Rate the race: 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Since 2008, F1 Fanatic has held polls on every F1 race to find out which fans thought of each round of the season.

Join in the latest poll and give your verdict on the race: 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (11%)
  • 9 (19%)
  • 8 (31%)
  • 7 (21%)
  • 6 (9%)
  • 5 (3%)
  • 4 (2%)
  • 3 (1%)
  • 2 (1%)
  • 1 (2%)

Total Voters: 502

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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Keith Collantine
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132 comments on “Rate the race: 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix”

  1. This an instruction: () – hahahaahha
    Love those Merc-radio messages.

  2. YEEEEESSS!!!!

  3. Ho-hum apart from the last 6-7 laps, which were exciting, but for a purely artificial reason.

    1. Did anyone really expect Hamilton to not try it? I wanted Rosberg to win but still wanted to see Hamilton give it a proper go. It think it’s unfair to call it artificial. Its all part of the racing.

      1. geoffgroom44 (@)
        27th November 2016, 18:55

        I’m a Hamilton fan and wish to applaud your very sporting comment

      2. I think anyone who has paid attention to Hamilton’s ego, the fact he always puts himself ahead of the team and ignores team orders, and his not-too-rare lapses in sportsmanship — including trying to suggest Rosberg’s championship wasn’t legitimate before he’d even won it — it was obvious from the start he was going to try to take the championship in the most distasteful way possible.

        1. Merc said they wouldn’t interfere, then they try to interfere. That, in my view, wasn’t very sporting.

          Also, if you think backing a driver up into the pack is ‘the most distasteful way possible’ I can only assume that you lack imagination, or haven’t been watching motor racing for very long.

        2. @gweilo8888 wouldn’t “the most distasteful way” be to collide with Rosberg? I don’t think we’re really talking 1990 here… indeed Hamilton could have gone even slower in the corners and really messed with Nico had he wanted to. I can’t stand Hamilton’s ego sometimes either, but I think a sense of perspective is called for here.

          1. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
            28th November 2016, 2:14

            @john-h colliding was not an option today, but the typical move when he runs wide to put people off track, well, that was the reason why Rosberg preferred not to try to pass Hamilton today. It was thrilling, but not THE thrilling race.

    2. Yeah, why are people giving it a 10? there was no action for like 50 laps, and the last few laps were tense but not action-packed, the only one doing anything was Vettel, and what he did was far from memorable.

      1. @faulty I dont normally watch live… I usually catch up late sunday, sometimes monday or tuesday. I looked forward to the race all week, and actually planned my weekend around watching ASAP, and I enjoyed watching the race.

        Whats it to you?

  4. This is an instruction: () – hahahaahha
    Love those Merc-radio messages.

    1. “what if we just change positions, I will let Lewis by at the end if he is still second” :-) Jokers.

      1. That was a funny one from Rosberg indeed @bascb, I guess a way to relieve some stress there, having a bit of fun.

  5. 9/10 As someone supporting Rosberg, I was sweating like anything last 10 laps! He didn’t necessarily deserve it, I’ll admit, but congratulations to Nico Rosberg, World Champion 2016!!

    1. He deserved it alright, the sport is about so much more than just driver skill, in years to come when we look back at this season, no one will forget Hamiltons reliability was what lost him the title, like many greats before him and many in the future

    2. 8/10 for me, as Hamilton took one point for lame unsporting tactics. Fortunately ROS kept a cool head, and VET behaved like a gentleman in his overtake attempt. ROS is the bigger man, and even has the decency to congratulate HAM on the podium -and what a way he did it :D Fingerlicking delicious moment that was!

      1. Unsporting? Another person who’s never raced a car in there life. Controlling the pace is part of racing, give Hamilton his due he tried it but could have done it alot worse. I would have done as would Schumacher, senna, prost, mansel, alonso etc etc. In my opinion he was too lame at it and should have slowed it more. Also if he was that slow nico should have passed him.

        1. Unsporting? Far from it. Lewis was a gentleman about it.

          But it was a bit desperate and overt, maybe he will try it earlier in the season next year and perhaps more subtly.

      2. Lewis was extremely sportsman about the defeat. Congratulated and shook hands with Rosberg! @testacorsa

      3. As others said, it was by no means unsporting. It was tactical and, in fact, very clever*. It also made the race exciting. If he hadn’t, we would have had the Mercs ten+ seconds ahead by the end, separated by at least 5s.

        *He not only backed Rosberg up, but found a way to drive it which would keep him out of DRS range almost every lap. The skill in controlling the pace to that level, within tenths of a second, was incredible. I think this is enough to allow that the people who say Lewis isn’t a “thinking driver” to be proved very wrong!

