The previous year's race winner Nico Rosberg entered the round with a twelve-point lead over his teammate Lewis Hamilton in the World Drivers' Championship. Their team, Mercedes, held a lead of two hundred and seventy-six points over Red Bull Racing in the World Constructors' Championship. According to the 2016 Formula One World Championship Wikipedia page, Nico Rosberg won the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship Drivers' title.
Lewis Hamilton entered the final race of the season 12 points behind Nico Rosberg. The championship scenarios for Rosberg, as detailed in the corpus, were:
He finished on the podium.
He finished sixth or higher and Hamilton didn't win.
He finished eighth or higher and Hamilton came third or lower.
He finished ninth or lower and Hamilton failed to make the podium.
Hamilton would win if:
He won and Rosberg finished fourth or lower.
He came second and Rosberg finished eighth or lower.
He came third and Rosberg finished ninth or lower.
He came fourth and Rosberg finished eleventh or lower.
Lewis Hamilton held the lead from a cautious Nico Rosberg at the first corner of the race. Kimi Räikkönen gained third position from Daniel Ricciardo, with Vettel, Pérez, Hülkenberg, Alonso, Massa and Bottas completing the top ten positions at the end of the first lap. Max Verstappen spun and fell to 19th position after gently touching Nico Hülkenberg's Force India at the start.
Early retirements included Kevin Magnussen on lap 5 with suspension damage and Valtteri Bottas on lap 6 with a suspension issue, as reported on the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Wikipedia page. Jenson Button, competing in what was expected to be his final Grand Prix, retired on lap 12 with a broken right front suspension. Daniil Kvyat also retired on lap 14 following gearbox problems.
During the first round of pit stops, Rosberg emerged behind Verstappen, who had not yet pitted. Mercedes advised Rosberg to avoid risks, but Red Bull extended Verstappen's stint to attempt a one-stop strategy. This held Rosberg in third place and allowed Räikkönen and Vettel to close in. Rosberg eventually overtook Verstappen on track on lap 20 to regain second position.
Following the final round of pit stops, Hamilton began to deliberately slow the pace. Despite being capable of faster laps, Hamilton recorded times in the 1min46s range to allow the chasing pack to catch Rosberg. Mercedes officials expressed concern that Hamilton's pace made the team vulnerable to Sebastian Vettel, who had pitted late for fresh super soft tyres and was lapping significantly faster.
On lap 32, Hamilton's race engineer questioned his pace, noting it was "unsafe to Vettel." Although Hamilton briefly improved his times, he soon resumed slowing the field. As Vettel moved through the field to challenge Rosberg, Mercedes Executive Director Paddy Lowe issued repeated orders for Hamilton to increase his pace. Hamilton rebuffed these requests, maintaining a narrow lead to ensure Rosberg remained under pressure from Vettel and Verstappen.
In the final laps, Vettel moved within a second of Rosberg. On the penultimate lap, Vettel attacked for second place, but Rosberg defended the position. Had Rosberg fallen to fourth behind both Vettel and Verstappen, Hamilton would have secured the championship.
Nico Rosberg's second-place finish earned him the 2016 World Drivers' Championship. One week after the race, Rosberg announced his retirement from Formula One, making the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix his final career start.
The race also marked the final Grand Prix appearances for Esteban Gutiérrez and Felipe Nasr. The Manor team folded following this event, reducing the 2017 grid to 20 drivers. While Jenson Button initially retired after this race, he returned for a single appearance at the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix.
Toto Wolff noted that while he did not condone Hamilton's insubordination regarding team orders, he understood the competitive mentality behind the actions. The reaction to Hamilton's tactics was discussed on various platforms, including the Formula 1 website and Reddit, but the corpus does not provide a clear consensus on the matter.
This article is based on information from the supplied corpus, including the Wikipedia article on the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. No external sources were consulted for this rewrite, except for the targeted research findings provided. The information presented is limited to the details available in the corpus and the supplied research findings.
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