Nico Rosberg became the third German to win Formula One drivers’ title after Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel. Rosberg claimed his first Formula One world championship after finishing second at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
His Mercedes team-mate and only rival for the title, Lewsi Hamilton, won the race but Rosberg’s second position earned him enough points to claim the overall victory.
The German driver has been competing in F1 since 2006 and his debut championship, Mercedes’ third consecutive drivers title, was secured in his 204th race.
The German driver, the son of Keke Rosberg, who won the title for Williams in 1982, entered the race with a 12-point advantage over Hamilton, with a possible 25 available at the final meeting. Rosberg’s second-place finish and Hamilton’s win left him with 385 points to Hamilton’s 380 points at the end of the championship.
Nico Rosberg
The 31-year-old began his F1 career at Williams, where he drove until 2009 before signing for Mercedes the next year alongside Michael Schumacher. The seven-time world champion had returned to racing after retirement and was past his best but Rosberg proved he was a confident and accomplished driver when across the garage from Schumacher. He out scored him in all three seasons they were together and scored the team’s only win during this period, his first in China in 2012.
Rosberg opened season strongly while his team-mate suffered from mechanical failures and the German had four wins and an advantage of 43 points by the Russian Grand Prix. Hamilton countered with a run of with six wins from seven and was 19 points to the better after the German Grand Prix.
He did not win again, however, until Austin, by which point Rosberg had regained his advantage with four victories, but three successive wins for the Briton in the United States, Mexico and Brazil took the title chase to the final weekend