        1. Yeah, I don’t share your views. To me backing up a car into the rivals is in the same league as pushing someone off the track when entering a corner side by side, and claiming the corner because their nose was ahead.
          Not illegal, but simply unsportsmanlike.
          This is my point on today’s desperate tactics, and ignoring team instructions.
          Lewis was backing up in the corners, and using all his battery power on the straights, leaving ROS almost chanceless, because of the difficulty running close behind in dirty air.
          I could understand Hamilton wanting to joust it out on track, but he was not inviting Rosberg to battle, but simply controlled the über slow pace to back Rosberg into trouble. I mean Rosberg had to drop to fourth for Hamilton to win, so as I see it Hamiltons wish could only be to get Rosberg into some kind of contact with another car, and getting damage or DNF.
          Btw. ROS was not getting closer on purpose, and not because he could not get closer – it would destroy his tires too fast. So in my book it’s hats off to Rosberg for keeping so cool, and being the bigger man already in the cool room, and on the podium. A fully deserved champion.

          1. Would you be thinking the same if Lewis and Nico where in different teams and the only way for Lewis/merc to win WDC was for Lewis to back Nico into the pack hoping Nico would get overtaken and finish 4th or less.

            Would you be thinking the same if Lewis and Nico’s fortunes where swapped and Nico needed Lewis to finish 4th or less?

          2. @testacorsa

            You are entitled to your opinion, but I completely disagree.

            Hamilton is perfectly entitled to drive at whatever speed he wishes, as long as it is not dangerous to do so. He had only one way to win the WDC: Rosberg had to finish below 3rd. The only way he could have any influence on this was to do as he did.

            I do not agree that he was trying to force an incident. He was merely allowing those behind to close the gap and, potentially, either overtake Rosberg or pressure him into making a mistake. This was the most likely way that he would win.

            It took absolutely masterful driving to accomplish what he did. To maintain that gap as precisely as he did was incredible to watch. One wrong move from Hamilton would have left him vulnerable to Nico under DRS, and a slightly faster pace would not have given Vettel chance to close the gap and have a go.

            F1 is not, and has never been, simply a flat-out race to the chequered flag. There has always been a large element of tactics involved, and Hamilton delivered a master stroke of tactics (without the aid of his team) to give him the best possible chance of winning the WDC. Winning the WDC is what the top drivers are all aiming for. Why did anyone expect less?

        2. Very weel said. Hamilton is a thinking driver.

    3. @mashiat I think there is no such things as “undeserving” champions. When Vettel won in 2012 I was supporting Alonso and wondered what would have happened had the Spa crash not happened. But Vettel was deserving. Nico too that’s how it goes. Congrats to him!

      1. @spoutnik +100, if a driver performs well enough to win the championship then they are deserving of it. Hamilton was also deserving, but Rosberg won it and that’s how it is.

        It’s horrible how many people genuinely believe that Rosberg doesn’t deserve it. By that logic Hamilton can also thank reliability for 2008 and 2014, and doesn’t deserve 2008 for definite. But that’s not right, because he does deserve it.

      2. The Blade Runner (@)
        28th November 2016, 9:55

        Spot on.

        What this also does is increase the likelihood of inter-team fireworks at Mercedes in 2017. That has to be a good thing!

    4. Rosberg 100% deserved this. Hamilton has been the benificiary of luck *and* of team orders in his favor, even just this year. He can’t accept that, but then try to disown his bad luck. Rosberg won 100% on merit; he was the stronger and better driver than Lewis this year.

      1. You mean Hamilton benefited from team orders like in Abu Dhabi? @gweilo8888
        Never forget that reptilians are hunting you down in the shadows…

  6. I’d give it an 8.

    some good racing, some interesting startegy, some close fighting, a decent level of overtaking & some big tension at times!

  7. Unpopular opinion I’m sure but a complete 0 from me. I watch F1 to see the best in the World driving on the limit… I doubt even Vettel or Verstappen wanted to let Hamilton win the WDC in that manner even if they could.

    Should never have come to it… Bring back “no team orders” or something. The broadcast was preceded with footage of Senna and Schumacher moments, would any moment of this “race” between the leaders ever be re-broadcast? F1 needs to take a look at itself, why are they even there if not to race on the limit constantly?

    1. The problem with kneejerking right to the extreme is you give no possibility for anything worse to ever happen. Do you honestly rank that race the equal of _that_ US Grand Prix?

