Nico Rosberg, gullible, didn’t expect Lewis Hamilton’s final tactics!

The newly crowned 2016 World Champion reflected in the columns of Autosport on the crucial points of his race at Yas Marina, particularly the most tense moments where everything could have turned into a catastrophe for him, notably when he realized at the end of the race that his rival and teammate was deliberately slowing down to allow their opponents to catch up with them.

Previously, the German had to face Max Verstappen, behind whom he had rejoined after his first stop. And it was hard not to imagine the worst when his race engineer informed him that he absolutely had to pass Max Verstappen, who was then second: « I heard Tony (his race engineer) say it was crucial to pass Verstappen for the championship. I thought, My god. That’s not a good thing to hear. It was bad, a horrible feeling. »

Finally, he got the better of the Dutchman, and perhaps executed the overtaking maneuver of his career with this action: « The moment I realized I had overtaken him, it was a feeling I had never had before in a car. »

But he wasn’t done yet with the increase in his heart rate, as he didn’t expect Lewis Hamilton to slow his race pace in the last ten laps in an attempt to secure the world title. For this to happen, the Briton needed the chasing pack (Red Bull and Ferrari) to catch up to them and knock Nico Rosberg off the podium.

On this point, despite Christian Horner’s official suggestions to Lewis Hamilton to slow down during the race, the 2016 winner was miles from imagining that this scenario would occur: « I didn’t expect that. It might be naive on my part, but I didn’t expect that at all. But at the same time, you can understand Lewis because it’s a world championship. We are here to fight, and we are racing drivers. So you can understand that he wanted to try something. »

Lewis Hamilton had, in fact, ignored Paddy Lowe’s directive instructing him to increase his race pace, at the probable risk of losing the victory.

Nevertheless, at the moment the Championship leader understood what Lewis Hamilton was maneuvering, he broke into a cold sweat: « I saw them getting closer (Verstappen and Vettel), and with what Lewis was doing, we didn’t know how far he was going to push. He could have gone even further, and it would have been a real mess. I didn’t know what to expect, and it was also very difficult. »

Then it was Sebastian Vettel’s turn, equipped with the super-softs, to appear in Nico Rosberg’s mirrors. Upon seeing this, his race engineer tried to reassure him by reminding him that he only needed a third place to be crowned. However, the German was aware that this exposed him to the return of Max Verstappen one second behind the top three: « I had Vettel and Verstappen directly behind me. I wanted to try to hold onto my second place because I knew that if I dropped back, who knows what would happen next just ahead. And Verstappen was just behind, and I didn’t want him right behind me at the end. »

One might then wonder why Nico Rosberg did not attempt an overtaking move on Lewis Hamilton, who was setting a false pace: « I couldn’t. I tried a few times, but Lewis was defending his position well. He was pushing hard from the exit of the 21st corner at the start of the first sector up to the middle of the second, and that’s where you can overtake. I couldn’t get any closer; he has the same car as I do. Then he would slow down in the part where I couldn’t overtake. He did it perfectly, and there was no way for me. »

At the end of a season finale that was more thrilling for spectators but full of tensions for the two actors involved, the 2016 World Champion finally acknowledged that he experienced critical moments despite a race-by-race and positive approach: « I am always optimistic but there are always moments when it becomes complicated. Even there during the race, there were terribly difficult moments, like when I found myself behind Verstappen and at the end of the race. It’s hard to stay optimistic in such a situation. »