Nico Rosberg’s storming finish to the season could be down to a number of reasons, according Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. The German won his third successive race with Hamilton second.
– F1: Nico Rosberg wins Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
– INTERVIEW: Vatteri Bottas on Finland’s F1 rivalry
– Yas Marina Circuit: A track record of F1 drama
– #Life360: The UAE’s search for an F1 star of its own
The changes in the car made after Singapore seems to have gone Rosberg’s way, but Wolff said that might not be the entire story.
“I really don’t know why. There’s been a lot of discussion on this. Has Nico stepped up his game? Or, has the car gone towards him development-wise? Or, has Lewis taken it a bit easy, sub-consciously perhaps, after winning the championship?” said Wolff.
“I really don’t know at the moment. We have to draw up an intelligent list over the next couple of weeks and try to analyse the whole thing.
“Lewis did not win the last few races, but then let’s not forget it was great driving from Nico as well. The car is being developed all the time and after Singapore, we took some learnings on board, and developed it in a different direction. Whether the car has gone away more from Lewis, I don’t know. It could be a factor, but I don’t want to say it is the only factor.
“The driver is always a big factor in the car package, and I know Lewis said a couple of days ago that the car did not feel the same as before. So we have got to look into it and find out why?”
Mercedes dominated the season, with Hamilton winning 10 Grand Prix and Rosberg six. The only other driver to top the podium in 2015 was Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who won three times. And with 16 wins and 13 second-place finishes, Mercedes topped the constructor’s championship with 703 points, a whopping 275 points better than Ferrari.
But Wolff said he expected nothing but tough times from his challengers in 2016.
“I always think that way. It was my thinking last year, and it was my thinking the year before that. I think we should be skeptical of what we have done in order to do a good job over the winter,” said Wolff.
Congratulations to @nico_rosberg on winning the final race of the 2015 #F1 season at the @ymcofficial Circuit. pic.twitter.com/oh7NzhV7Hi
— Aus Grand Prix (@ausgrandprix) November 29, 2015
“Ferrari has made a big step forward from 2014 in 2015 and I have no doubt that they will do the same again in 2016. We take the Ferrari threat very seriously. What I see from the various departments is very encouraging. They are all fired up. We just need to make sure that when we get back on the track in Melbourne in March, we have done a good enough job.”
Wolff also revealed that the decision to opt for soft tyres for the final part of yesterday’s race for Lewis Hamilton was made completely by the driver himself.
In an effort to finish the season on a high with victory in Abu Dhabi, the Briton looked to gain an advantage over leader and team-mate Rosberg and asked his engineers if he could run to the end of the race by prolonging his second set of tyres.
But he had to pit with 13 laps left and Wolff said: “You all criticise that we remote-control the drivers, so, this time, we let them make the decisions.
“There were two strategies that could have worked. We left it to him and his side of the garage as to which strategy he would go for. We gave Lewis all the options to choose what tyre he wanted to have… that was important for the fans to see.
“The option (supersoft) had 7-8 laps on full fuel. Even though the car was lighter, it would not have lasted until the end. It was a decision in his garage to go on prime (soft) to end. If he could have made the supersoft last, he could have gone for the win.
“There was lots of conversation between his race engineer and him to decide what to go for. We wanted to give him a real shot at winning, but the pace was not there at the end. It was a shot strategy-wise and it was his decision.”
