Rosberg Triumphs in Season Finale
Nico Rosberg beat Lewis Hamilton to victory in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
With Mercedes dominant, Rosberg maintained his recent superiority over teammate Hamilton by taking the win from pole position with a composed drive.
The Englishman, who secured the Drivers’ Championship title a month ago, finished in second place at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen came home third to ensure a fourth-place finish in the drivers’ standings, as his closest championship rival, fellow Finn Valtteri Bottas, suffered a troubled day.
Bottas, having qualified sixth, badly damaged his front wing after being released from his pit-box into the McLaren of Jenson Button, resulting in a five-second penalty and additional stop for the Williams man, who eventually took the chequered flag in 13th place.
Raikkonen’s teammate, Sebastian Vettel, was 15th on the grid after tactical qualifying errors, but the four-time champion superbly made the most of a two-stop strategy to finish the event in fourth place.
Sergio Perez drove excellently to take fifth place, two spots ahead of teammate Nico Hulkenberg, with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo coming home between the two Force India machines.
Williams driver Felipe Massa was unable to make the progress that he may have expected, finishing where he started, in eighth place.
Lotus man Romain Grosjean came from 18th on the grid to secure ninth place, producing late overtakes on Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat.
The final available point went to Kvyat, with Sainz ultimately unable to enjoy a tangible reward despite driving a fine race, which included a fantastic opening sector on Lap 1.
Whilst Sainz was preparing to power past several competitors as the lights went out, Rosberg got away well up front, with Hamilton struggling off the line but managing to keep Perez and Raikkonen behind into Turn 1.
However, despite occasionally getting close to Rosberg at stages of the race, Hamilton was unable to seriously challenge the German for victory.
Rosberg went on to secure his third win on the trot, having taken his sixth successive pole position, proving once again that he possesses the ability to secure a World Championship title.
Next season, though, the former Williams driver will have to also prove that he has the requisite mentality to defeat Hamilton when the pressure is truly on, something that he was unable to achieve in either 2014 or 2015.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: race results
Pos. Driver, Team, Time/Gap
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1hr38:30.175
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +8.271
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, +19.430
4. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, +43.735
5. Sergio Perez, Force India, +1.03:952
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, +1:05.010
7. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, +1:33.618
8. Felipe Massa, Williams, +1:37.751
9. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, +1:38.201
10. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, +1:42.371
11. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, +1:43.525
12. Jenson Button, McLaren, +1 lap
13. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, +1 lap
14. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, +1 lap
15. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, +1 lap
16. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, +1 lap
17. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, +2 laps
18. Will Stevens, Manor, +3 laps
19. Roberto Merhi, Manor, +3 laps
-
Not classified/retirements
Driver, Team, Laps Completed
Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 0
Related link(s)
Date:July 19th, 2017