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Hello and welcome to ESPN's coverage of the duel in the desert, the title showdown at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina. ----------- 17:03 Rosberg returns to pole position. Not long until lights out... here we go! --- 17:02: Hamilton had a bit of a slow getaway there but it's not that start which counts. --- 17:01:
--- 17:00: Rosberg sets away on the formation lap and everybody gets away nicely. Hold on to your seats! --- 16:59: Off come the tyre blankets. --- 16:59: Drivers starting on the soft (prime) compound today: Magnussen, JEV, Perez, Hulkenberg and the two Red Bulls from the pit lane. Everyone else on the super soft tyre. --- 16:57: Personnel starting to leave the grid. These must be the most tense moments of all. --- 16:55: I don't know about you, but I'm ridiculously excited about this one. Five minutes to go. --- 16:52: Looks like Alonso has slightly different overalls on than usual today, with white sleeves and a Spanish flag on his midrift. He's also sporting a Ferrari tribute helmet today with signatures of all the team's employees as well. --- 16:50: Well, those look like slightly more nervous faces than usual. Can't say I blame them, especially Hamilton. --- 16:49: Game faces:
--- 16:47: Air temperature of 30 degrees Celsius this evening. Expect that to drop over the race time as the sun goes down and night sets in. --- 16:47: The national anthem is playing and the drivers are at the front of the pack. Hamilton and Rosberg stood either side of two grid girls holding the Abu Dhabi flag with an F1 flag. Just under 15 minutes until lights out. --- 16:45: End of an era at Red Bull.
--- 16:44: The sun is setting in the background of the grid. Really great spectacle when the sun does go down and the floodlights come on. --- 16:42: On the subject of strategy, only Red Bull can be expected to try a one-stopper as they start from the pit lane. Tough evening ahead of both its drivers. Remember, in the battle for fourth in the championship, four points separate Vettel, Alonso and Bottas. Huge opportunity for the Williams man. --- 16:40: As you can imagine, lots of attention around the grid slots for Rosberg and Hamilton. A sea of bodies down there at the start of the grid. --- 16:36: --- 16:34: This could also be the final race of Button's storied career this evening. --- 16:33: Both the Mercs start on the super soft tyre this evening. Pirelli estimates the first stop for anyone on the super soft tyre will be after just seven or eight laps today. A two-stop strategy will be the best here in Abu Dhabi. ---
16:32: Here's the full story on that disqualification and an explanation as to why it happened. Title permutations --- 16:30: Vettel also says goodbye to Red Bull this evening but will have to do it from a pit lane start after the team was disqualified from qualifying for running an illegal front wing. --- 16:26: Story isn't just about Mercedes today. Alonso one of the men racing for his current team for the final time this evening.
16:25: Here is what both men need to happen later on today. Hamilton needs to finish:
Rosberg needs to finish:
16:20: Excited yet? You should be. Massive evening of racing ahead of us, with Nico Rosberg looking to upset the odds and detail Lewis Hamilton's hopes of a second world championship. |
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Lap 1 |
Great start from Hamilton and he leads into Turn 1! Rosberg has to defend from the Williams of Bottas. Great start for the Briton, he absolutely flew off the line. Contact at the rear of the field on the back straight as Sutil and Magnussen vye for position. Bottas has had an awful start, Massa is currently up to third behind Rosberg. What on earth happened to Bottas? He's behind the Toro Rosso of Kvyat. Button comfortably in fourth - who doesn't want him to get a podium this evening? |
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Lap 2 |
Hamilton's lead already 1.2s over his team-mate. With pit stops likely to be around the lap seven mark, these next through laps important as these guys will start hitting traffic when they pit for softs. Grosjean pits to take his drive-through penalty, for not serving the full grid penalty today. Unsurprisingly he's down to last. |
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Lap 3 |
Fastest lap from Hamilton, a 1:47.142. He's starting to open up a bit of a gap already. Remember his super soft tyre is a lap older than Hamilton's, meaning he may need to come in earlier but Hamilton gets first choice as he leads! Rosberg already has two seconds in his pocket over Massa. All of his pre-race plans must have gone out of the window if he thought he could dictate the pace of the race from the lead. |
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Lap 4 |
Seeing that replay again, Hamilton well and truly nailed the start. "I'm going to drive it like I stole it this weekend," is what he said on Thursday. Quite. Bit of wheelspin for Rosberg, who looked across immediately to his left mirror. The replay from on board Hamilton is perhaps his best start of the season. Quite a handy time to deliver. Further down there was contact between Hulkenberg as Magnussen went steaming up the inside of him at the hairpin, before the Dane clouted Sutil. |
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Lap 5 |
A personal best from Rosberg but Hamilton's lead is still 1.5s. Bottas, who is down in eighth, complaining of "small graining" on his rears.
