'Thank you for everything.'Īfter the drama of the race, Hamilton congratulated Rosberg on his world championship and the two men embraced and shook hands on the podium.

'It's a childhood dream come true,' Rosberg, 31, said over the radio. Doughnut, anyone? Rosberg performed 360-degree spins on the start-finish straight A positive end to an intense battle I'm quite comfortable where I am.'īut his tactics were not enough and Rosberg whooped with delight as he crossed the line and, after wife Vivian congratulated him over the radio, did doughnut spins on the pit straight before climbing on to the nose of the car to take the cheers from the crowd. Hamilton replied: 'I'm in the lead right now.

We need you to pick up the pace to win this race.' The German in turn complained on the radio to the team to 'consider doing something' and the tense title battle will do nothing to improve the cool relationship between the two drivers.Īt one point, as Vettel homed in on Rosberg in the closing laps, Mercedes executive director (technical) Paddy Lowe, who only speaks to the drivers on the radio in extreme circumstances, told Hamilton: 'Lewis, this is Paddy. However, he disregarded message after message to speed up and prevent Vettel and Red Bull's Max Verstappen from closing on Rosberg. Hamilton controlled the race from the front but was under instruction from Mercedes management not to try any strategic games to delay Rosberg.

Nigel Mansell: Hamilton's tactics caused great concern.

Select your 2016 F1 heroes and villains.

Relief: Rosberg has been racing in Formula 1 for a decade before taking his first title

Rosberg came under pressure from Sebastian Vettel but held off the Ferrari driver to finish second. Hamilton was repeatedly told to speed up but told the team: 'Let us race.'

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