The final round of the season brings us to the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Circuit type Race
Circuit Length 5.554kms
Circuit Turns 21
Circuit Direction anti-clockwise
Capacity 50,000
Established 2009
Designer Hermann Tilke

Drivers Championship:

1 Nico Rosberg GER MERCEDES 367
2 Lewis Hamilton GBR MERCEDES 355
3 Daniel Ricciardo AUS RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 246
4 Sebastian Vettel GER FERRARI 197
5 Max Verstappen NED RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 192
6 Kimi Räikkönen FIN FERRARI 178
7 Sergio Perez MEX FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 97
8 Valtteri Bottas FIN WILLIAMS MERCEDES 85
9 Nico Hulkenberg GER FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 66
10 Fernando Alonso ESP MCLAREN HONDA 53
11 Felipe Massa BRA WILLIAMS MERCEDES 51
12 Carlos Sainz ESP TORO ROSSO FERRARI 46
13 Romain Grosjean FRA HAAS FERRARI 29
14 Daniil Kvyat RUS TORO ROSSO FERRARI 25
15 Jenson Button GBR MCLAREN HONDA 21
16 Kevin Magnussen DEN RENAULT 7
17 Felipe Nasr BRA SAUBER FERRARI 2
18 Jolyon Palmer GBR RENAULT 1
19 Pascal Wehrlein GER MRT MERCEDES 1
20 Stoffel Vandoorne BEL MCLAREN HONDA 1
21 Esteban Gutierrez MEX HAAS FERRARI 0
22 Marcus Ericsson SWE SAUBER FERRARI 0
23 Esteban Ocon FRA MRT MERCEDES 0
24 Rio Haryanto INA MRT MERCEDES 0

Constructor's Championship:

1 MERCEDES 722
2 RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 446
3 FERRARI 375
4 FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 163
5 WILLIAMS MERCEDES 136
6 MCLAREN HONDA 75
7 TORO ROSSO FERRARI 63
8 HAAS FERRARI 29
9 RENAULT 8
10 SAUBER FERRARI 2
11 MRT MERCEDES 1

Since the previous thread:

- Ron Dennis has been ousted from McLaren.
- Nasr scored two points for Sauber, meaning that they won't be last in the constructors championship and will get a much larger cheque from FOM. This has meant that Manor (previously second to last) are now fighting for their survival, needing to find external investors or to somehow score two points at Abu Dhabi to ensure financing for next year.
- Force India have achieved a strong enough lead over Williams in the constructor's championship that fourth place is a near certainty. This is the team's best ever result (and likely their best position for the foreseeable future).
- Pascal Wehrlein is strongly rumored to be heading to Sauber next year. I wonder if he will bring Mercedes Engines with him.
- The German GP is likely to be dropped from next year's calendar. Rumors last week suggested that Singapore doesn't plan to continue hosting the Grand Prix beyond 2017.

This the drivers championship will finally be decided. It will certainly be the last race for Felipe Massa, probably the last race for Jenson Button and also quite possibly the last race for Felipe Nasr and/or Esteban Guttierez. More importantly, this is the final race of the current era; next year will bring in a new set of regulations that will be a massive shake up. New aerodynamics and much larger tires will give much more grip and supposedly make the cars roughly three seconds a lap quicker.

Next year's tires vs this year's tires:


All the different compounds:


Also, has anyone here been to the Spanish Grand Prix in Catalunya? Worthwhile?

should be a good race.

Both have 9 wins with Lewis having 2 dnf's to Nico's 1

I'd say it'll be LH first with Nico behind winning the WDC

mad99 wrote:

should be a good race.

Both have 9 wins with Lewis having 2 dnf's to Nico's 1

I'd say it'll be LH first with Nico behind winning the WDC

That seems to be the most likely outcome. Rosberg can let Hamilton disappear into the distance and manage his pace compared to whoever is behind him.

Imagine winning 10 races in a season and not being WDC.

LH needs to lead Nico slow enough so the pack can attack Nico and he's shunted off

I think Nico needs a fourth if LH wins

Well, Hamilton dominated qualifying, but I doubt Rosberg is too unhappy. There's a big gap between the Mercs and everyone else. As long as Rosberg gets away in 2nd place, the title is his barring a mechanical failure.