      1. You’re right, I’m sure, over-reaction… Immediate gut-feeling just from watching the race, it definitely had its merits. Verstappen, Vettel, Alonso, Grosjean, it was just that fight between the two leaders that killed it for me.

      2. The same happens far more frequency in the other direction. How many 10/10 votes have there been this year, when there was not a single race all year long which would merit recall even two or three years down the road, with the possible exception of Brazil (and there mostly due to the weather).

    2. Complete zero is not even credible. How would you expect that we discuss your point?

    3. petebaldwin (@)
      27th November 2016, 15:06

      Races are different. I agree that F1 needs more flat out racing but today would have been a bore-fest if the Mercs were leading by 30 seconds…

      1. Yeah you’re right, but it also would have been incredibly exciting in that sense with double points haha, it’s just part of the rules I guess. Can’t have everything no matter how much they’re tweaked or looked at as I suggest…

        I’m happy to be wrong anyway, if more people enjoyed the show, all the better for F1 as a whole.

    4. Sorry, but if you aren’t cheating it’s racing. Nico had the chance to overtake if he was fast enough. The best finales are all about tactics and this race was interesting because of them.

      It still takes skill and pace to slow down a fast competitor and the only way you can do it is if you have the pace and skill to judge it correctly.

    5. I gave it a 2, Tristan.

      It must objectively fall somewhere within the worse 3 races of the season. It was way too subdued.

      Verstappen’s brainfart on T1 surely made every team more cautious about their strategy, and they must surely be on “coulda, shoulda” mode after the fact. They needed to attack as they all knew what Lewis would try.

    6. @ tristan
      Don’t know what you where watching, I saw Lewis driving on the edge keeping Nico out of DRS, and backing him into the pack. Not an easy thing to do and definitely on he edge.

  8. Obviously tense and a fantastic conclusion! However, as a race the first 10 laps and the last 10 laps were good, the rest was very dull

      1. Agreed. Same mark for the same reasons.

    1. Gave the same score for the same reasons. Was obviously a very tense race, but it has 0 replay value.

      1. Yeah, once you know the outcome there’s very few reasons to watch it again.

      2. 7/10 here as well, if not for Hamilton trying something it would have been 5/10. The ‘crush’ to the line for the last 10 laps was great fun.

  9. First 48 laps were par for 2016. The last 7!? Holy hell! I’m on night shift and I’m supposed to go to sleep now. Probably not going to happen. Congrats Nico! Rest easy, you’ve made your mark.

  10. I gave it an 8, three of which are down to Hamilton driving at snail’s pace for the last 10 laps! Very tense due to the championship situation, otherwise it would have been a pretty dull one.

  11. Gave 8 thanks to Hamiltons antics. And we have whole off-season now to talk about whether the champion is deserved and if Hamilton did the right thing.

  12. Not a Rosberg nor Hamilton fan, but goodness me, I couldn’t bare to watch those last 10 laps or so!

    Pretty decent considering it’s Abu Dhabi. Enjoyed it quite thoroughly throughout

  13. 4, but only for the pursuit of seb in the end, no fan of either merc drivers

  14. Very tense and exciting. Vettel and Verstappen had excellent drives today.

    Nico did everything he had to, including the brave overtake on Verstappen, well done to him!

  15. 9 out 10! Fantastic mind game! That was tense from lap one until the end. Rosberg was put under extreme pressure by Hamilton which played it the most he could. Great season finale I really enjoyed it! Kudos to a very deserving world champion, bravo Nico!

  16. 10. In all honesty it wouldn’t be that high earlier in the season but for a finale that was perfect.

    It was unbelievably tense the whole race, anyone could have won the race or the championship and there were some great moves and even a few controversial tactics to keep us talking in the off season.

    1. That was my reason for a 10 also. I don’t believe you could ask much more from a finale!

  17. I’m actually happy with Hamilton’s holding back tactics. It wasn’t pretty but made the race better and added value to the title.

    1. Agreed it was heading towards a very dull race otherwise, made for entertaining final third!

    2. @eggry Indeed! He played it to the perfection! Dirty but fair. It did not pay in the end but that was tense!

      1. Hows that dirty lol. Nico could just pass lewis

        1. @f1fan-2000 … But in the end he was not able to. Hamilton showed great skills here but it was not enough. “Nico could just pass Lewis” oh yeah of course! Haven’t thought about that! Looks simple from here no?

  18. petebaldwin (@)
    27th November 2016, 15:01

    Strange race but a great title decider. Congratulations Nico – if he wasnt considered a worthy champion before today, he should be now. Very difficult race but he did it.

