An historic weekend for the Silver Arrows as Nico and Lewis wrap up the 2015 season in style at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix!
Nico today claimed his third consecutive Grand Prix victory - a career first - to make it six wins in 2015 and 14 in Formula One to date. Lewis pushed hard to make an offset strategy work but eventually came home in P2 - setting the fastest lap of the race in the process. The Silver Arrows have now sealed a record-breaking 12 one-two finishes in 2015 - surpassing the teams' 2014 benchmark.
With 703 World Constructors' Championship points, Mercedes AMG Petronas has also exceeded its 2014 total - without the boost of double points at the season finale. Lewis wraps up a spectacular 2015 season in P1 with 381 World Drivers' Championship Points, with Nico finishing runner-up on 322.
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: A really great race for the team today, after so many great races this season. It was a busy evening both on the track and on the pit wall, with a lot of talk on the radio. We had a bit of a worry on Nico's engine with the high mileage. Then, with Lewis, we wanted to leave strategy open to do something different with the offset and give him the best chance of the win. But in the end, Nico was extremely strong through the whole race and deserved the win; it was an accomplished performance. I am very pleased with the season. We've achieved some amazing records this year with the number of pole positions, front row lockouts, race wins and one-two finishes. But that's not what's most important. The most important thing is the spirit in the team, which has been fantastic. It's a pleasure to work with these guys and girls and I know they're all as determined as I am to carry this form into next year. Ferrari made a huge step forwards last winter and their development curve has been quite amazing. We need to be prepared for the same this year also and make sure we progress even further. When you start to think this is an easy ride you will lose.
Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical): A great way to end the season, with a tense battle between Nico and Lewis running two different strategies under the Yas Marina floodlights. Each driver was stronger at different points in the race, which was fascinating to watch. Ferrari also kept us honest, with Kimi showing good pace, so we also had to mindful of that threat. Overall, though, Nico proved to have stronger pace overall and controlled the race to round off the season with a thoroughly well-deserved win. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank both drivers for doing a fantastic job over the course of the season. Their ability to manage the car when required and not make mistakes has been as impressive as their phenomenal pace every weekend - and a key element in securing the success we've enjoyed this season. A big thank you also to everybody who has contributed to designing, building and running this car so flawlessly this season.
Christian Horner, Team Principal: "Daniel did everything he could today. He drove a sensible race and looked after his tyres, but unfortunately Perez had too much of a speed advantage, particularly on the straights. Dany was having a good race but he suffered with an overheating issue, which compromised his ERS. Nevertheless, he drove well to pick up the final point. This long season has now drawn to an end: it's been a demanding year, at times frustrating but we had a few highlights, and we now look forward to hopefully brighter prospects in 2016."
Matthieu Dubois, Renault: "Even if we could have hoped for a little more today, both Red Bulls finishing in the points is more or less in line with our expectations. It was a reasonably busy race from a technical perspective as we had to get some of our system temperatures under control whilst maintaining the pace to keep racing, particularly with Daniil. The fuel management has also been reasonably challenging. Overall it is good to see all four Renault-powered cars crossing the line without major issue again. I would like to thank everyone at Viry for the work this year off and on track, as well as Red Bull Racing for was has been a tough but entertaining season."
Felipe Massa finished eighth and Valtteri Bottas 13th in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Both drivers were able to make up positions after the first lap, during the short first stint of the race on the super soft tyre. Felipe spent most of the race in a battle for seventh place. He passed Kvyat for P8 in the final stint but was unable to catch Hulkenberg before the finish. Valtteri made contact with Button in his first pit stop, damaging his front wing. He had to pit again for a new nose and later serve a five-second penalty, which dropped him down the field. Valtteri and Felipe clinched fifth and sixth places in the Drivers' Championship, with the team having already sealed third in the Constructors'.
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: It wasn't the way we wanted to end our season, so we will go away and analyse how we could have done better at this race. We seemed to go forward in pace compared to Force India and Red Bull, but starting behind them in qualifying didn't help us. We shouldn't dwell on this race too much, we've had a really good season and finished a solid third again, which is important to the growth of the team. I'm incredibly proud of the way this team is constantly growing and improving. Our focus has been on the 2016 car for quite a long time, now we've got a long winter ahead and we have to come out the starting blocks in a full sprint next year.