Rosberg is the second son of an F1 World Champion to be champion himself.

Congrats to Rosberg.

Hamilton was a bit naughty, but there was nothing else he could do and I'm sure Rosberg would have done the same if the positions were reversed. As pissed as Mercedes may be with Hamilton , they'll know in reality, if he was leading he would do that.

B747forever wrote:

Rosberg was free to attack and pass Hamilton if he liked to, Sure, it was not nice to back up his team mate, but cant blame Hamilton for trying his best to win the WDC.

Absolutely. Despite Mercedes natural desire to be seen to be equally fair to its drivers, once the pit-stops were done and dusted, there was, in reality, nothing they could do to control Hamilton. I'm sure they knew that before the race and given the superiority of the Mercs over the rest of the field, they'd have been pretty naive if they didn't think that's what Hamilton would do. It was his only option given the circumstances.

I'm certain Rosberg would have done the same if the shoe was on the other foot. I'm also equally certain that in those circumstances, Hamilton would have attacked and challenged for the win.

nice race, well done Nico for winning the championship, well done Louis for winning the last race, well done Vettel with a superior tactic, well done Verstappen winning two places despite spinning in the beginning.

B747forever wrote:

Besides, why did Mercedes try to intervene and dictate Hamiltons race?

Agree or disagree, Mercedes has stated multiple times their objective is to collect as many 1-2 race finishes as possible. Their intervention today was not to favor one driver over the other, but to protect the 1-2 finish against a very real Ferrari threat.

blueflyer wrote:

Their intervention today was not to favor one driver over the other, but to protect the 1-2 finish against a very real Ferrari threat.

Meh, Vettel was only a 'threat' because Hamilton drove like he was towing a caravan. Vettel never looked like taking Rosberg.

scbriml wrote:

blueflyer wrote:

Their intervention today was not to favor one driver over the other, but to protect the 1-2 finish against a very real Ferrari threat.

Meh, Vettel was only a 'threat' because Hamilton drove like he was towing a caravan. Vettel never looked like taking Rosberg.

He could if he did a banzai lap - but if he crash & took Rosberg out, the repercussions would be huge.

Congratulations to Rosberg, even if I'm not a fan.

Now let's hope more cars are competitive next year, only 2 races not won by a Mercedes despite the two fighting each other is ridiculous.

Congrats to Nico, that's true he won less races but I'd argue that he wasn't that interested to win the last 3.

scbriml wrote:

B747forever wrote:

Rosberg was free to attack and pass Hamilton if he liked to, Sure, it was not nice to back up his team mate, but cant blame Hamilton for trying his best to win the WDC.

Absolutely. [...] I'm certain Rosberg would have done the same if the shoe was on the other foot. I'm also equally certain that in those circumstances, Hamilton would have attacked and challenged for the win.

100% agree, in NR position LH would have attacked, and maybe that's the kind of difference making an engine last shorter than another same engine
Nico did the job overtaking Verstappen lap 21, he was then wise enough figuring out he was not really endangered by the two guys behind him (no Verstappen in sight), therefore no point pushing LH.

Congrats to Rosberg! So now Stirling Moss gets back the unofficial "title" of driver with most Grand Prix wins without a World Championship (16).

B747forever wrote:

Really impressed by how he was able to stay just outside of DRS and control the pace the way he did. Not a easy task to do for a full race without losing a position. Not sure if Rosberg would have been able to do the same with Hamilton having a more aggressive driving style. Besides, why did Mercedes try to intervene and dictate Hamiltons race? Hamiltons task is to only look after his own race, not Rosbergs. Rosberg was free to attack and pass Hamilton if he liked to, Sure, it was not nice to back up his team mate, but cant blame Hamilton for trying his best to win the WDC.

There's not reason to back up a team mate if both are still in contention for the WDC. Hamilton tried and was right in doing so. It didn't work, but it's fair to say that there was little chance of success anyway.

Aesma wrote:

Congratulations to Rosberg, even if I'm not a fan.

Now let's hope more cars are competitive next year, only 2 races not won by a Mercedes despite the two fighting each other is ridiculous.

