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Rosberg v Hamilton - race by race
AFP
Nico Rosberg won the 2016 Formula One world championship on Sunday after a season-long duel with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton. AFP Sports looks at where the title was won and lost, race by race:
Australia
- Rosberg wins season opener after pole-sitter Hamilton's poor start sees the three-time champion slip to sixth. Hamilton recovers to second spot. Rosberg pounces when a terrifying crash involving McLaren's Fernando Alonso and Esteban Guiterrez in the Haas causes the race to be red-flagged, allowing the German to reel in and pass compatriot Sebastian Vettel in a Ferrari.
Bahrain
- Rosberg takes second win of 2016 after Hamilton loses momentum in a collision with Valtteri Bottas in a Williams. The defending champion only finishes third and slips 17 points behind Rosberg in the title race.
China
- Rosberg wins from pole position for his sixth consecutive win, a run stretching back to Mexico in 2015. Hamilton suffers a number of setbacks both in qualifying and during the race itself, eventually finishing in seventh.
Russia
- Rosberg makes it four in a row for the season with a win from pole position as Hamilton finishes second after starting 10th -- a lowly position from qualifying caused by a problem in the car's turbo. The German now has a 43-point lead. His seven wins in a row matches the feat of Alberto Ascari, Michael Schumacher and Vettel in the sport's history.
Spain
- Hamilton and Rosberg collide on the first lap with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo taking the lead. However, teenager Max Verstappen takes the chequered flag to become the youngest race winner in the sport's history. Rosberg blames Hamilton for the crash: "I made it very clear I wasn't going to leave any space on the inside and I was very surprised he went for the gap," he says.
Monaco
- The race started behind the safety car and Hamilton took the lead before going on to take his first win of the season. Rosberg, the winner of the race in the past three seasons, struggles home in seventh spot.
Canada
- Hamilton wins after getting the better of Vettel in a tense strategic duel. Rosberg is fifth, despite starting on the front row, having ended up on the grass after another coming together with Hamilton as they jostled for position.
Baku
- In the first ever race in Azerbaijan, Rosberg wins the European Grand Prix with Hamilton in fifth place. Hamilton started down in 10th place and struggled to make any kind of impact, dealing with problems with his settings. Victory gives Rosberg a 24-point lead in the title race.
Austria
- Hamilton and Rosberg collide again, this time on the last lap before the British driver passes him to win a thrilling Austrian Grand Prix. The German turns into a corner late as Hamilton tries to pass around the outside and damages his front wing, finishing fourth. Rosberg gets a 10-second penalty and two licence penalty points by stewards. Hamilton's deficit to Rosberg is just 11 points in the title race.
Great Britain
- Hamilton takes dominant victory in a hectic British Grand Prix to cut Rosberg's championship lead to just one point. Hamilton leads every lap of a race that started under the safety car in wet conditions but dried, to take his fourth career win at Silverstone. Rosberg battles back to second past the Red Bull of the impressive Verstappen. But Rosberg is demoted to third after an illegal radio transmission. Rosberg is booed on podium.
Hungary
- Hamilton cruises to comfortable victory in Hungary and takes championship lead for the first time this season. The world champion controls the race from the moment he passes Rosberg at the start and is now six points ahead of the German.
Germany
- Hamilton extends lead to 19 points after winning the German Grand Prix with ease as Rosberg toils to fourth. The home hero surrenders his lead from pole with a dreadful start to the Briton, who storms away to claim his sixth win in seven races.
Belgium
- From his third successive pole, Rosberg rekindles his world championship ambitions with a first victory in a chaotic Belgian Grand Prix -- and his sixth of the season -- as Hamilton stages an astonishing fightback to finish third. Hamilton started 21st after being handed a 55-place grid penalty for taking three new power-units through the weekend.
Italy
- Rosberg exploits Hamilton's poor start to claim his first win at Monza and move to within two points of his teammate in the world championship. Rosberg roars into the lead at the first corner when pole-sitter Hamilton becomes bogged down and pulls away to finish 15 seconds clear.
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