Course length 5.554 km (3.451 mi) | ||
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Date 27 November 2016 (2016-11-27) Official name 2016 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Location Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Course Permanent racing facility Distance 55 laps, 305.470 km (189.810 mi) | ||
The 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (formally known as the 2016 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 27 November 2016 at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The race was the final round of the 2016 season and determined the 2016 World Drivers' Championship. It marked the eighth running of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the eighth time that the race had been run as a World Championship event since the inaugural season in 1950.
Contents
Defending race winner Nico Rosberg entered the round with a twelve point lead over team-mate 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. Rosberg required a podium finish to secure the championship; Hamilton required a podium to remain in mathematical contention. Hamilton started the race from pole and went on to win the race, while Rosberg finished second, securing his maiden World Drivers Championship title. Sebastian Vettel completed the podium in third.
A week after the Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg announced his retirement from Formula One, making this Grand Prix his last.
Race
At the start, Max Verstappen went into a spin after gently touching Nico Hülkenberg's Force India. In his last ever race, Jenson Button was forced to retire with broken right front suspension.
The final laps of the race saw Lewis Hamilton slowing down to allow other drivers to challenge Nico Rosberg for second and third placing. If Rosberg was bypassed for a podium finishing, Hamilton would have won the World Championship Drivers' title and denied Rosberg his first title. Hamilton had ignored commands, first by his race engineer then by the team's technical director - to speed up as they saw the opposing teams catching up. They were concerned that Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel had faster closing laps of up to two seconds per lap. Hamilton was reprimanded for insubordination by the management, having placed his own interests before that of the team. Others have supported him, going with the principle that "drivers are free to race".