Rosberg holds off Hamilton for Formula One crown

With Rosberg running behind Hamilton following the final round of pit-stops, the outgoing champion controlled the pace out front, in doing so allowing Max Verstappen and latterly Sebastian Vettel to get within range of the German. Hamilton purposefully drove slowly to open up opportunities to Ferrari and Red Bull behind to join in the battle.

Rosberg twice came under intense pressure, first when he had to overtake the combative Max Verstappen and even more so in the closing laps when his Mercedes team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, in a bid to win the championship himself, backed the German towards the cars behind him, driven by Sebastian Vettel and Verstappen.

Further back, Red Bull’s other driver Daniel Ricciardo followed his teammate home in fifth, with Ferrari’s other man Kimi Räikkönen taking sixth ahead of Force India duo Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. If you want to win the championship in F1 you can’t have a lot of bad luck.

With the sun setting on the Yas Marina track, Hamilton was on pole for the 12th time this season and got away cleanly, as did Rosberg.

After the dust settled, Hamilton was asked to explain his late-race tactics.

For Rosberg, who has played second fiddle to Hamilton over the past two seasons, a first world title was rich reward for his perseverance. “Nico Rosberg has won the world championship after a terrific season”.

The Brit had a flawless weekend leading up to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, qualifying first on Saturday before going on to take the chequered flag for his tenth win of the season.

Rosberg described being told to pass Verstappen as “not a nice thing to hear”, adding to the stress of the title fight with Lewis Hamilton, who tried to back him into the chasing pack.

Hamilon needed to win and see Rosberg finish off the podium to retain his crown by winning a fourth championship.

“It’s insane. It was so intense the race so I think it’s going to take some time to settle and come out because it was really intense out there and so tough”, added the 31-year-old. I genuinely try not to do anything to harm the team. However, they still felt they needed to make comments.

But Mercedes’ team chairman, the F1 legend Niki Lauda, said: “As drivers we always try every trick in the book, but you always must have respect for your teammate”.

With the sport now owned by USA giant Liberty Media, the prospect of its number one box office attraction leaving the champion team is not likely. “There is so much more going on in the background that plays a role in how we are thinking and this is why I don’t want to express an opinion before I have actually made up my mind for myself”.