They'll get rid of the engine tokens next year, so this should allow some engine providers to catch up faster.

Congratulations to Nico!! That pass on Verstappen was very ballsy; could have ended his championship in the wall. Always nice to have another champion on the grid. Such a shame that Button's final race ended prematurely; would have been nice to see him get into the points for the final time. Despite Abu Dhabi's bad reputation, I quite like the Yas Marina circuit. Looks quite cool, especially after dark.









The first family.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqm7FgmJv1E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTjovArrtqI

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/keke- ... ut-854947/

Dutchy wrote:

nice race, well done Nico for winning the championship, well done Louis for winning the last race, well done Vettel with a superior tactic, well done Verstappen winning two places despite spinning in the beginning.

Well done to Kimi for driving perfectly, despite the team giving him an awful strategy.

blueflyer wrote:

B747forever wrote:

Besides, why did Mercedes try to intervene and dictate Hamiltons race?

Agree or disagree, Mercedes has stated multiple times their objective is to collect as many 1-2 race finishes as possible. Their intervention today was not to favor one driver over the other, but to protect the 1-2 finish against a very real Ferrari threat.

Exactly. Even Nico did get overtaken by Vettel, the championship would still be his. Max's tires were falling off the cliff, so Nico was safe (all relative when Verstappen is involved) from him. The radio call was about protecting the 1-2.

scbriml wrote:

blueflyer wrote:

Their intervention today was not to favor one driver over the other, but to protect the 1-2 finish against a very real Ferrari threat.

Meh, Vettel was only a 'threat' because Hamilton drove like he was towing a caravan. Vettel never looked like taking Rosberg.

Lewis was going so slow in the last sector of the final lap that I genuinely thought Rosberg had a decent chance of getting by. Sadly not but it would have made the ending that much more hilarious.

Aesma wrote:

Congratulations to Rosberg, even if I'm not a fan.

Now let's hope more cars are competitive next year, only 2 races not won by a Mercedes despite the two fighting each other is ridiculous.

They'll get rid of the engine tokens next year, so this should allow some engine providers to catch up faster.[/quote]
Agreed. The token system was terrible and basically ensured the dominance of the best engine at Barcelona testing.

blueflyer wrote:

Agree or disagree, Mercedes has stated multiple times their objective is to collect as many 1-2 race finishes as possible. Their intervention today was not to favor one driver over the other, but to protect the 1-2 finish against a very real Ferrari threat.

Agree with this. Every team should aim to obtain a 1-2 finish in every race, so in my view, they were entirely justified in telling Hamilton to speed up.

The team is more important than the driver. If Hamilton and Rosberg weren't teammates, I would have no problems with Hamilton trying to back Rosberg into the pack. But because they are teammates, the interests of the team must come first.

CXB77L wrote:

Agree with this. Every team should aim to obtain a 1-2 finish in every race, so in my view, they were entirely justified in telling Hamilton to speed up.

The team is more important than the driver. If Hamilton and Rosberg weren't teammates, I would have no problems with Hamilton trying to back Rosberg into the pack. But because they are teammates, the interests of the team must come first.

The drivers are very unlikely to consider the team's position when there's a WDC at stake in the final race, especially as the WCC was already in the bag. While Mercedes may have been justified in telling Hamilton to speed up, the reality is there was nothing at stake for the team - Hamilton was never going to lose the race. If Mercedes, or anyone for that matter, honestly thought Hamilton wouldn't do what he did, they're pretty naive. It was the only option available to him to try and change the race result. Mercedes had such an advantage at Yas that neither the Red Bull nor Ferrari were ever going to change 1st and 2nd place barring an incident or mechanical failure.

Rosberg says he has no issue with what Hamilton did and I have no doubt he'd have done exactly the same if the roles had been reversed.

Well Hamilton had another option, of course quite risky and that has failed in the past, it was to somehow have an incident with Rosberg, with him coming on top and Rosberg out of the race, or far enough to not win the required points.

scbriml wrote:

CXB77L wrote:

Agree with this. Every team should aim to obtain a 1-2 finish in every race, so in my view, they were entirely justified in telling Hamilton to speed up.

