2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
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Round	19 of 2015
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The Yas Marina Circuit
Race Details
Date	November 29, 2015
Official Name	2015 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Location	Yas Marina Circuit Yas Island, Abu Dhabi
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.554 km (3.451 mi)
Distance	55 laps, 305.47 km (189.810 mi)
Pole Position
Driver	Nico Rosberg Mercedes
Time	1:40.237
Fastest Lap
Driver	Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
Time	1:44.517 on lap 44
Podium
First	Nico Rosberg
Second	Lewis Hamilton
Third	Kimi Räikkönen
Lap Leaders

The 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (officially the 2015 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) was the 19th and final round of the 2015 Formula One season. This Grand Prix will not be worth double points for the World Championship, unlike in 2014. It was held between 27 November and 29 November 2015.

In the only driver change, Roberto Merhi returned to Marussia, replacing Alexander Rossi.

The practice sessions saw the Mercedes drivers share fastest times, with Lewis Hamilton topping FP1 and Nico Rosberg topping FP2 and FP3. Daniil Kvyat suffered an issue in FP3 and only completed two laps.

In qualifying, the McLarens appeared to have some pace and while Jenson Button managed to secure ninth in Q1, Fernando Alonso suffered a puncture on his key lap and thus was unable to secure a spot in Q2. More surprising was Sebastian Vettel's failure to progress from the first session, as he was unable to best his lap on the slower tyres. In Q2, Romain Grosjean's car suffered gearbox issues that saw his stop on track and eventually receive a five-place gearbox penalty.

For the final session of qualifying, it was a straight battle between the Mercedes drivers. Rosberg laid down the first marker, besting Hamilton's first attempt. As the chequered flag fell, Hamilton improved enough for provisional pole before Rosberg continued his fine form to post an even faster time to take his sixth consecutive pole position. Kimi Räikkönen restored some Ferrari pride with third while Sergio Pérez equaled his best qualifying result with fourth.

At the race start, Rosberg got off much better than Hamilton, who was forced to defend second place into turn one. Further back, Valtteri Bottas lost four places, and a touch of wheels between Alonso and Felipe Nasr sent Alonso into Pastor Maldonado, and the Venezuelan was forced to retire. Bottas' day got worse when he was released from his first pit stop into the path of Jenson Button and the Williams front wing hit the McLaren's tyre and Bottas was forced to complete the lap with a damaged front wing before pitting to change it.

Vettel, on the prime (soft) tyres slowly made his way through the field and even managed to as high as second before his pit stop on lap 24. During the second stint, Rosberg suffered from graining and thus Hamilton closed on his teammate, to nearly a second behind, before Rosberg made his second stop. Hamilton remained out for eleven more laps before pitting, and he was given the prime tyres, unlike Vettel who had two laps earlier put on the option (super soft) tyres. Räikkönen pushed on, setting a few fastest laps, while Vettel overtook Pérez for fourth place; a strong recovery given his starting position. Due to his strategy, Hamilton lost all the ground he made in the second stint and thus was unable to fully close the gap to Rosberg, who won by eight seconds, ahead of Hamilton, who managed to set the fastest lap, and Räikkönen finished in third place.

The result meant Hamilton's title-winning margin fell to 59 points to Rosberg, with Vettel 103 behind. Mercedes managed to break their points record from the previous season, scoring 703 points.

Background

Weather Conditions
Practice 1	Sunny
Practice 2	Sunny
Practice 3	Sunny
Qualifying	Sunny
Race	Sunny

Available Tyres
Option	Supersoft
Prime	Soft
Inters	Intermediate
Wets	Wet

Heading into the final race of the weekend, both championships had already been decided with Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes leading the championship in their respective championship. But several positions in the championship hadn't been decided with the highest of those being for fourth with Valtteri Bottas having a one-point advantage over Kimi Räikkönen while Williams teammate Felipe Massa could still finish in 4th as he was 19 points behind the Fin. All of the teams used super soft and soft tyres.. After the previous race in Brazil, the 2015 Race of Champions was held with Sebastian Vettel defeating Tom Kristensen in the final at London. Vettel wasn't the only Formula One driver with eight drivers formerly or currently driving in Formula One.