Alonso dives down the outside of Raikkonen at Turn 16, before Kvyat jumps ahead of the Finn! Raikkonen possibly struggling with his tyres. Alonso asking Ferrari to pit already. |
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Lap 6 |
And he does, Alonso in for the first pit stop on the super soft. We might well see Hulkenberg leading this race again soon, as he did in Brazil, as he's the first man on soft tyres and the super soft runners are likely to come in soon. Bruce Joost says: "Hamilton all the way!" Bottas now flies past Raikkonen at the end of the first backstraight. Raikkonen going backwards at the moment and he'll likely be the next man in. Button will also pit at the end of this lap. |
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Lap 7 |
Lots of action in the pits now. Button, Kvyat, Raikkonen all come in for soft tyres. Mercedes will be looking at the sector times of all these men, especially Alonso. Alonso battling with Stevens for 16th through the hairpin and he out-drags the Caterham down the backstraight for an easy pass. Hamilton's lead now 1.6s. Kvyat then jumps down the inside of Stevens through the middle sector. Nice move. |
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Lap 8 |
Hamilton's lead is now 2.1s. When will we see a pit stop from Mercedes? Rosberg's gap to Massa is 3.7s. Neither Williams has pitted yet either. Button's pit stop saw him emerge ahead of both Ferraris, by the way. Lots of those guys stuck in traffic. Bottas told everyone else who pitted is stuck in traffic and that "this is where we're going to make our day". Food for thought for Mercedes, too. |
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Lap 9 |
Hamilton told the pit window may be "very soon" but that he's going to have to wait a little longer. Vettel is tucked behind Magnussen and struggling to get by. Mike Ross tells Rosberg Mercedes is stretching his stint out by about three laps. Magnussen and Hulkenberg under investigation for that lap one incident. |
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Lap 10 |
Hamilton leading by 2.7s at the start of the tenth lap. Massa is told he can stay out for the time being. Williams keeping Mercedes on its toes currently. Hamilton will pit this lap. Let's see how this plays out. |
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Lap 11 |
Hamilton pits from the lead of the race. Great stop from Hamilton and Mercedes, 2.7s. Mike Ross tells Rosberg to put his richest fuel mix on and push like mad. Let's see how this plays out. Bottas also pits from fourth. Hulkenberg gets a stop/go penalty for that first lap incident with Magnussen. Bottas comes out behind Vettel. His fight is with Vettel for fourth in the drivers' championship, remember, so all his focus will be on that battle. Vettel tucked up nicely behind Magnussen. Hamilton appears to have come out in some clear air as well. Rosberg will pit now, so let's see where he filters out in comparison. He was around 2.4s down on Hamilton but his in lap doesn't seem like its been all that special.... |
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Lap 12 |
Hamilton is well clear of Rosberg, then, so he retains the lead as the German re-emerges from the pit lane. It doesn't look like the gap is down from what it had been, either. As you where for the time being. The key for both drivers is to stretch these tyres out over the all-important middle stint. Massa leads the race but is yet to pit. Ricciardo barges past his former team-mate Vergne at Turn 11 but JEV isn't having any of it, muscling his way back in front at Turn 14. Great little scrap. |
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Lap 13 |
Hulkenberg sounds incredulous on the radio when informed about his stop/go penalty. Seems harsh to hand out a penalty on a first-lap scrap like that when the field is so bunched together. Massa leads by 15 seconds over Hamilton, but is yet to pit. Hamilton's lead over Rosberg is 2.6s. Crucially in the other battles in the championship, Bottas has dispatched the Red Bull of Vettel. Ricciardo dives down the inside of Vergne again at Turn 11 and this time closes the door at the spot where Vergne grabbed the position back a lap earlier. |
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Lap 14 |
Massa pits from the lead as Hamilton and then Rosberg exchange fastest laps, the German crossing in 1:46.890. He's closed the gap down to 2.3s. "Massa just pitted, so just think about the gap to Lewis and conserving the tyres," Rosberg is told. Bottas makes easy work of Magnussen for eighth position. Bottas making up for lost time nicely after that poor start. |
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Lap 15 |