  19. Lewis should have used tactics much earlier, he has only himself to blame for losing.

    1. He couldn’t because the team were threatening pit stop retribution.

      1. It was better to remain calm than try to overtake and destroy the tires

      2. In Malaysia, he was winning miles ahead of everyone when engine blown, and team said ” we have let Ham down in a big way” and now they bloody interfere with his championship chances… even threatening him with pit stop delay by letting nico in first… wow… Big end bearing was one thing out of the 6 Merc engines…. but Big end talk like that? seriously? Baku, they told Lewis to get on with his race they cant explain him anything despite them changing settings without letting him know, and 2 races later they recover Nico from potential DNF and telling him all the blows and whistles he needs to do! and Come Malaysia, big end bearing failure in a brand new engine and of the 6 cars, his ones mainly have problems in qualis or races magical odds…! Like Vettel said once “Honestly, tell Toto and Paddy to F off, honestly!” they should have shut their mouth and do not interfere with the race if they wanted to be partial. They won the WCC already, why in the world they threaten a driver when WDC is within his grasps or there was a chance?…

        1. Because they wanted to make sure Merc came 1-2 in finish line, which you don’t seem to understand. They are a company and they’re the employers so they look out for the company, not for LH or NR. They want 1-2 result in all races always, if possible.

          1. Which is short sighted.
            People will remember this finish thanks to Hamilton’s tactics. This will add to the legend of Mercedes, and up their value as a brand.
            Compared to the pit wall punishing Hamilton by slowing him down at pit stop. Image the outrage in the world of motor sport.
            C’mon, they won more races than anyone in 3 years in the history of the sport. People are complaining that they are too dominant. Would it be better for their image to punish Hamilton in the race? @lari

        2. Don’t forget Toto calling Max’s dad. Ludicrous.
          But the media enterprises are more interested in selling the stories to be more profitable, so they will not argue against a fine product (F1), instead of that: a great part of them will help Mercedes’ PR.
          The sad in all this isn’t seeing Lewis losing, but what Mercedes has done to the sport. A strong stab in its credibility.
          It’s a bit difficult to me now stay awake in the night to watch a GP taking place in the antipodal hemisphere. It was always a pleasure, but know I confess I’m gonna think twice.

  20. I rated it a 5. It was a good race, up until Hamilton intentionally tried to ruin Rosberg’s race (which in other sports is usually cause for fines or suspensions). I mean, all hell breaks loose if we even hear a rumor of this kind of thing in other sports. I mean, I guess, except NASCAR… oh wait, there was that time when a team collapsed because sponsors left after they tried to fix a race by getting a caution so…

    1. Like roseberg did in austria

    2. Wait, you genuinely don’t think drivers back each other up in racing? You need to watch the midfield more, don’t fixate on the front!

      1. Just like the FIA, I guess?

    3. It was sound tactics, completely fair and, actually, very cleverly done. It didn’t work, but it was the only legal and fair way for Lewis to have any chance of winning the WDC.

      Any driver who didn’t attempt something like thar would have, basically, given up on the title.

    4. Well in NASCAR if you block too long, they just bumb you of the track. And most people are fine with it.

  21. I honestly didn’t expect Lewis to pull that tactic, but I guess there’s a different mind-set when the WDC is on the line.

    Thankfully he did, which gave us a brilliant tense final to the race.

    In the end a deserving championship for Rosberg – held his nerve and got it!

    Loved the race – was a 10/10 from me. With Max’s brain-fart actually adding to the drama!

    1. Max’s brain fart? Did I miss anything or do you mean his first lap contact with the Hulk?

      1. Yes, I think @psynrg meant the first lap contact, which then paved the way for an interesting one-stop strategy that placed him ahead of Rosberg.

  22. 10/10 – tension all the way through the race. Those last few laps was insane.

  23. For the first time in forever we had 5 laps where I think genuinely no one knew what was going to happen. Great drive from Rosberg under pressure and great drive from Hamilton holding first at that pace, incredible stuff.

    People saying it was dirty driving clearly dont know what they are talking about. Drivers hold each other up all the time and no one bats an eyelid. It’s not like he deliberately brought at yellows at Monaco or deliberately crashed into his teammate.

  24. Mr. Cool vs Mr. Cool, and it went undecided.
    Hamilton drove as slow as possible, within the limits of fairness, Rosberg never even blinked. Faultless display of both Mercedes drivers in a nice tactical battle. It was a very rewarding title decider.

  25. I gave it a 9/10. The start and finish were fantastic, especially the ending! Hamilton slowing down really did give an edge to the grand prix and made me anxious to see if rosberg could last.

