The team did not mind a jot, after a record-breaking 12th one-two of the season. Predictably, they opted for the more conservative option with Hamilton, giving him the harder rubber for the closing flourish rather than the more fragile supersofts, a decision he seemed to regret.
Hamilton could not finish the season with a victory
However, with a historic third championship long since sealed, he was in no particular mood to start going ballistic at the team, other than to say they left him a “mountain to climb” in the final laps. His mind was already on the snowy peaks of Colorado, where he likes to spend his winters.
“I don’t know the big picture and ultimately you have to rely on the engineers to give you the optimum strategy at that point,” Hamilton said. “Honestly, I don’t really understand it, but I came out 11 seconds behind. I had a mountain to climb, which I pushed as hard as I could but then the tyres went off. I left the team to make the call because I didn’t know which was the right one. I don’t know which one was better. I’m not sure if it could have gone to the end. Some part of me wishes I had given it a go.”
Alonso – a “ticking bomb”
For Rosberg, the first race in Australia next March cannot come soon enough. Having found top form at precisely the wrong moment, the German sees no reason to head off back to Monaco and his wife, Vivian, and their young daughter, Alaia. Since Austin, when Hamilton took the title in a topsy-turvy race, Rosberg is undefeated.
“Austin was the low point and since then I’m come back a lot stronger,” he said. “Next year could come at any moment. It’s great to end the season like this.”
Raikkonen got onto the podium
Next season will define Rosberg: perpetual No 2 or world champion? Those are the only options. A rivalry which was spiky in 2014 became straightforward in 2015, Hamilton in the ascendancy for most of the season, winning 10 races to Rosberg’s six. At least they have managed to avoid hitting each other, except for their little kiss at turn one in Texas.
There is still no love lost, though. The pair joked that Christmas cards are unlikely, and asked if the two might have dinner together, Rosberg replied: “Let’s skip that part.”
Bottas after his collision with Button
Most of the action this year has been off the track, and Abu Dhabi was no exception. An hour or so before this rather drab race the stewards let Ferrari off the hook, outlawing the nature of their collaboration with American newcomers Haas in future, but deciding not to retrospectively punish the Italian team. As they always manage to, Ferrari got away with it.
Whatever loopholes they have managed to exploit, it has not been enough to push Mercedes close this year. Sebastian Vettel, who clawed himself up from 15th to fourth here, won three races in a superb first season with the team, but finished some way adrift of the Mercedes duo. Kimi Raikkonen has been retained after an extremely lacklustre season. From third on the grid he finished where he started yesterday, largely anonymous throughout.
Elsewhere, Williams made a characteristic blunder in the pit lane, while Fernando Alonso and McLaren ended a season of lows with another. The Spaniard was penalised for a tired and clumsy collision at the start. Everyone is in need of a break, eager for a revitalised season next year.