The team is more important than the driver. If Hamilton and Rosberg weren't teammates, I would have no problems with Hamilton trying to back Rosberg into the pack. But because they are teammates, the interests of the team must come first.

The drivers are very unlikely to consider the team's position when there's a WDC at stake in the final race, especially as the WCC was already in the bag. While Mercedes may have been justified in telling Hamilton to speed up, the reality is there was nothing at stake for the team - Hamilton was never going to lose the race. If Mercedes, or anyone for that matter, honestly thought Hamilton wouldn't do what he did, they're pretty naive. It was the only option available to him to try and change the race result. Mercedes had such an advantage at Yas that neither the Red Bull nor Ferrari were ever going to change 1st and 2nd place barring an incident or mechanical failure.

Rosberg says he has no issue with what Hamilton did and I have no doubt he'd have done exactly the same if the roles had been reversed.

agreed

LH was in total control throughout the race.

LH lost this WDC by crashing into Nico, loads of poor starts, and extra dnf and by having a good team mate who took advantage.

If Nico was trying to hold up LH then LH would pass or at least try. I don't think he'd phone in and ask to please have Nico speed up!

Nico Rosberg has retired from F1.

https://www.facebook.com/nicorosberg/po ... 43119874:0

mad99 wrote:

LH lost this WDC by crashing into Nico, loads of poor starts, and extra dnf and by having a good team mate who took advantage.

Ultimately, only of those things mattered - his engine failing while he was comfortably in the lead of the Malaysian GP. That resulted in a 28 point swing in Rosberg's favour and cost Hamilton the WDC. The rest were just incidentals.

mad99 wrote:

If Nico was trying to hold up LH then LH would pass or at least try. I don't think he'd phone in and ask to please have Nico speed up!

Agreed. Hamilton lives to win, at this point in his life, little else matters*. He's already a triple WDC, second in the all-time win list and his win to starts ratio is right up there with the best (accepting that everyone looks ordinary compared to Fangio!)



*Rosberg has just shown that F1 isn't the most important thing in his life.

mad99 wrote:

LH lost this WDC by crashing into Nico, loads of poor starts, and extra dnf and by having a good team mate who took advantage.

There is always more to it than that, though, isn't there

Repeated failures of the car during successive qualifying periods put Hamilton in poor positions for several races, as well as inconsistent clutch issues that Mercedes are on record as saying were behind several of both team mates poor starts, alongside a collision which both drivers have been blamed for and then the cherry on top being the engine failure which swung the championship completely around...

Without being superhuman, I'm not sure Hamilton could have done much else right during this season - Rosberg had several penalties, several poor starts, one DNF due to a collision, but no mechanical faults affecting either the race or qualifying. In the end, it was the imbalance in the mechanical failures which cost Hamilton the championship this year.

moo wrote:

Nico Rosberg has retired from F1.

https://www.facebook.com/nicorosberg/po ... 43119874:0

I've commented in the separate thread, but decided the obvious questions need to be asked in this thread so as to not derail the other one.

Who will replace him? Will (should) Mercedes now make Hamilton their clear #1 driver?

I'm guessing the whole "will they, wont they" thing about Mercedes punishing Hamilton just became moot...

moo wrote:

I'm guessing the whole "will they, wont they" thing about Mercedes punishing Hamilton just became moot...

Either way, they've decided to do nothing. I'm shocked.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/38265635

Mercedes have decided not to take action against Lewis Hamilton after he ignored team orders in Abu Dhabi.

Hamilton was driving slowly to try to bring other drivers into the battle between himself and team-mate Nico Rosberg, who won the title by finishing in second place.

The team asked him to speed up, telling him he was putting the win at risk.

"In the heat of the moment, sometimes when you make decisions, you get them wrong," team boss Toto Wolff said.

scbriml wrote:

moo wrote:

I'm guessing the whole "will they, wont they" thing about Mercedes punishing Hamilton just became moot...

Either way, they've decided to do nothing. I'm shocked.

Actually, not only have they decided to do nothing, Mercedes have actually said that *they* were in the wrong by not letting the drivers race. A complete 180 on previous statements.

I'm only posting this because your quote doesnt quite get the situation across Its not just Mercedes backing down, its them reversing their position entirely and saying Hamilton was never in the wrong.