Hamilton does a personal best lap of 1:47.002 to stretch the gap back out to 2.5s. Perez pits from sixth position. Hulkenberg fourth but will pit - and serve that penalty - on the next lap. Look at Ricciardo, up to fifth on what is probably a one-stop strategy. Apparently someone at Caterham has dropped a pit board onto the track, leading to Bottas asking for it to be removed as its messing up his braking references. |
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Lap 16 |
Massa told the race is about managing the next two tyre sets. Hulkenberg comes into the pit lane for his stop and penalty. Kvyat has stopped at Turn 15/16 and pulled up on the tarmac alongside the circuit. He's wheeled away from the track and that's a disappointing finish to his impressive rookie season at Toro Rosso - but he's still without a point since the summer break.... |
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Lap 17 |
"Nico, plan is quite simple. Keep the gap to a manageable proportion to Lewis, we'll see if we can go longer than him." That's really the only option Rosberg's side of the garage has left right now. Up to Hamilton to go as long as he can, then, and force Rosberg to destroy the tyres. Hamilton's lead 2.6s. |
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Lap 18 |
Fastest lap from Rosberg, a 1:46.869. Alonso stuck behind Button, the man he may be replacing at McLaren next season. We saw Button get a bit scrappy with Alonso in Austin, remember, and I can't imagine he'll be keen to give up his position here without a fight. |
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Lap 19 |
Hamilton responds to Rosberg's lap with a personal best lap, just 0.03s off the German's fastest lap. The gap sticking firmly around the 2.5s mark - that may be the manageable gap Mike Ross was talking about. Hamilton will surely know what his team-mate is doing. Race and the championship battle still very much in his control. |
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Lap 20 |
Ricciardo told Bottas, who is behind, is quicker. Is told not to make it easy for him but not to let it impacted his own race. Pretty contradictory message from Red Bull! Massa seven seconds down on Rosberg. It was a pretty long shot to expect Williams to be a factor in the battle out in front, such is Mercedes' advantage. |
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Lap 21 |
Zelko N Kirincich: "Some excitement would be welcome!" Quite. One of the drawbacks with this circuit is it lacks the entertainment of some of its contemporaries. I'd taken an Interlagos finale any day of the week. Vettel tells Red Bull his rear tyres are starting to go. |
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Lap 22 |
Hamilton's lead up to nearly three seconds. Haven't seen the fuel useage of the two men out in front but I get the feeling Hamilton is keeping something in his pocket for later. No need for him to be going flat out at the moment. Magnussen and Vettel pit from sixth and seventh. Super softs for Magnussen, softs for Vettel. Slow stop from Vettel, seems like the world champion had a slow getaway. |
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Lap 23 |
Geoff says: "Same old same old. Yawn... another Mercedes 1/2" Ricciardo in fourth the only man not to pit yet. Vettel just came in, which would suggest a move for the Aussie could be imminent. But no sign of life in the Red Bull garage. Sutil pits for the second time in this race. |
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Lap 24 |
Hamilton's lead now up to 3.9s and we see a TV replay of Rosberg having a big lock up at Turn 17, which would explain where he lost so much time. Ricciardo tells Red Bull he can only keep his current pace for another few laps. These next laps are key for the Australian as Red Bull wants him to feed back from his pit stop in some clear air. |
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Lap 25 |
Kalai says: "What is the purpose/reason for awarding double points in this race particularly?" It was to keep the entertainment going until the final race of the season, after comprehensive Vettel championships in 2011 and 2013. Rosberg in trouble! He's losing engine power and he's crawling around the circuit. Is this the end of Rosberg's title hopes? Massa getting closer and closer. Mercedes tells him his Energy Recovery System (ERS) has failed. This could be goodnight for the German. |
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Lap 26 |
ERS is the equivalent of 160bhp. Not the sort of thing you want to be without. Hamilton's lead now well over 10 seconds. The world championship starting to take shape here - but will Mercedes be worried about similar happening to Hamilton? Massa reeling Rosberg in now. Massa is told Rosberg is losing power so is now gunning for second position. Huge disaster for Rosberg - the championship was already a long shot, especially so after his slow start, but now it looks like it's nearly impossible. |
