Abu Dhabi – Race – In the strategic bingo, Hamilton plays and loses against Rosberg
It was a strategic race between the two Mercedes in Abu Dhabi. Lewis Hamilton chose to extend his second stint to try to outsmart Nico Rosberg, but with the engineer overriding the driver's decision, the Englishman eventually had to abandon his bold gamble. Nico Rosberg therefore won the final race of the year in great style!
Just like last year, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix had the honor of concluding the Formula 1 season. This time, the suspense had largely left the grid: most positions would remain unchanged after the race no matter what happened. However, a few stakes remained, including the 4th place in the drivers’ championship (between Bottas and Räikkönen) or the 6th place among the constructors (between Lotus and Toro Rosso).
Above all, people would know whether Nico Rosberg, having achieved his sixth consecutive pole position, would manage to maintain his position against his teammate Lewis Hamilton. The Englishman, although world champion since Austin, has been struggling since the beginning of autumn; he claims that a change in philosophy in the development of the Mercedes has directly affected his performance.
For his last race with Lotus, Romain Grosjean, penalized after a gearbox change, was to start from the 18th position. Another comeback was on the horizon: that of Sebastian Vettel, only 15th on the grid after a strategic error in Q1 on Saturday. The German, like the Frenchman, was starting on soft tires, as opposed to the super soft tires for the majority of the grid.
At the extinguishing of the green lights, Lewis Hamilton did not repeat his achievement from last year and let Nico Rosberg slip away. The Englishman was even nearly overtaken by Räikkönen and Perez. While Carlos Sainz fiercely battled with Daniil Kvyat, Pastor Maldonado left the race on the first lap after colliding with Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard was clearly at fault for the maneuver and logically received a drive-through penalty. The big winners at the start were Nico Hülkenberg, who moved up to 5th place, and Sebastian Vettel, who advanced from 15th to 12th position. Valtteri Bottas, on the other hand, dropped back to 10th place.
In the 5th lap, the top 10 were as follows: Rosberg, Hamilton, Räikkönen, Perez, Hülkenberg, Ricciardo, Sainz, Massa, Kvyat, and Bottas.
Race Control have confirmed a drive-through penalty for ALO after the first corner collision with MAL #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/0OlFgs0giB
— Formula 1 (@F1) 29 Novembre 2015
It was at the end of the fifth lap that Daniil Kvyat chose to switch to soft tires. Like last year, the supersoft tires didn’t seem to last more than about ten laps. At the top of the rankings, for the moment, Nico Rosberg didn’t have this problem. The German maintained a one and a half second lead at the front. The battle for fifth place then heated up, with a nice back and forth between Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hülkenberg, ultimately to the advantage of the Red Bull.
The drivers were called back to their pits early to avoid being caught by the undercut strategy. Carlos Sainz, a solid 7th, unfortunately suffered from the slowness of his mechanics and lost a good three seconds in the process.
However, Valtteri Bottas was even more unfortunate. Inconsistently released by Williams, the Finn damaged his front wing by hitting Jenson Button. The mechanics at Grove still have work to do if they want to compete for more podiums next season! Bottas returned to the pits the following lap. The stewards imposed a 5-second penalty on him for an unsafe release. The 4th place in the drivers’ championship was therefore slipping significantly away from him.
LAP 9/55: Drama in the pitlane as Bottas releases without seeing Button behind him #AbuDhabiGP #F1Finale pic.twitter.com/QkS4VlSLRw
— Formula 1 (@F1) 29 Novembre 2015
On the Ferrari side, the atmosphere was positive. For both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen, the soft tires worked admirably. By the 13th lap, the German, having made a perfect comeback from his 15th place on the grid, could even reasonably dream of a podium. While Nico Rosberg easily controlled his lead, Lewis Hamilton seemed to be struggling more with an inconsistent car.
The Ferrari drivers displayed their synergy on the 18th lap. Sebastian Vettel, who hadn’t stopped yet, saw Kimi Räikkönen catching up to him on a different strategy. By himself, without waiting for any team orders, the four-time world champion let his teammate pass.
At the 20th lap, the top 10 was as follows: Rosberg, Hamilton, Räikkönen, Vettel, Perez, Grosjean (on an alternate strategy), Hülkenberg, Ricciardo, Massa, Kvyat.