Maurizio Arrivabene: "Kimi drove a very good race today, as I expected him to do, and Seb charged from fifteenth on the grid to fourth place across the finish line. This is a result which wraps up a bit the whole season. Already at the first test last winter, we had had some positive feedback: but then we also knew that we had a mountain to climb, and the guys in the team did it step by step, both at the circuits and at the factory. It's a whole team effort we were able to put on, with everybody working hard to improve. A big thanks to all of them, they've been fantastic and deserve the highest grades! Special thanks to our President, who never stopped pushing and supporting us from behind the curtains. Now we know that we face an even bigger challenge for next year, not only catching up on our rivals but also trying to stay ahead of
them."
As the curtain fell on the 2015 FIA Formula 1 World Championship in Abu Dhabi this evening, McLaren-Honda endured some dramatic moments en route to delivering perhaps its most convincing and confidence-building race performance of the season.
Fernando Alonso's hopes of delivering a strong finale were dashed within moments of the start as three cars concertina-ed into the braking zone at Turn One, and he clattered into Pastor Maldonado's Lotus. The contact broke Fernando's front wing, prompted an emergency pit-stop, incurred a drive-through penalty, and dropped him to the very tail of the field.
From there, he had a lonely race, his sole highlight coming when he fitted a set of Supersofts and attempted to set the race's fastest laps in the closing minutes.
Jenson Button's race was more eventful yet. From 12th, he remained on the fringes of the top 10 until his first pit-stop, on lap eight. As he turned into his box, he was swiped by Valterri Bottas's Williams, which had been released into his path. The contact damaged Jenson's rear wing, and shook up his mechanics, who were sitting in the debris path of the accident at the time.
Despite losing the benefits of the DRS train that he'd been chasing, Jenson kept pushing, making the most of a car he declared "the best it's been all season". A firm overtake of Marcus Ericsson, and a robust defence against Bottas in the closing laps, underlined both Jenson's and the car's competitiveness, and, while he may not have graced the points-scoring positions, his was a race of grit, skill and determination, and bodes well for the future.
Eric Boullier, Racing director: "Today was a frustrating and exhausting race, fittingly bringing to an end an exhausting and frustrating season.
"Following yesterday's qualifying performance, in which Jenson had bagged P12 and Fernando P17 [net P16], no progress was made this afternoon in terms of points-scoring potential, since our two drivers ended up 12th [Jenson] and 17th [Fernando].
"Neither man had a trouble-free run to his finishing position, Jenson suffering rear-wing endplate damage as a consequence of Valtteri's unsafe release at the hands of the Williams pit-crew, and Fernando being lumbered with a drive-through penalty after having skirmished with Pastor [Maldonado] in a manner that we regarded as innocuous enough.
"Having said all that, there are reasons to be cheerful, if humble, not least because our corner speeds here have been more than respectable all weekend. Indeed, over the last five laps of today's race, we switched Fernando's settings to ‘full deployment', not only so as to allow him to have a bit of on-track fun - to which enjoyment he's been something of a stranger in recent weeks and months - but also so as to find out just how well our car would perform in that performance configuration.
"The results were more than somewhat encouraging. He carved his fastest lap on the race's 52nd tour - 1m44.796s - and only two drivers bettered that: Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. So we're getting there; plainly, we are.
"To sum up, then, no, we haven't had a great season. No, we can't claim to have enjoyed every minute of it. No, we know it's been tough for our drivers, our staff, our sponsor-partners and our fans. But, indubitably, yes, we have continued and we will continue to work as hard as is humanly possible to make up the performance deficit to our rivals.
"Finally, therefore, I want to pay tribute to those four discrete constituencies.
"Our drivers have been magnificent, both on track and off it, racing their hearts out while never complaining about the fact that their efforts could so rarely be rewarded with scorers-troubling finishing positions.
"Our staff have toiled tirelessly, exhibiting fantastic team spirit, at home and abroad; truly, guys, I salute you all.