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Lap 27 |
Rosberg tells Mercedes it feels like more than just an ERS problem. "It's not just ERS that is not there, it's holding back too!" Concerning for Mercedes. Massa moves alongside Rosberg and eases into second position. Big rounds of applause in the Williams garage. Now Hamilton just needs to bring the car home. But, that will be a concern for him. He still needs to finish this race to win the world championship. Rosberg managed to drag a car home in Canada with technical gremlins so don't write him off just yet. |
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Lap 28 |
Ricciardo pits for soft tyres. Flames pouring from the back of Maldonado's Lotus! Another retirement to cap a wretched year for Maldonado and Lotus. |
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Lap 29 |
Hamilton's lead over Massa is a huge 14 seconds. Rosberg has already dropped six seconds behind Massa, he's in all sorts of trouble. Rosberg says he's losing engine power, asking if he can do anything. This has shades of Singapore for the German however, Mercedes in a pretty helpless situation. Button pits and just emerges ahead of Alonso! The Spaniard is all over the back of Button at the hairpin and they go wheel-to-wheel down the first backstraight. Button makes it to the apex first, superb driving from two former world champions. Button tries to defend going into Turn 11 but goes to deep! Alonso takes the position. Harsh on Button after a wonderful piece of driving. |
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Lap 30 |
That scrap there between Alonso and Button was for tenth. Magnussen pits in the other McLaren. Is this for super soft tyres? Hamilton's lap times have really dropped now.... is he conserving pace, fuel, or does he also have a problem? |
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Lap 31 |
Hamilton's lead now nine seconds! His last lap exactly two seconds slower than Massa. Is the Brit coasting for a reason or is he just saving all his systems? Massa suddenly looking very good for a win if this continues for Hamilton. Rosberg, meanwhile, is only six seconds ahead of Bottas in third. Ricciardo dispatches Perez for P5. |
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Lap 32 |
Hamilton pits from the lead of the race for soft tyres. That should be his last stop of the evening. Massa now inherits the lead, but where does Hamilton filter out? He comes out just behind the struggling Mercedes of his team-mate Rosberg! The German still needs to pit. Hamilton breezes back past Rosberg on the backstraight and reclaims second position with ease. Seems like Mercedes has just turned the wick down slightly rather than Hamilton having a problem. Massa now our race leader. |
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Lap 33 |
"What else can I do to look after the car," Hamilton asks. He knows this championship is far from being his just yet. Massa's lead is 15 seconds but, crucially, he still needs to pit again. Bottas now just two seconds down on the ERS-less Mercedes of Rosberg. That will drop him down to fourth, with Ricciardo 22 seconds further down the field. Rosberg says "Just get me into the top five as safely as possible!" as he starts willing Hamilton into a retirement. And Bottas does on the approach to Turn 11. Rosberg's championship dreams going out of the window. Ricciardo 22 seconds down on Rosberg. Perez three seconds down on that. |
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Lap 34 |
Hamilton is now lapping quicker than Massa, so any fears for Mercedes about his car seem to have gone. "Do I need to pick up my pace? Tell me what I need to do," says Hamilton. Ricciardo has already taken four seconds out of Rosberg! The Australian sets a fastest lap, a 1:46.735. I don't think Rosberg is even going to finish in the top ten at this rate. |
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Lap 35 |
Rosberg will pit at the end of this lap but told he needs to do a manual pull away. It's all fallen apart for the German this evening. Doug asks: "When was the last time William's team had two cars on the podium?" Monaco 2005, it seems, with Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld finishing second and third. Ricciardo moves up into fifth, where will Rosberg filter back out? Rosberg has rejoined in eighth, behind Hulkenberg. His only hope now is if Hamilton has a race-ending problem out in front and even then he needs to finish in the top five. |
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Lap 36 |
Bottas pits from third. Looks like it could be on for a double podium finish this evening. Massa's lead is 15.5s but he is likely to pit on the next lap.
