Lewis Hamilton did his best, even slowing down as the raced neared its end in a bid to try and get Nico Rosberg stuck in traffic behind him, but as the chequered flag was waved, the two Mercedes drivers came in one and two, leaving Hamilton as the winner of the battle and Rosberg the champion of the war.
Knowing a win alone will not do, Hamilton rode a near-perfect race, but, as expected, Rosberg was cool and calm right behind his Mercedes teammate.
There were a couple of heart-stopping moments – when Rosberg had to find a way past Max Verstappen and also when Hamilton slowed down to try and get Rosberg tangled with a fast Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull driver behind him – however, once the dust settled, Rosberg came through as a deserving champion, even if a drained one, who had not quite enjoyed himself at the Abu Dhabi GP, the track where he became the world champion for the first time in his career.
"I hope I don't experience that again any time soon," Rosberg, who followed in his father's footsteps by become the F1 world champion, said. "The battle with Max, the pressure at the end, Lewis driving slow – the feelings during that were just unreal. Crazy.
"It was so intense, it's going to take some time [to get over]. Those last couple of laps, with those two behind and knowing if I dropped behind them it was over – not enjoyable."
Hamilton did not enjoy his race too much, either, because, even if he ended up winning in Yas Marina, he lost his drivers' world championship title, after a two-year reign. Hamilton, who disobeyed team orders during the race, though, was gracious in defeat, after the action on the circuit had ended, of course.
"We shouldn't let (anything) overshadow the fact Nico is champion," Hamilton said. "It's an amazing feeling to win the world championship.
"I feel good, I did everything I could this year, especially in the final races. But Nico had a clean year without any real issues to be honest, that's why we sit in these positions. He did a fantastic job so congratulations – and I look forward to fighting with him next year."
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