"We're immensely grateful to and proud of our sponsor-partners, who have continued to believe in us, which loyalty will pay high dividends before too long.
"And, last but very far from least, our fans have been supremely loyal, living and breathing the maxim #BelieveInMcLarenHonda against all odds and despite all disappointments. We salute you all, too. Merci et bravo!"
Yasuhisa Arai, Honda R&D senior managing officer - chief officer of motorsport: "First and foremost, I would like to thank our two drivers for supporting the team with their motivation and endless hard work throughout the season.
"Also, thank you to the whole team, who have been through so many ups and downs over the last 19 races. To them, and everyone holding the fort in both Woking and Sakura, I would like to say a huge well done. We couldn't have kept improving and fighting this season without every single one of you.
"This Abu Dhabi race result was difficult, with incidents during the first lap and in the pit-lane, but we were able to confirm our progress with our package through proper battles in the mid-field. We can now look forward to the winter development, including focusing on the reliability and rectifying the deployment of the power unit. Our aim is to come back stronger and better for next year.
"Last, but by no means least, a big thank-you to all of our fans for their warmth throughout the year. It means everything to us we when receive your good wishes and encouragement."
Sahara Force India ended its season with a strong showing and 16 points as Sergio Perez raced to fifth place ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in seventh at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer: "We end the season with a strong result and 16 world championship points – the most we've scored at any race this season. The strong result is the ideal way to conclude the most successful season in the team's history. The car has been working very well here and the team has done a fantastic job to deliver our most competitive performance of the year in terms of outright pace. Today's result shows just how much progress we have made this season and gives me confidence ahead of 2016. The second part of the season is testament to the hard work of everyone in the team and highlights the upward direction the team has followed in the last few years. We will celebrate this year's results, but we know we cannot rest on our laurels: we're already at work on our 2016 cars to pick up where we left off tonight and be competitive from the start of next year's championship."
Cedrik Staudohar (Renault Sport F1 track support leader): "Naturally we hoped for a better result today but at least we finished the race reliably. Even though we end the season on a relative low, we can be proud of the achievements this year, including two fourth positions and a total of 67 points, more than double last year's total. It has been a pleasure to work with the STR team these last two years. Thanks to all at Viry and Faenza."
Romain Grosjean gave an emphatic performance in his final race for Lotus F1 Team with a sterling effort from P18 on the grid to P9 at the chequered flag in the final race of the 2015 FIA Formula 1 World Championship at Yas Marina Circuit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Romain worked his way through the field with a superb driving display backed-up by exemplary pit stops and superb strategy. Pastor Maldonado was eliminated from the race on the first lap as a victim of an incident for which Fernando Alonso was penalised.
Lotus F1 Team end their 2015 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season in sixth position in the Constructors' Championship with 78 points.
Romain started from P18 on the grid on new Pirelli soft compound tyres (he qualified P15 but received a five place penalty for a gearbox change, but other factors elsewhere bumped him up the order). He changed to new soft tyres on lap 23, then new super softs on lap 43. Pastor started from P13 on new super soft tyres but was eliminated from the running at the first corner.
Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: "2015 has been an incredible year for us for so many reasons and I must say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported us through what has been a character-building season. The resolve of everyone at Enstone has been tested, but we have come through. Today's race was illustrative of the fighting spirit of Enstone and Romain did us proud in his final race with us. Pastor was the victim of someone else's incident so couldn't end the season as he wanted. Our focus is now completely on 2016; watch this space, there's plenty more to come."
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: "Romain drove a superb race and it's a testament of all the hard work that's been put in under difficult conditions over the year from everyone in the team that he could finish in the top ten in the final race of the season. Our relative pace today was much better than in qualifying and we were able to harness a strong strategy to move up the order. Pastor was very unfortunate at the start as he had looked strong all weekend here."
The Sauber F1 Team finished the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix night race, the 2015 season finale, in P14 (Marcus Ericsson) and P15 (Felipe Nasr). The Swiss team finished eighth in the constructors' championship. In the drivers' championship Nasr and Ericsson were 13th and 18th with the Sauber C34-Ferrari. At the same time, Nasr is the second best rookie in his first Formula One season. Both drivers are already looking forward to racing again for the Sauber F1 Team in the 2016 season. At the factory in Hinwil, the focus is now on next year's Sauber C35-Ferrari.