    The middle was a bit boring, save for the a few heartbreaks here and there (BUTTON NO ;~; ), but overall, the race was very much worth it!

  26. Such an incredible race, not only the Merc battle but the Red Bulls and Ferraris, Max and Seb coming through the field, etc. 9/10.

  27. 7/10. A really tense and exciting conclusion to the race but it wasn’t as dramatic in 2008 or 2012 and it wasn’t a lot of action as well. 10/10?? Really? Again it looks like the expectations are clearly lower this season.

  28. This was the most interesting Abu Dhabi Grand Prix of all time, and it gets a very lovely score of 7/10 for that!

      1. Oh yeah, forgot about that! Second most interesting then.

  29. 10/10 Last 10-15 laps were great.
    Ros was so tense and in the end i am glad he won it and cried after massive relief on podium. Let me tell you Ros will be even stronger next year simply cause he won it and got this huge burden of his back being son of WDC and being beaten two years in a row. He will be much more relaxed and more dangerous for Ham then this year.

  30. Nico winning reminds me of 2014. Hamilton was powerless to stop nico from winning the championship the same way when nicos engine had problems which made him powerless from stoping lewis.

    1. @chirag101095 did you even watch the race? even know who was leading the championship, and who was leading the race? Nico had any possible chance thanx to double points! Had it been double points now again, You would see Lewis disappear miles ahead and he wouldnt need to back him up! I dont think Nico had any chance or form to answer Lewis’s drive… Well thanx to F1’s unpredictable rules changes almost every other race, we have this situation…

  31. It was an incredibly tense race, but the circuit and superiority of the Mercedes stopped anything outstanding actually happening as, despite Lewis’ best efforts to hold Rosberg up for the pack, said pack couldn’t do anything against him from either not being able to exit the hairpin or not having enough speed to attempt an overtake.
    You have to give some credit to Rosberg for holding it together as he’s not done so a few times already this year (notably Austria and Germany). He wasn’t the best or fastest over the year, but he was there when others failed and that’s what gave him the title.

  32. I don’t understand what is wrong with HAM backing up ROS into VET and VES. He didn’t ram his rival off the track like Schumacher and Senna did and he didn’t try to get his rival penalized like football players do when flopping and then asking for a red or yellow card and he didn’t use doping either.

    Bottomline is, is trying to do everyting within the rules to win the championship. That’s what we want and expect from every driver or athlete in any sport, don’t we?

    What I actually think was ‘not done’ was the Merc management effectively trying to decide the title battle from the pitwall with team orders. That tells me they wanted ROS to win the championship and that they are willing to sacrifice the sporting element to get their way.

    1. They wanted to make sure Merc came 1-2 in finish line, which you don’t seem to understand. They are a company and they’re the employers so they look out for the company, not for LH or NR. They want 1-2 result in all races always, if possible.

    2. I also do not understand what was wrong with Hamilton’s tactic. If Rosberg wasn’t happy with being slowed down, he always had the option to try and past Hamilton and win the race. I remember hearing the commentary saying that Hamilton was lapping 9 seconds slower than qualifying, should have been an easy pass for a world champion level driver.

      To my mind, a race where Rosberg actually tried to win, rather than playing the strategy of only needing to finish second, would have actually been interesting. Instead we got another dull race of everyone follow the leader.

      As a fan, I watch Formula 1 to see drivers race every race. Every grand prix driver should be doing absolutely everything they can to win every single race, not just settling for enough points for the championship.

      1. @formulales

        Agreed, ROS could have tried but then again, I can understand why he didn’t. He just needed to get the result he needed. In my mind fair play to them both for doing what they were doing. The Merc interference is what irks me.

        also, the 9’sec slower whas not because Hamilton was purposely 9’sec slower as such, the cars were just full with 100kg of fuel for the race compared to the nearly emty tank qualy runs. If MERC/FER/RBR were really 9 seconds slower than he needed to be than Manor would have won the race and lapped them all twice ;-)

    3. Greetings!
      Sincerely, that was clear from GP #4.
      They just inadvertently exposured now.

  33. 8 out of 10. Lewis did what he had to do as did Rosberg. Anyone that has an issue with Hamilton backing Rosberg up has obviously never played any form of sports. You do what you have to do to win. F1 is all about winning, not whining.

