This weekend sees the second time that Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton go head to head to decide a title which would be historic for the sport regardless of which one takes the title. Rosberg would be the second son of a champion to become champion, Hamilton who cermet his place as Britain’s most successful driver in Grand Prix racing.
What Happened Last Time?
Rewind 23 November 2014, both Rosberg and Hamilton were fighting for this title in Abu Dhabi. But it was a perfect day for Hamilton as he drove to victory after Rosberg ran into technical difficulties finishing out the points. This meant that Hamilton just needed to finish in the points as Rosberg was fourteenth.
Who has had the better results in Abu Dhabi
| Year | Team | Driver | Position | Driver | Team | |
| 2009 | McLaren | Lewis Hamilton | Retired | 9TH | Nico Rosberg | Williams |
| 2010 | 2Nd | 4th | Mercedes | |||
| 2011 | 1st | 6th | ||||
| 2012 | Retired | Retired | ||||
| 2013 | Mercedes | 7th | 3rd | |||
| 2014 | 1St | 14th | ||||
| 2015 | 2nd | 1st | ||||
How Rosberg is champion?
Tyres
Both drivers have the same allocation seven ultrasoft, two supersoft and four soft. We know historically that Hamilton is harder on his tyres and this may put him on the backfoot but we have an extra compound this season which may change the race strategy for both drivers.
Last year Rosberg took a two stop strategy starting on the supersoft before going onto the soft for the remainder of the race. Stopping on laps 10 and 31. Two stops was the most popular option.
Who could cause an upset?
This weekend I feel the circuit should led itself more to Red Bull in the slower sectors but Ferrari could have the edge in the long straight and fast first have of the circuit. But given recent form I think this will be a more Red Bull circuit and don’t count out Max Verstappen either.
Fluher’s Full View
Formula One has been in Abu Dhabi since 2009 now and in its short time on the calendar we have had two title deciders held there 2010 and 2014 but in 2016 is Lewis v Nico 2.0. As seen many times over the years anything can happen in the space of a lap or two so no matter how good a start Hamilton gets if rosberg has an incident free race and settles behind we will have a new drivers champion
Cast your mind back to 2014 for a prime example rosberg had issues with the car when leading a loss of power to be exact but the one of. Thankfully scraped double points rule could and more than likely would have given Rosberg the title that day without the loss of power, but the biggest title showdown held in Abu Dhabi.
The dramatic 2010 GP with Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso and Webber all in contention. It boiled down to Webber and Alonso, Webber seemingly the favourite that day to win his first title just a year after his first win. But it wasn’t to be with Webber getting stuck behind Vitaly Petrov along with Alonso like vettel Hamilton had an outside chance.
Last Day Madness
Over the last decade most of the title deciders have eight titles have been won and lost on the last day of the season.
2006 Fernando Alonso Michael Schumacher
2007 Kimi Raikkonen Lewis Hamilton Fernando Alonso
2008 Lewis Hamilton Felipe Massa
2010 Sebastian Vettel Mark Webber Lewis Hamilton Fernando Alonso
2012 Sebastian Vettel Fernando Alonso
2014 Lewis Hamilton Nico Rosberg
2016 ????
The only certainty
The only certainty we know that history will be made will Rosberg be the second man to become son of a champion to become campion? Or will Hamilton who cermet his place as Britain’s most successful driver in Grand Prix racing.
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- Preview – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