Entry list

The full entry list for the 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is shown below:

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes	W06 Hybrid	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes	W06 Hybrid	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
3	Daniel Ricciardo	Infiniti Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB11	Renault	Energy F1-2015	P
26	Daniil Kvyat	Infiniti Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB11	Renault	Energy F1-2015	P
19	Felipe Massa	Williams Martini Racing	Williams	FW37	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Martini Racing	Williams	FW37	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
5	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	SF15-T	Ferrari	059/3	P
7	Kimi Räikkönen	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	SF15-T	Ferrari	059/3	P
14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	McLaren	MP4-30	Honda	RA615H Hybrid	P
22	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	McLaren	MP4-30	Honda	RA615H Hybrid	P
27	Nico Hülkenberg	Sahara Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM08	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
11	Sergio Pérez	Sahara Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM08	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
33	Max Verstappen	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR10	Renault	Energy F1-2015	P
55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR10	Renault	Energy F1-2015	P
8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1 Team	Lotus	E23 Hybrid	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1 Team	Lotus	E23 Hybrid	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
28	Will Stevens	Manor Marussia F1 Team	Marussia	MR03	Ferrari	059/3	P
98	Roberto Merhi	Manor Marussia F1 Team	Marussia	MR03	Ferrari	059/3	P
9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber F1 Team	Sauber	C34	Ferrari	059/3	P
12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber F1 Team	Sauber	C34	Ferrari	059/3	P
Free Practice 1 only
30	Jolyon Palmer	Lotus F1 Team	Lotus	E23 Hybrid	Mercedes	PU106B Hybrid	P
source

Practice Overview

Practice Results

No	Driver	Team	FP1		FP2		FP3
			Time	Pos	Time	Pos	Time	Pos
3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	1:44.893	7	1:42.647	4	1:42.726	6
5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:44.742	5	1:42.717	5	1:42.185	3
6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:43.895	2	1:41.983	1	1:41.856	1
7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:44.500	3	1:42.849	7	1:42.627	5
8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Mercedes	DNP	21 !	1:43.929	15	1:43.928	15
9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	1:46.407	17	1:45.245	18	1:44.325	17
11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	1:44.934	8	1:42.610	3	1:42.448	4
12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber-Ferrari	1:46.115	15	1:44.116	17	1:43.718	13
13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Mercedes	1:45.314	9	1:43.431	10	1:43.680	12
14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	1:45.865	14	1:42.955	9	1:44.014	16
19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:45.433	10	1:43.506	12	1:43.173	8
22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda	1:45.773	13	1:44.050	16	1:43.508	11
26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault	1:44.702	4	1:42.798	6		20
27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:44.751	6	1:42.928	8	1:42.859	7
28	Will Stevens	Marussia-Ferrari	1:48.836	19	1:46.450	19	1:47.283	18
30	Jolyon Palmer	Lotus-Mercedes	1:46.501	18	DNP	22 !	DNP	22 !
33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	1:45.718	12	1:43.662	13	1:43.826	14
44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:43.754	1	1:42.121	2	1:42.137	2
55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault	1:46.220	16	1:43.854	14	1:43.429	10
77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1:45.603	11	1:43.441	11	1:43.239	9
98	Roberto Merhi	Marussia-Ferrari	1:49.888	20	1:47.022	20	1:47.520	19
Source:

Qualifying

Grid

	Pos.	Pos.
	Driver	Driver
		______________
Row 1	______________	1
	2	Nico Rosberg
	Lewis Hamilton	______________
Row 2	______________	3
	4	Kimi Räikkönen
	Sergio Pérez	______________
Row 3	______________	5
	6	Daniel Ricciardo
	Valtteri Bottas	______________
Row 4	______________	7
	8	Nico Hülkenberg
	Felipe Massa	______________
Row 5	______________	9
	10	Daniil Kvyat
	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	______________
Row 6	______________	11
	12	Max Verstappen
	Jenson Button	______________
Row 7	______________	13
	14	Pastor Maldonado
	Felipe Nasr	______________
Row 8	______________	15
	16	Sebastian Vettel
	Fernando Alonso	______________
Row 9	______________	17
	18	Marcus Ericsson
	Romain Grosjean*	______________
Row 10	______________	19
	20	Will Stevens†
	Roberto Merhi‡	______________

Notes:

• * Romain Grosjean (Lotus-Mercedes) was penalised five places for a gearbox change, and fell from 15th to 18th.
• ^† Will Stevens (Marussia-Ferrari) was penalised five places for the usage of an additional power element, but his grid position did not change.
• ^‡ Roberto Merhi (Marussia-Ferrari) started from the pit lane as his car was modified under Parc Fermé conditions.