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: "After the season finale overall we can deliver a positive summary. Marcus and Felipe have learned a lot, showed their potential and been impressive with solid performances. It was a demanding and eventful 2015 season. Despite a difficult and challenging environment, we achieved our objective to have a significantly improved performance compared to 2014 due to the dedicated commitment by the whole team. I would like to say thanks to all the employees at the race track as well as in the factory in Hinwil. Now we will fully concentrate on the 2016 season."
Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi delivered the Manor Marussia F1 Team their 14th two-car finish of 2015 in this evening's season finale at Yas Marina Circuit. They brought the workhorse MR03Bs home for a final time, in P18 and P19 at the end of the 55 lap Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, under the floodlights of this spectacular 5.554km circuit.
John Booth, Team Principal: "It has been fantastic to end the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with yet another two-car finish, incredibly our 14th of the season. That really is quite a reliability record, considering the MR03 and MR03Bs have completed a total of nearly 45,000kms during 2014 and 2015.
"Our race today largely characterised our season; both the team and the drivers worked their hearts out, but there was a limit to what could be achieved with the package we have had this year. Nonetheless, we have achieved so much more with what we have than should ever have been possible and I am extremely proud of every single member of the team for having done so.
"I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to Scuderia Ferrari. They have been a joy to work with throughout our partnership and we have shared some very special memories together that I am sure we will all treasure.
"This is of course my final race with the Manor Marussia F1 Team. At a time like this, there is so much to say but I think the single biggest sentiment I will take away is incredible pride at just how much we punched above our weight for such a small team. It was a greater challenge than we ever anticipated, but six years on we are still here fighting. I wish the team every success in the future and I will be following their progress with a great deal of satisfaction at what we created together."
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Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg has clinched his third consecutive win of the season, after dominating the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from pole. The German adopted a two-stop strategy, like the vast majority of competitors, using a supersoft-soft-soft strategy. With Rosberg making his pit stops before his team mate Lewis Hamilton (on an identical strategy, but with a very long second stint) he was effectively in control of the tactics, ensuring his lead.
Both Mercedes were threatened however by Ferrari. Kimi Raikkonen finished on the podium from third on the grid while an alternative strategy allowed Sebastian Vettel to take fourth place after starting from 15th on the grid. Vettel completed two opening stints on the soft, gaining track position while all the supersoft runners stopped, before completing his own supersoft stint for 16 laps at the end of the race, in cooler track temperatures and with a much lighter car. Lotus driver Romain Grosjean also finished in the points after starting on the soft tyre.
The top 10 all used a two-stop strategy. Wear and degradation were within limits, to the point where even Lewis Hamilton - chasing his team mate for victory - questioned on team radio whether or not he needed to make a second stop at all. Then he made the pit stop, after a 30-lap middle stint on the soft tyres.
The highest-placed three-stopper was Max Verstappen, who finished outside the points following a flat-spot earlier in the race and then a penalty.
A one-two for Mercedes has broken another record for the ultra-successful German team: it is now the team to have scored most points in a Formula One season.
Paul Hembery: "As usual, Abu Dhabi delivered another very tactical race, during which Mercedes and Nico Rosberg in particular controlled the strategy perfectly. Congratulations to the entire team for the most dominant season in Formula One history, looking at the points scored. Tyre wear and degradation was well within control, even though we were using the two softest compounds in the range at Abu Dhabi, which enabled some entertaining battles all the way to the end of the race. Our 2016 season now starts in just 48 hours time when we embark on a 12-hour test throughout Tuesday, during which we will be testing the new ultrasoft tyre as well as new constructions for 2016."
Truth-O-Meter
We predicted that the most likely fastest strategy for the 55 laps of Abu Dhabi was a two-stopper, starting on the supersoft and then changing to the soft on laps 10 and 31. Rosberg followed our expected two-stop strategy, stopping exactly on the laps that we forecast.
