Nico Rosberg Rounds Off Season in Style

Hamilton was crowned as Formula One World Champion at the YAS Marina circuit ahead of the race, but had hopes to secure his 44 win, in his number 44 Mercedes vehicle, only days before the United Arab Emirates celebrates its 44 national day.

“The start, the pit stops and the tyre management were all really good and I felt like I had it all under control”.

Unfortunately for Rosberg, he will have to wait until March 20 – the provisional date for next year’s curtain raiser in Australia – before he can take the challenge to Hamilton once more.

Rosberg finished the season on a high, with three consecutive wins and six straight pole positions, but it came too late to prevent Hamilton taking his third drivers’ championship.

“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.

Lewis Hamilton, Rosberg’s Mercedes team mate finished second and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen finished in third place.

Despite a brief flurry of fastest laps, Hamilton was unable to find the second-a-lap speed he needed to catch his teammate, and after getting the gap down to less than seven records, Rosberg actually increased it in the final stages of the 55-lap race.

Hamilton was magnanimous in defeat, a result controlled and orchestrated by the Mercedes pit-wall team, who made clear that a one-two result was their priority and did not want to take any serious risks. It is rumoured that the Mercedes team did not allow Hamilton to push further at the end of the race with his worn-out tires, or so claim his fans. Congratulations to the entire team for the most dominant season in Formula One history, looking at the points scored. “I’m ecstatic. It’s always tough to race Lewis, it’s a great battle internally for us…”

Stewart says Rosberg must not be written off in 2016 but insists the German will need to raise his game across the whole season to beat the “aggressive” Hamilton.

Can Ferrari take the fight to Mercedes next year? I’m going to party tonight, I’m enjoying the fun, enjoying that I progressed also a lot in the end of the season.

Daniel Ricciardo was sixth for Red Bull ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in the second Force India, Felipe Massa of Williams, Romain Grosjean who marked his last race for Lotus with a surge to ninth and Daniil Kvyat in the second Red Bull. I’ll try and keep the current form going next year.