  34. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
    27th November 2016, 15:39

    9. Best Abu Dhabi GP to date.

  35. 7 for me……its not a great track for overtaking….or a meeting to settle a world championship……Paddy made himself look a bit silly with a meaningless instruction….Lewis was told before the race if he slowed down, they would bring Nico in first for the undercut…..so Lewis waited until after the pitstops and did what any racer would do….and before people complain about unsporting tactics……why did Nico not overtake???
    Roll on 2017…and thank you Jenson …you have been great

  36. If this was the first race… I would rate It as booring 4… But as it was. With Ham pushing RockBerg in to others.. Real race ensued. Leading to a spectacular strategy play, where RBR outsmarted Ferrari, amd then Vettel outdrove everyone…

    Awesome.

  37. 8/10 A good race, not a great one but was fine.

  38. 7. Good considering the track, especially the fact that those easier to overtake areas are actually quite badly designed, innocuous straights. It was an okay fight.
    Both Mercs are as quick as the other as the qualifying stats back up. Lewis is a ruthless overtaker, he makes you avoid him on overtakes and that’s what he has in hand over Nico. Lewis also manages the races effortlessly.
    I think these past 4 races were a lot like the last 4 of last season, unrepresentative. Lewis had a lucky break in texas and won it early and deservedly in 2015, that meant the last races were worth less, as were the races after Malaysia this season, the title was practically almost won. Lewis had many issues early on with reliability but thankfully that didn’t cost him dnf’s, that is up until Malaysia, the stats will say that Malaysia lost Lewis the title but Lewis wasn’t the only one to be unlucky. For instances, that strong summer for Lewis is dominated by Nico’s poor starts and inane penalties, and the characteristic Ham “shove”, if it wasn’t for that, Lewis would have lost the championship by Malaysia and we don’t know how would Nico have taken the last 4 races had he not been in the position he was, having to score 2nd’s.
    Nico was a good team player in Monaco something that could have cost him, and by the end he simply could not match Lewis in the last 4 races. Overall in my view it was Lewis uncharacteristic form at the start of the season that cost him the title. Even with the hand of the FOM Lewis didn’t get it, the first lap incidents, the omission of some reprimands, these kept the championship from collapsing but in the end it didn’t matter. I’m curious to see how their dynamic changes with the new rules, perhaps Lewis becomes markedly quicker or perhaps who knows the other way round.

  39. Very tense race thanks to Hamilton. Made an otherwise dull race very worthwile. A very childish reaction from Mercs management to Hamiltons action. What on earth did it matter? Constructors champs decided, WDC between 2 Mercs, who cares for just another GP win? Just give the spectators something watch!

  40. Not a fan if rosberg or Hamilton. But huge congrats to Nico. Fully deserved the world championship. As for the reliability arguments go back to 2008. And if we use that argument we can go back and say Jin Clark deserved more championships. Phil hill didn’t deserve his championship. But we don’t. Reliability always plays a part in the championship even if we like it or not

    1. Also an 8/10

    2. @jamiejay995 Colin Chapman entered F1 cars knowing his cars weren’t the most reliable ever made so I wouldn’t count Clark’s unrealiability (him dying did help force a few titles away from him though).

      I’d say 1985 was a better example.

    3. Hello!
      One more fella who forgot about Spa 2008.

  41. Hamilton’s tactics made it far more interesting than expected.

  42. It’s amazing how good a race can be when the Mercedes drivers don’t bother trying and when Ferrari and Red Bull can make a strategy work.

  43. Not a fan of either. The race was tense and pretty good – I’m very glad Hamilton didn’t win it.

    Impressed with Verstappen and Vettel, both did pretty good.

    Congratulations to Rosberg.

  44. 9/10

    Rosberg won the championship which is the result I’ve been hoping for! May he celebrate in style and enjoy his time off before the 2017 season kicks off.

    Vettel came third and got a podium finish, so I’m also incredibly happy about that.

    Red Bull didn’t get a podium finish, which I actually preferred, considering how they had it in their minds to ruin Rosberg’s race and gift Hamilton the championship.

    It’s not a 10 though because I’d have preferred Rosberg to have won the race, and Hamilton irritated me how he responded in the closing laps along with how he’s been acting in his interviews post-race.

    1. Hello, Dani!
      So RedBull should just had kept their cars in the garage?
      And Hamilton should just give up?
      There was nothing illegal about what they have done.
      I’m not quite sure RBR wanted to gift Hamilton the championship, they were only trying to capitalize on the event.

  45. Because of what it meant for him, Nico vs Max must be up there with the passes of the season.

    1. Yeah that was the moment I thought, ok Nico is earning his result today

  46. I gave it a 6 just due to the tension of the last few laps- otherwise a 3.

    I’ve really had it with the Mercedes “era”. I don’t think I’ve been excited to watch a qualifying session since Melbourne. What a waste having so many drivers have no shot at winning the race, let alone a podium.

