Hamilton seals world titleposted in F123 | 11 | 2014
LEWIS HAMILTON CLINCHED his second Formula One World Championship today when he dominated the season finale the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Mercedes GP team-mate Nico Rosberg, the only driver who could have denied Hamilton the title, eventually finished 14th, and a lap down, after his car suffered engine problems.
Hamilton, who entered the weekend leading Rosberg by 17 points, started the race from second on the grid behind the German.
But the Brit made what he called "the best start of my season" to scorch passed Rosberg — whose car suffered wheelspin — as they headed for the opening left-hander. Hamilton was never headed again.
Though Rosberg remained within a couple of seconds of Hamilton through the opening stint, his car suffered an energy recovery system (ERS) failure on lap 24 of 55, which cost him engine power and effectively ended his challenge.
As Rosberg's car continued to lose power, his crew suggested he retire the car with only a few laps reaming. But the German insisted he battled on to the end of the race, and end his title bid by taking the chequered flag.
Hamilton believes this year's title dwarfs his first success in '08 when he beat Felipe Massa to the title with McLaren in that season's dramatic decider at Interlagos.
"This is the great day of my life," an emotional Hamilton said after sealing his 11th win of the season. "2008 was a special time in my life; the feeling I have now is way, way past that and above and beyond. It's the greatest feeling I've ever had.
Related: Hamilton tops times in Abu Dhabi
"This has been an incredible year, I cannot believe how amazing it has all been. Coming to this team, when people said it was the wrong choice, and the steps we took last year and this year is unbelievable.
"This is like an outside-the-body experience. I want to make sure I give my thanks.
"Nico put on an incredible fight through the year. We met each other in 1997 and we always said it would be amazing to racing in the same team and fighting for the world championship.
"He did an amazing job today, it's sad to know his car was not quick enough so he could fight but he was graceful enough to come up to me now.
"He was very, very professional."
Rosberg was admirable in defeat, hailing Hamilton as the best driver on the 2014 Formula 1 grid.
"Of coure I'm very disappointed, a good chance was there today," Rosberg said. "It didn't work out, but in the end my race didn't make a difference because Lewis won fair and square anyway.
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"I won't dwell on my issue today. He deserved to win today and he deserved to win the championship.
"He was this year that little bit better, so it is fully deserved. He was the best driver on the grid this year.
"It was a great battle between us, and that's what I race for. It was a very intense time of course, but also fantastic. Having such a strong car has been unbelievable.
"It's been an incredible experience this weekend, I have never had so much support from the fans around the world before.
"Even the British: obviously most of them were here for Lewis, but it was so nice to see after qualifying that everyone was acknowledging me respectfully and applauding.
"There is also a lot of strong points I can build on for next year," Rosberg, who won five GPs this year, but eventually was outscored 384 points to 317, despite out-qualifying Hamilton 12 times in 19 races, continued. .
"I've been the better qualifier over the last two years, but I need to find a little bit in the racing and I am going to find that.
"It's not going to be easy to improve and find that little bit extra, but I know what the areas are so I'm going to push for them."
While Hamilton celebrated his second world title, it was also a day of celebration for Williams as Felipe Massa and team-mate Valtteri Bottas finished second a third. It's the first time for nine years that Williams had two drivers on the podium.
And while Daniel Ricciardo charged from a pitlane start to finish fourth, following Red Bull's exclusion from qualifying for a technical infringement concerning the RB10's front wing, Jenson Button brought his McLaren home fifth.
The top 10 was completed by the Force India duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, the second Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel, and Ferrari pair Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikonen.
F1 — Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Yas Marina. Result:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1h39m02.619s
2 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes +2.576s
3 Valtteri Bottas Williams/Mercedes +28.880s
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault +37.237s
5 Jenson Button McLaren/Mercedes +1m00.334s
6 Nico Hulkenberg Force India/Mercedes +1m02.148s
7 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes +1m11.060s
8 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull/Renault +1m12.045s
9 Fernando Alonso Ferrari +1m25.813s
10 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +1m27.820s
11 Kevin Magnussen McLaren/Mercedes +1m30.376s
12 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso/Renault +1m31.947s
13 Romain Grosjean Lotus/Renault +1 Lap
14 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +1 Lap
15 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber/Ferrari +1 Lap
16 Adrian Sutil Sauber/Ferrari +1 Lap
17 Will Stevens Caterham/Renault +1 Lap.
Retirements:
Kamui Kobayashi Caterham/Renault
Pastor Maldonado Lotus/Renault Engine
Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Renault
Championship Standings:
Drivers':
1 Lewis Hamilton 384
2 Nico Rosberg 317
3 Daniel Ricciardo 238
4 Valtteri Bottas 186
5 Sebastian Vettel 167
6 Fernando Alonso 161
7 Felipe Massa 134
8 Jenson Button 126
9 Nico Hulkenberg 96
10 Sergio Perez 59
11 Kevin Magnussen 55
12 Kimi Raikkonen 55
13 Jean-Eric Vergne 22
14 Romain Grosjean 8
15 Daniil Kvyat 8
16 Pastor Maldonado 2
17 Jules Bianchi 2
18 Adrian Sutil 0
19 Marcus Ericsson 0
20 Esteban Gutierrez 0
21 Max Chilton 0
22 Kamui Kobayashi 0
23 Will Stevens 0
Constructors':
1 Mercedes 701
2 Red Bull/Renault 405
3 Williams/Mercedes 320
4 Ferrari 216
5 McLaren/Mercedes 181
6 Force India/Mercedes 155
7 Toro Rosso/Renault 30
8 Lotus/Renault 10
9 Marussia/Ferrari 2
10 Sauber/Ferrari 0
11 Caterham/Renault 0
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Jim McGill