Nico Rosberg clinched his maiden Formula 1 world championship by holding off Sebastian Vettel to finish second in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as rival Lewis Hamilton won the race. Rosberg only had to finish third to clinch the championship, as the pair entered their second title showdown in three seasons. In winning the title,
Hamilton scored his eighth pole of 2016 – his third on the trot here and his fourth overall at Sepang – as teammate Rosberg simply couldn’t live with his raw pace. Rosberg, who’s never started from pole in Malaysia, suffered a dreadful first run that was topped by both Red Bulls and a Ferrari. Rosberg had
Rosberg was on course to score his third victory on the trot at the Red Bull Ring, despite picking up damage to his car when Sebastian Vettel’s tyre exploded right in front of him. But Hamilton attacked him at Turn 2 on the final lap, where the pair made contact. Rosberg’s car sustained a broken
Here was Hamilton’s chance to really turn the screw, to hammer home the impression that all the momentum in the title race had taken a decisive shift. Instead his mistakes meant Rosberg, under pressure after Montreal and Monaco and under the cosh all weekend in Baku, could enjoy an easy passage to pole position. Even
From pole position, Rosberg led Bottas and Raikkonen through the Turn 1 sweeper. Raikkonen grabbed second at Turn 2, but it all kicked off behind him as an out-of-control Kvyat hit Vettel into the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo. Behind them, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg went out at Turn 2 for the second time
Rosberg, who will be bidding for his seventh win on the trot tomorrow, lapped in 1m35.417s. He was 0.842s clear of Sebastian Vettel – who won’t start from the front row due to his grid penalty for a gearbox change. Hamilton failed to take part in Q3 as he suffered an apparent MGU-H failure at the end
22 years from Senna’s death. Is there any death? “In the end, there is no end. Only love remain.” After I watched the movie “Beyond the Sound of Speed”, dedicated to the life of Ayrton Senna, I had a feeling of irritation. Something important had not come out. I did not know what. I remembered
The Strategy Group and F1 Commission met at Biggin Hill hoping to sign off a raft of changes to the regulations aimed at making cars faster and mapping out engine rules to bring costs down and performance closer. On the car front, the situation was clear, with the radical overhaul of cars to make them
Rosberg’s Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, who had a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change, will start from the back of the grid after being hit by ERS problems during the opening qualifying segment. Rosberg was second quickest until the dying seconds, when he set a blistering lap to grab pole with a best time of
aa Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:36.896 35 2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:37.005 +0.109 33 3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:37.133 +0.237 33 4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:37.329 +0.433 33 5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:38.143 +1.247 31 6 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:38.268 +1.372 28 7 Nico Hulkenberg Force