    I know that’s the deal with F1, but praying for change in 2017.

  47. Not a proper racing circuit but what a finale, Red Bull and Ferrari in the mix too made it exciting, 6 for the victory until they were 4 til the end of the race. Even tho Abu Dhabi isnt a good track like Interlagos but the sunset and lights make it exciting, give it a chance

  48. Gave it an eight purely due to the tension that the title fight created. Otherwise this track is a sad example that money rules in F1.

  49. It was an unbelievably tense finish and much more exciting than I thought it’d be, but today underlined the fact that Yas Marina is an abomination of race track which doesn’t deserve to be on the calendar never mind be the final race. When you think about the recent title deciders at Interlagos they’ve regularly been defined by an exciting charge through the field by one of the title contenders, Schumacher in 06, Hamilton in 07 and Vettel in 12. In Abu Dhabi it’s the opposite, the title deciders in 2010 and today were defined by drivers being unable to overtake. However much they’re paying for the right to hold the final race I find it hard to believe it’s worth the long term damage to the reputation of the sport.

  50. geoffgroom44 (@)
    27th November 2016, 19:11

    Now wasn’t that interesting? 1 driver (and not the world champion this year) created a scenario that involved 3 different teams fighting (sparring) at the front. That should be good for F1 and encouraging to other teams. It certainly was a response to many this year who have complained about F1 just being for Mercedes.
    Naturally, some drivers felt it necessary to complain to the pits about this as they knew they stood no chance of passing this one lead driver as they were unable to match his skills.
    It is also worth pointing out that this one lead driver had good reasons to ‘nurse his oldish engine’, something he has done for a few races now. Remember, that loss of oil pressure killed a bearing that subsequently cost this driver 30 points over and above the final championship points.
    Of course, mechanical failures are part of F1 – so are using tactics to your own best advantage once the team requirements have been met.Mercedes had already won the constructors title and should not have been interfering
    with the drivers in this race. Such interference has lessened Nico’s triumph as it appears to validate his frustrations at being unable to have an effect upon the race winner.

  51. Take away the six or seven final laps and it was like watching the paint dry. The last few lasts were exciting, but for all the wrong reasons. The highlight was the Nico on Max overtake, extremely tense under the circumstances, but mundane otherwise. A very generous 5.

  52. Not much actual racing, it really is an awful track. Tension brought it up to a 6/10

  53. It was not exciting…

  54. Bernie being lifted by Nico Rosberg : 10/10
    The rest of the race was boring except for a few minutes. I gave it a 6/10.

  55. 8/10, there was a lot of tension which is always good for keeping interest high.

  56. The middle was a tad boring, but my god the last 15 laps or so were great. Any mistake from either 4 would have dropped them to the back of the train, Hamilton being a genius and backing everyone up without doing anything wrong, and the chance for a season-closing Vettel win. Even on the last lap it wasn’t guaranteed who would finish where.

    8/10

  57. A decent race.

  58. I gave the race a 5.5

    The race went pretty much as I expected, Hamilton controlled the race to take the victory while Rosberg settled for second as that was all he needed to do become champion so why take any unnecessary risks.

    There wasn’t that much going on during the race, Verstappen’s recovery after dropping to last on the opening lap and Vettels’ charge to a podium after his late pit stop the only highlights really.

    Although the race was a title decider that fact didn’t add any excitement or tension to the race in my opinion and it didn’t change my rating as there was never any real chance of Rosberg not winning the title, even when another driver got close and looked like Rosberg might be challenged for second place no one else was close enough to then contest third place if he had lost a place.

    I know the media have to try to hype things up, but from their coverage before the race you could be mistaken for thinking that the title battle was close and whoever finished ahead would win the Championship when that was not the case.

    Hamilton did all he could to try to win the championship but no matter what he did it would have made no difference. He couldn’t hold Rosberg up much until all the pit stops were out of the way as he could have lost the lead, and if he had held Rosberg up any more in the latter stages of the race so that it was easy for Vettel or another driver to pass Rosberg then it would have made it easy for Rosberg to pass Hamilton also.

    Regarding the Mercedes radio messages to Hamilton telling him to speed up and not to back Rosberg up.

    I thought they had stated they wouldn’t interfere in the title battle, but then they did with the radio messages.

    As they had already wrapped up the constructers title and were guaranteed the drivers title I thought that Mercedes would let their drivers race and that the only rule was the basic rule for every team for the divers not to hit each other.

