After a very tight battle between the Mercedes duo Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton lasting 19 grand prix, it’s down to today’s final race in Abu Dhabi to decide a winner, thanks to the rather controversial double point scoring for the last race.
Mercedes Petronas’ dominance this year was just incredible, a reminder of similar glorious times by McLaren, Williams and Ferrari.
With all the new regulations and an all-new, complex powertrain, Mercedes managed to get it right first time and practically demolished the competition. Same could be said of the other Mercedes-powered teams.
Both Rosberg and Hamilton deserve to win the championship. Both drove superbly and both had their ups and downs. What was incredible is that both have a different approach towards strategy.
Over the past four weeks we regrettably saw the two F1 teams Caterham and Marussia going into administration. This forced other smaller teams to admit they too are experiencing difficult financial situations. Caterham managed to compete in the last race and are now looking into public funding to compete today in Abu Dhabi.
Teams get a percentage of money according to points obtained, so the better you are the more funding you receive, which is unfair to the smaller team. It was rumoured the development of this year’s powertrain cost €100 million. No financial figures have ever been disclosed, but it is said that a top team could have an expense bill of over €350 million just to take part in one season.
Title permutations
Lewis Hamilton leads Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg by 17 points before today’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where double points will be on offer for the first time.
The following are the permutations that could hand the title to either of the two contenders.
Points are normally awarded 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1, but in Abu Dhabi this will be 50-36-30-24-20-16-12-8-4-2.
Britain’s Hamilton currently has 334 points to his German teammate’s 317.
Hamilton will be champion if he finishes ...
First or second.
Third, fourth or fifth and Rosberg fails to win.
Sixth with Rosberg not in the top two.
Seventh or eighth with Rosberg out of the top three.
Ninth and Rosberg is not in the top four.
Tenth (or lower) and Rosberg is no higher than sixth.
Rosberg will be champion if ...
He wins and Hamilton is not second.
He finishes second and Hamilton is not in the top five.
He is third and Hamilton is out of the top six.
He is fourth and Hamilton is no higher than ninth.
He is fifth and Hamilton is no higher than 10th.
Rosberg cannot win if he finishes sixth or lower.