Starting in 2nd place Car 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes won the exciting final race at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix & the 2014 drivers Championship. This was Lewis Hamilton’s
11th win & Mercedes’ 16th win of 2014. This is also his 2nd Championship the 1st one coming with McLaren-Mercedes in 2008.
2nd Place Car 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes followed by team-mate 3rd place Car 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes. 4th Place Car 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull
Racing-Renault followed by 5th place Car 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes. 6th Place Car 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes followed by 7th place Car 11 Sergio
Perez Force India-Mercedes. 8th Place Car 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault followed by 9th place Car 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari. Lastly in the Top 10 was Car
7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari in 10th place.
The race started with Lewis Hamilton & Nico Rosberg on the front row, both 29 years old and have been racing each other for years in karts, Formula 3 & then Formula 1.
Car 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault & Car 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault started from the pit-lane because of illegal front wings & was excluded
from qualifying. Hamilton took the lead from the start & never looked as his Nico Rosberg had a bad day as fighting brakes, mechanical & going off track.
The 1st retirement of the race was Car 26 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault with a Power unit as he pulled off in a runoff area & the marshals were able to pull the car off
track. The 2nd retirement was spectacular as Car 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault car burst into flames as he pulled off. The cause of the fire looked like turbo
engine failure but the driver was able to get out the car & the marshals responded putting out the fire.
After taking the checkered flag Hamilton did a burnout then stopped down track so one of the marshals could hand him a British flag. Nico Rosberg congratulated
Hamilton on the drivers Championship over the team radio & then person before he went to the podium.
On the Podium:
Martin Brundle said “Lewis, you did it. We saw the emotion on your face now when they were playing your national anthem. Can you try to put that into words for us,
just how much this means to you?”
Lewis Hamilton said “I’m a bit lost for words really. I think one thing I want to say is a big, huge thank you to all the fans coming out all this way, all the flags,
all the caps, everything, it made such a difference this weekend. Also to my family, thank you guys, thank you so much for coming, I really, really do appreciate it.
My mom back home. And my team, who throughout the year did an incredible job and without them I wouldn’t be here today. I can’t really explain how much this means. It
means even more than the first one. It feels like it’s the first time. I feel so blessed.”
Martin Brundle said “Wow. Tell us about the race a little bit, what a start you had to the grand prix.”
Lewis Hamilton said “Yeah, That’s my guy down here, giving me a good start. It was like a rocket! It was probably the best start I ever had. I knew from then on,
straightaway, that I was in the lead. Obviously going into the race I had a couple of different options of how to approach the race. If I was behind then we’d see how
it goes until the first stop but if I was ahead I knew I had to really, really race. The car was fantastic, we really got it spot on for the race. Obviously qualifying
wasn’t perfect but we got it ready for the race and that’s what’s most important.”
Martin Brundle said “And then you heard on the radio: ‘Nico has a problem’. What were your thoughts then?”
Lewis Hamilton said “You know Nico put on an incredible fight throughout the year. He was a phenomenal competitor. We met each other back in 1997 and we always said it
would be amazing to be racing in the same team and he did an amazing job today and very sad obviously to know that his car wasn’t quick enough that we can fight in the
end but still he was graceful enough to come up to me just now.”
Martin Brundle said “Do you mind sharing with us what you said to each other after such an intense season? It’s been a bit difficult from time to time between you,
especially at Spa, and we saw you having words together.
Lewis Hamilton said “He just come into the room just now, very, very professional, and I just said fantastic. He said ‘you drove really well’. And the same to him, all
year long he drove incredibly well, especially in qualifying, so hat off to him.”
Martin Brundle said “But there was a little man who kept you very honest through that grand prix, kept you on your toes, you had to keep some pace up towards the end
and that was Felipe Massa. Felipe, I don’t know about your but I’m thinking about 2008, when you were on the podium, the last time you won a grand prix, you must have
thought I’ve got a chance to win again today, and this man took the championship off you a few seconds after you crossed the line. But what a race for you?”
Felipe Massa said “First of all, thank you everybody. Lewis, well done, congratulations, because you deserve it, you did a fantastic championship, your team, so
congratulations really. Yeah, it was an incredible race for us. I didn’t expect to have that pace and I didn’t expect, we were slightly slower than Mercedes but not so
much on the same tires and then I was able to keep the tires until, not the end, but until a long part of the race and then we were talking to the team. We tried the
option, yes, why not, I mean we are here, we have a big gap to the car behind, which was Valtteri, so let’s try. We try. Unfortunately, Lewis was a little bit too far
but I wanted so much that victory. We were close and I hope that’s just the beginning for next year.”
In the new season of 2015 some changes are coming as drivers are switching teams such as Red Bull Racing-Renault, Ferrari & others.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix November 23, 2014.
Position, Car #, Driver, Team
1. Car 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2. Car 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes
3. Car 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes
4. Car 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault
5. Car 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes
6. Car 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes
7. Car 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes
8. Car 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault
9. Car 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari
10. Car 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
11. Car 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes
12. Car 25 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault
13. Car 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault
14. Car 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes
15. Car 21 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari
16. Car 99 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari
17. Car 46 Will Stevens Caterham-Renault
Ret Car 46 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault – Retired
Ret Car 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault – Power unit
Ret Car 26 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault – Power unit
Race Date: 23 Nov 2014
First Grand Prix: 2009
Number of Laps: 55
Circuit Length: 5.554 km
Race Distance: 305.355 km
Lap Record: 1:40.279 – S Vettel (2009)
Next race: Australian Grand Prix (Melbourne) March 15 2015.