perfectly.’ And once Felipe Massa came in for his second stop, Hamilton was back in the lead. Twelve laps remained, all navigated calmly, even though Massa got close.
So the glory went to Hamilton, and who can say he did not deserve it? He is an extraordinary British sportsman at something like the peak of his powers. Eleven wins to Rosberg’s five is a fair reflection of the season.
Hamilton's girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger arrived to watch her boyfriend win his second Formula One title
Jenson Button and Daniel Ricciardo wave to the crowd ahead of the race in what could be the Brit's final race in Formula One
Prince Harry speaks with Ricciardo and Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner ahead of the race
We salute a genius of the track. He can be moody. His jewellery is not to everyone’s taste. But there is no denying sheer ability when you are privileged enough to see it. He has also worked hard, roaring back to victory after the bugler has played the Last Post on several qualifying sessions, mostly notably at Silverstone when he came from nowhere to win.
But we must pay tribute to Rosberg. He has conducted himself with grace, and driven beyond most people’s expectations.
I have travelled next to him on a plane, on which he was wearing a face mask to save himself from infection and turned down yoghurt because it was not fat free. Such are some of the small sacrifices of many sacrifices he has made to make his talent go even further than nature intended.
But, as in their karting days, it was P1: Lewis Hamilton; P2: Nico Rosberg.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-2846205/Lewis-Hamiton-wins-Abu-Dhabi-wraps-Drivers-Championship-rival-Nico-Rosberg-suffers-power-failure.html#ixzz3JvN0dT20
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