With a more used engine this weekend, Nico Rosberg had to manage his car and his six-second lead. But by managing the race, little by little, Lewis Hamilton regained momentum and reduced the gap with his teammate to under two and a half seconds. Meanwhile, Kimi Räikkönen was losing about two-tenths per lap to Hamilton but was roughly keeping pace with Rosberg.
LAP 29/55: Hamilton absolutely flying – Rosberg’s lead decimated from 6.2s to 1.7s in less than 10 laps #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/jdrpEqRiSr
— Formula 1 (@F1) 29 Novembre 2015
At the bottom of the standings, Fernando Alonso was dragging his misery and his McLaren-Honda. Clearly tired of racing for 17th place, the Spaniard was talking to the pits: without a safety car, he would simply like to retire from the race. Rumors about his sabbatical year continued to grow despite all the denials in the world.
The internal battle between the Mercedes drivers took a new turn on the 30th lap. Lewis Hamilton had closed to within less than a second of Nico Rosberg, but the latter chose to pit to avoid being caught by the undercut. On his attacking lap, Lewis Hamilton was possibly playing for victory on this lap alone on the track. The Englishman chose to stay out to extend his stint but was lapping at the same pace as Rosberg, despite the latter having fresher tires. Was the Englishman aiming for a final shorter stint on super softs? Warned by his radio to increase his pace, Nico Rosberg quickly found two or three additional tenths per lap.
Returning to the pits on lap 31, Kimi Räikkönen lost three seconds due to a problem with the fastening of the front-right wheel. His third place was thus threatened by his own teammate, Sebastian Vettel, who still had to stop to put on the super-soft tires.
At the 40th lap, the top 10 was as follows: Hamilton, Rosberg, Räikkönen, Vettel, Perez, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Hülkenberg, Kvyat, Massa. Lewis Hamilton had to make a quick decision: to pit or stay on track? To go for soft or supersoft tires? All options were open in this more strategic race than usual. The Räikkönen threat, fast on soft tires, could not be overlooked either.
On Hamilton’s side, the intention was clear: stay on track until the end. But his engineer was not of the same mind. The world champion insisted and asked to be given all the calculations, which his engineer refused to do. Finally, on the 42nd lap, Hamilton saw reason and didn’t even switch to super soft tires. So why not take that gamble? The Englishman had nothing to lose… after losing twelve big seconds to Rosberg. Once again this season, the engineer had prevailed over the driver.
LAP 41/55: After trying to convince his crew to let him stay out, Hamilton also makes his second stop #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/BFJ8ryqEfN
— Formula 1 (@F1) 29 Novembre 2015
Romain Grosjean, despite starting 18th, was quietly delivering a superb race. The Frenchman, while preserving his tires, held his ground in the top 10 against Daniil Kvyat. However, Grosjean had to face the facts: he was ten laps short of achieving his goal and had to pit. His Lotus, hindered by a severe lack of development, was not much of a help either…
Max Verstappen and Felipe Massa then overtook Jenson Button and Daniel Ricciardo respectively, thanks to tough but effective maneuvers. The young Dutchman, who was out of the points anyway, received an inconsequential five-second penalty. Under the amused gaze of Rubens Barrichello, the troops of the Formula One Circus completed their last laps.
Oh hi, Rubens.
#AbuDhabiGP #F1Finale pic.twitter.com/jtFFq3xOge — Formula 1 (@F1) 29 November 2015
In the last two laps, Romain Grosjean concluded his adventure with Enstone by returning to the top 10. On super-soft tires, the future Haas driver first claimed the scalp of Carlos Sainz, then significantly threatened Daniil Kvyat, who was struggling on his Red Bull. Thanks to the DRS and the Mercedes power unit, Romain Grosjean overtook the Russian to finish the race in a very satisfying 9th place. The Frenchman once again held his position to preserve Lotus’s place in the constructors’ standings.
Lewis Hamilton having definitively let go against his teammate, failing to carry his strategic gamble to the end, Nico Rosberg spent the end of the race comfortably and secured another victory in this late season! Behind the untouchable Silver Arrows, followed in single file the two Ferraris of Räikkönen and Vettel. Finally, it was worth noting the solid Grand Prix of the Force India team, finishing 5th (Perez) and 7th (Hülkenberg) respectively.