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Lap 37 |
Massa sets a personal best of 1:46.882. Rosberg asking how he's looking for the top-five finish and Mike Ross says "Not good". Rosberg replies "Well what does that mean? What else can I do?" and he is told to just drive flat out from here on out. As it stands, Force India is just two points behind McLaren in the constructors' championship! If Button loses out to Alonso he's in real trouble. Rosberg now drops behind Vettel into eighth. Game over? |
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Lap 38 |
Bottas sets a fastest lap, a 1:46.304. Ricciardo in front still needs to pit again so he looks good for at least third this evening. Hulkenberg pits and takes on the super soft tyre, so he'll be a factor in this final sector. That will move Rosberg back up to seventh. |
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Lap 39 |
Massa still comfortably out in front but Hamilton is 14.7s behind, so he'll be comfortably ahead when Massa comes into the pits. A double podium will be the perfect end to this season for Williams. "I'm not racing Massa any more," Hamilton tells Mercedes. Interesting, but clearly the Englishman is just thinking about finishing this race ahead of Rosberg - all he needs to do. Nothing wrong with his car but clearly Hamilton knows that could change at any moment. |
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Lap 40 |
Bottas reeling Ricciardo in. He's now well inside DRS range. Ricciardo told to see what he can do by staying in front of the Williams so he's not about to dive out of the way, even if the Red Bull does have to pit again. |
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Lap 41 |
Is Williams going to try and get Massa to the end of the race on these tyres? Rosberg in real trouble though! He's asking Mercedes for more help, his engine is losing more power and it seems his brakes are also going. |
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Lap 42 |
Personal best lap from Hamilton, a 1:46.362. Lovely stuff from Perez in the battle for fifth. Vettel dives down the inside of the Force India into Turn 11 but he takes a deep line and sweeps back into the position. Excellent stuff. Seeing a TV replay of Rosberg running wide at Turn 1. |
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Lap 43 |
Hulkenberg in the other Force India is absolutely flying on the super soft tyre. He's baring down on Alonso for ninth. Hamilton sets a fastest lap, a 1:46.166. He's only 12.5 seconds down on Massa. Wonderful move from Hulkenberg on Alonso on Turn 11, flying past the Spaniard on the outside. Hamilton tells Mercedes not to turn down his car any more. Massa is going to pit and bolt on some super softs, he will be a factor at the end of this race. |
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Lap 44 |
Massa pits from the lead. The Brazilian is now driving for his first race victory since the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix - the race where he lost that year's world title to Hamilton. Hamilton responds with a fastest lap of his own, though, a 1:45.923. Hamilton clearly wants to win this race. "Let's just keep the pace up," Mercedes tells Hamilton.