    If their primary aim was to get another 1-2 finish they should have stated that beforehand and said we don’t care about the finishing order but our objective is to finish first and second, even though it would mean the title fight was over as any variation on that result meant Rosberg would be Champion.

    The way they handled it this race and with Toto Wolff previously asking Jos Verstappen to make sure Max didn’t interfere with the title race wasn’t very good and I don’t think Mercedes have managed it very well.

    1. If their primary aim was to get another 1-2 finish they should have stated that beforehand and said we don’t care about the finishing order but our objective is to finish first and second, even though it would mean the title fight was over as any variation on that result meant Rosberg would be Champion.

      The way they handled it this race and with Toto Wolff previously asking Jos Verstappen to make sure Max didn’t interfere with the title race wasn’t very good and I don’t think Mercedes have managed it very well.

      Indeed @pja, I have to agree with that. Perhaps being a control-freak is a team boss thing (Dennis?) but the tension from Spa 2014, and Spain this year apparently never eased enough from Toto to now trust his drivers fully.

  59. I gave this race 8/10, better than I expected, as I feared Hamilton would have just bolted it with Rosberg behind, well ahead of the others and not much happening. But it turned out to be a tense race, with some good actions. Have to say, Hamilton did well with what he had. But Rosberg did too, kept Vettel behind him and kept it together to win the WDC.

    Impressive drive from both of them really, and Vettel had a pretty good go at it. Didn’t think Verstappen spinning out and changing strategy would help spice up the race as it did, makes you wonder if perhaps teams should be more enterprising with strategy. But it probably also meant he couldn’t keep Vettel behind, nor attack Rosberg, which might have added extra tension for Rosberg.

    Also very glad Massa got a tribute in Brazil, and had time for that thanks to where he crashed, but got into the points a final time here in his last race. Would have preferred Button to not wreck his suspension, but at least the McLaren looks pretty okay now.

  60. 7/10
    What I had hoped: Hamilton master class. Rosberg not taking the safe route. Both Red Bull putting the pressure on Rosberg, Button seeing chequered flag, Safety car.
    What I got: Hamilton master class. Rosberg took the safe route (justified from his point of view). Red Bulls fading out. Button mechanical failure. Mercedes team instructions.
    Surprises: One quick Ferrari with good top speed, shocking Torro Rosso

  61. I think we all knew that Hamilton will do something (blocking and slowing ROS at the first corner, slowing the pack, spin ROS, etc.) and to be honest it was the only reason I actualy watched the race! It was very expected that HAM won’t just cruise to victory from pole. As much as ROS playing it safe not geting involved in dangerous battles. I also thought that VER, RIC, VET, RAI might be close to Rosberg in the race. I’m not a Hamilton fan but also not a hater. I simply don’t like his image/livestyle/style but I respect that he behaves like he want (you know golden chains, diamond earing, private G5 flights PLAYAAA style, celebrity image, his artistic and religious side, hughs with Justin bieber are simply not my thing;). I want to watch racing drivers not racing supah stars (even that most of them are very popular worldwide) so I do rate HAM highly as a driver. For me he always was something- he is not the best overal driver out there but he might be the fastest! He has the egoist- champion factor in him. It was clear at every race this year that HAM knows that he is there only to beat Nico (because only ROS can beat him to the WDC). And I didn’t like what he did at the final race. I uderstand why he did it and knew he will try do something. Because he is a very fast driver and doesn’t want to be beaten. He had same races to nail the championship and failed (sure he had failures, DNF etc) but is is motorsport it is not all to the driver. He has by far the most dominant car 3 years in a row and I think that is something that you should be happy about. I didn’t see his joy.
    You all may not agree but for me he just lacks class. Being a great driver is not only about winning but also how you lose and we all saw what kind of loser (which kind) HAM is. Maybe he is not at VET or ALO crybaby level yet but these two atleast do have reasons not to be happy and show frustration. It’s not HAM fault that he lost points this year but it’s also not ROS it’s just life in motorsport. Hamilton was never that much of a team player we all know that – but it is not the reason why he might never be an all-time best. I think it is more about the scale of how much he isn’t a team player. Even his contract isn’t a reason enough for him to play how the team wants.

  62. Sebatian Vettel criticized Hamilton’s “backing up” tactics and I believe that is the reason that he spent the last six or so laps acting as Rosberg’s “tail gunner”, actually protecting him from Verstalppen et al. Perhaps this is a measure of the popularity of Hamilton within the paddock. As Rosberg has said in the past “Lewis doesn’t do second” and it shows. Who does he “hang” with among the other drivers?

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