Race

Results

Pos	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	55	1 h 38 m 30.175 s	1	25
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	55	+ 8.271 s	2	18
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	55	+ 19.430 s	3	15
4	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	55	+ 43.735 s	15	12
5	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	55	+ 1 m 3.952 s	4	10
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	55	+ 1 m 5.010 s	5	8
7	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	55	+ 1 m 33.618 s	7	6
8	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	55	+ 1 m 37.751 s	8	4
9	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Mercedes	55	+ 1 m 38.201 s	18	2
10	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault	55	+ 1 m 42.371 s	9	1
11	33	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault	55	+ 1 m 43.525 s	10
12	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda	54	+ 1 lap	12
13	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	54	+ 1 lap	6
14	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	54	+ 1 lap	17
15	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber-Ferrari	54	+ 1 lap	14
16*	33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	54	+ 1 lap	11
17	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	53	+ 2 laps	16
18	28	Will Stevens	Marussia-Ferrari	53	+ 2 laps	19
19	98	Roberto Merhi	Marussia-Ferrari	52	+ 3 laps	PL
Ret	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Mercedes	0	Collision	13
Source

• * Max Verstappen, who crossed the line in 12th place, was given two time penalties; one of five seconds for leaving track limits and gaining an advantage and one of twenty seconds for ignoring blue flags. Combined, these 25 seconds pushed him down to 16th.

Laps in the lead

Stints

Stint	Driver	Laps	Total	Distance
1	Nico Rosberg	1 – 10	10	55.540 km
2	Lewis Hamilton	11	1	5.554 km
3	Nico Rosberg	12 – 30	19	105.526 km
4	Lewis Hamilton	31 – 41	11	61.094 km
5	Nico Rosberg	42 – 55	14	77.756 km

Totals

Pos.	Driver	Laps	Distance
1	Nico Rosberg	43	238.822 km
2	Lewis Hamilton	12	66.648 km

Milestones

• 150th race for Force India.
• Mercedes scored their 12th one-two and their 33rd podium of the season, both new records.
• Mercedes' final points total of 703 beat their 2014 record.
• Nico Rosberg's sixth pole position in a row, and his third victory in a row.
• Final race for Will Stevens, Roberto Merhi, Alexander Rossi and Pastor Maldonado.

Standings after race

Drivers' World Championship Pos. Driver Pts +/- 1 Lewis Hamilton 381 — 2 Nico Rosberg 322 — 3 Sebastian Vettel 278 — 4 Kimi Räikkönen 150 ▲1 5 Valtteri Bottas 136 ▼1 6 Felipe Massa 121 — 7 Daniil Kvyat 95 — 8 Daniel Ricciardo 92 — 9 Sergio Pérez 78 — 10 Nico Hülkenberg 58 — 11 Romain Grosjean 51 — 12 Max Verstappen 49 — 13 Felipe Nasr 27 — 14 Pastor Maldonado 27 — 15 Carlos Sainz, Jr. 18 — 16 Jenson Button 16 — 17 Fernando Alonso 11 — 18 Marcus Ericsson 9 — 19 Roberto Merhi 0 — 20 Alexander Rossi 0 — 21 Will Stevens 0 — NC Kevin Magnussen 0 —

Constructors' World Championship Pos. Team Pts +/- 1 Mercedes 703 — 2 Ferrari 428 — 3 Williams-Mercedes 257 — 4 Red Bull-Renault 187 — 5 Force India-Mercedes 136 — 6 Lotus-Mercedes 78 — 7 Toro Rosso-Renault 67 — 8 Sauber-Ferrari 36 — 9 McLaren-Honda 27 — 10 Marussia-Ferrari 0 —

Notes

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