ABU DHABI // Lewis Hamilton won the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but missed out on the Formula One drivers’ title as Mercedes-GP teammate Nico Rosberg finished second.
The result gave Rosberg his first world championship by five points.
It was a controversial performance from Hamilton who ignored instructions from his Mercedes engineers to increase his pace as he backed Rosberg into the chasing pack in the closing laps.
Rosberg had to withstand late pressure from the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel to hold onto second with the first three covered by 0.8 seconds.
The Red Bull Racing cars of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were fourth and fifth, with Verstappen recovering from a spin at Turn 1 after contact with Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India.
Kimi Raikkonen was sixth for Ferrari ahead of the Force Indias of Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez.
Felipe Massa was ninth in the final race of his career for Williams, also completing the feat of finishing in the points at every Abu Dhabi Grand Prix he raced in.
There was no dream end to Jenson Button’s F1 career, however, as a front-right suspension failure stopped his McLaren on Lap 13.
More to follow...
[ gcaygill@thenational.ae ]
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