"It was horrendous," says relieved Rosberg. "The biggest feeling is relief. I'm so glad it's over."; Sky F1 pundits praise German as he holds his nerve at Duel in the Desert despite Hamilton tactics
Monday 28 November 2016 10:22, UK
Nico Rosberg was both relieved and elated after clinching his first world championship in what he called a "horrendous" Abu Dhabi GP.
Needing only a podium finish to convert his 12-point advantage over Lewis Hamilton into the 2016 title, Rosberg finished second behind his Mercedes team-mate in a nail-biting season finale.
But the German was made to work hard by a desperate Hamilton, who backed Rosberg into the competition throughout the race.
First, Rosberg was forced into a bold but risky overtake on Red Bull's Max Verstappen, before defending position from a charging Sebastian Vettel in a Ferrari that was flourishing on the supersofts in the closing laps. In the end, the top three were separated by just 0.8seconds.
"It is unbelievable that I managed to do it," Rosberg told Sky Sports F1. "It's an amazing feeling because the race was so intense. So, so, so horribly intense. It's not possible to explain the intensity.
"Even the battle with Max, it was a horrible feeling out there. Then again at the end as they were coming up from behind with two laps to go, and this is the world championship we're talking about, if I drop behind those two, if I make a mistake.
"Vettel with more grip and everything, it was horrendous. The biggest feeling is relief, I'm so glad it's over and I can't wait for the celebrating now."
Hamilton defends 'rough' tactics
Describing his emotions as he was stuck behind a one-stopping Red Bull of Verstappen, Rosberg rued that it was "Max, of all people" as Mercedes told him it was 'critical' to get past the talented teenager.
Put to him that he could have let Vettel through at the end and still be champion, Rosberg added: "Crazy Max was after that so I couldn't let anybody past!"
The new champion was put in the "horrible" race position by Hamilton, who ignored and rejected radio requests from Mercedes as even technical director Paddy Lowe instructed the Brit to quicken the pace. At one stage, the Mercedes were more than 10 seconds ahead of the chasing pack.
While Rosberg complained over team radio and an already strained Mercedes partnership was put under more pressure, he admitted Hamilton was doing his job "really well".
"At the end, Lewis was trying to back me into everybody else because that was the chance he was trying to use," Rosberg added. "He did it really, really well because there was no chance to overtake him at the same time.
"Lewis is an unbelievable competitor, one of the best of all time, [in the] longest season ever I beat him in unbelievably tough conditions."
Put to him by Sky F1's Damon Hill that last season's US GP, when a mistake handed Hamilton the title, was a turning point, Rosberg agreed: "That was a turning point for me, not just that incident, but the whole weekend and I spent two days afterwards just on my own thinking about it and thought 'I don't want that experience again'.
"That was a big part of the success for me today."
Sky F1 pundits praise Nico
"When he was getting backed up today he didn't lose his head," said Martin Brundle. "He didn't get flustered, he kept a calm head to cross the line despite Vettel and Verstappen closing him down."
Hill was the only son who had emulated his father's world championship before Nico followed in Keke's footsteps on Sunday, and the 1996 title-winner added: "The dynamic at Mercedes completely changed the minute Lewis arrived in the team. Lewis is a very dominant person, he wants to take control of the situation, control of his own life. He made it his own team and Nico had to take a step back and fight back.
"He suddenly realised last year in Austin when he got the cap tossed in his lap and he lost the world championship, he didn't like that, he didn't want to be second, he didn't want to be second fiddle in his own team.
"He worked hard and he came out fighting. He's fought hard and he's fought tough against Lewis Hamilton all year, it's been very very hard on him and he's prevailed."
"Vettel summed it up the best of all when he said they've both had their ups and downs this year, they've both had rocky moments," continued Anthony Davidson. "It's about being the most consistent. Yes, he's had reliability on his side, but the race he drove today was really deserving of a world championship.
"Especially the move on Max Verstappen. I'm so impressed that he pulled it out the bag when he needed to. He was decisive, confident, and that was a brilliant move on the toughest customer of them all."