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Lap 45 |
"Don't make me turn the engine up!" Hamilton says to Mercedes. So scratch that, Hamilton has no interest in doing anything but finishing this race ahead of Rosberg. Game on for Massa and Williams. Hulkenberg reeling Rosberg in but those super soft tyres won't last for too long. Mercedes tells Rosberg he needs to keep Hulkenberg behind to have any chance of the top five finish he needs to stand any chance of the title. As it stands,he still needs a huge issue to hit Hamilton's car. |
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Lap 46 |
Fastest lap from Hamilton, but Massa responds with one of his own. That gap is 10 seconds. Hulkenberg sweeps past Rosberg! The Force India made that look easy and that shows you how much Rosberg is struggling with a 160bhp disadvantage out there.
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Lap 47 |
Hamilton takes a second out of Hamilton and sets another fastest lap, a 1:44.953. He could do this, you know. Hamilton will have no interest in fighting for that position with just seven laps to go. Hamilton's tyres have been on since lap 31, remember. These last laps are about bringing the car home. Vettel comes into the pits for a set of super soft tyres. That puts him below Rosberg but he shouldn't have a problem dispatching the struggling Mercedes on the quicker compound. |
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Lap 48 |
Eight seconds is now the gap between Hamilton and Massa. Perez dives down the inside of Alonso at Turn 11 for eighth place. Alonso will be delighted to end his association with that red car next year, I think. Ricciardo pits from third. He'll be comfortable in fourth. |
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Lap 49 |
Massa is absolutely flying. Surely Hamilton will let him go - lose the battle and win the war lad. The gap now just 6.8s. Vettel swings past Alonso for tenth. TENTH! That shows you what sort of year that has been. Both will be happy to be in pastures new next year. |
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Lap 50 |
Some really tense faces in the Williams garage. He takes another half second out of Hamilton, that gap now 6.2s. But how long will those super soft tyres last? Rosberg will soon have both Perez and Vettel breathing down his gearbox in seventh. Perez has passed Rosberg, relegating the German to eighth. |
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Lap 51 |
Massa is now just five seconds down on Hamilton with five laps to go. Vettel eases past Rosberg to compound his fellow countryman's misery. As I said earlier, Rosberg will be lucky to score a point at this rate. With all that in mind, I don't see why Hamilton would do anything but dive out of the way when Massa gets near enough for the victory. Got to feel sorry for Rosberg but from the very first corner Hamilton was in control of this race. |
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Lap 52 |
"Nico's not a threat now," Bonnington tells Hamilton. Rosberg is now crawling at an incredibly slow pace! Hamilton is a two-time world champion and might even lap Rosberg before the race is over. Rosberg down to P12. |
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Lap 53 |
Massa pushing like a man possessed out there. Six years is a long, long time to wait for a Formula One victory. But Mercedes wants to break the record for wins in a season! Massa now 3.5s down on Hamilton. Does he have enough left to win this race? Or will Hamilton deny him once again? |
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Lap 54 |
Are Massa's tyres starting to give up the ghost? He's still 3.2s down on Massa. Mercedes tells Rosberg to come into the pits to retire but the German isn't having any of it, he says he wants to get to the end of the race. Good on him, too. He's gone down today but he's gone down fighting. |
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Lap 55 |
Hamilton lapped Rosberg on that last lap. Hamilton begins the final lap of the 2014 F1 world championship with 3.2s in his pocket over Massa. It's about to be world championship number two for the Briton. My mind is going back to that start. He looked edgy this weekend but, when it counted, he didn't crack under pressure when that was the only thing that was going to make a difference. Lewis Hamilton wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and his second world championship! Prince Harry on the Mercedes radio! "Well done Lewis, you're an absolute legend!" Lewis does some doughnuts, takes a British flag and goes back on his victory lap. "Get in there Lewis! Eleven race wins, 2014 world champion!" says Peter Bonnington on the radio to Hamilton. Double podium for Williams too, a great way to finish a great season. Spare a thought for Rosberg, he came home 13th. |
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Hamilton looks emotional in the weigh-in room. He is hugged by Bottas and Massa, but sits contemplating his title with his head down for a few moments before taking off his helmet. Hamilton and Rosberg hug in the weigh in and smile at one another. Great gesture from Rosberg, who pats his old friend on the waist and congratulates him on his world championship. Lots of emotion pouring out for Hamilton now. |
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