Ecstatic Nico Rosberg savours Abu Dhabi win

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Ecstatic Nico Rosberg savours Abu Dhabi win
Nico Rosberg

Abu Dhabi - The 30-year-old finished 8.2 seconds ahead of teammate and triple world champion Lewis Hamilton.

By James Jose

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Published: Sun 29 Nov 2015, 8:31 PM

Last updated: Sun 29 Nov 2015, 10:33 PM

Mercedes' Nico Rosberg was ecstatic after wrapping a hat-trick of wins this season and said that he wanted to first savour the moment before looking ahead to next year.

The German drove a stellar race to win his first Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday night. The 30-year-old finished 8.2 seconds ahead of teammate and triple world champion Lewis Hamilton.

"It was great work from the boys. Next year we will have the chance to win again, I hope. I am happy to have won three races in a row for the first time in my career. It was exciting the way it went I controlled the race and pushed all the way through to the end. I am happy too that the season is over, of course," Rosberg said moments after the race.

"It is great to end the season like this and go on holidays. The car was stunning. I am ecstatic. Thanks a lot to my whole team," he added.

He also said that it has been a good teammate rivalry between him and Hamilton and added that it was great to battle such opposition and come out as the winner.

"My success is Lewis' failure, in a way. It is always tough to race Lewis. It is a great battle internally. So, it is a great moment. I will come back next year to beat Lewis, hopefully," said Rosberg.

Rosberg said that next season was still a long way off but hoped he can keep this momentum going into next year.

"I'll try to keep this form going into next year. Next season is still far away. For now, I am going to enjoy the win and the progress. I'll give everything to win again next year and try to be world champion," he said.

"I look forward to 2016. I'm sure it'll be a great season and the team will give us another awesome car. We're aware of the threat from the red guys (Ferrari) and we don't want to let them get too close," he added.

Meanwhile, Hamilton had no qualms about losing out on the night and said at the end of the day, he is a three-time world champion.

"I am second and I won the world championship. It is an amazing day and amazing to be here in the UAE. I am happy and I have to doff my hat to the team who have done such a great job and passed my expectations. Mercedes is the best team in the world," said Hamilton.

Meanwhile, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, who finished third to go past teammate Sebastian Vettel with more podiums than the German, said it was encouraging for the team.

Raikkonen has 80 podiums to Vettel's 79.

"I am back on the podium. We didn't have an ideal start to the season. We had mistakes and problems but today (Sunday) was a bit better and everything was working well. But it was not enough to beat these two (Rosberg and Hamilton). But we are third and it is encouraging for Ferrari," said Raikkonen.

"The team has been has been quite good compared to last year. The speed has been there but there have been some mistakes. We could have been closer but I think we have a reasonably good speed and at certain points, we have been catching our competitors. It is never nice to finish third but in the end, it is what we expected to do," added the Finn.

Raikkonen finished fourth in the Drivers' Championship but the Finn said that it didn't make any difference and added what counted at the end of the day was being a world champion.

"I am fourth in the championship this season but it does not make an awful lot of difference. The only thing that counts is to be world champion. I am happy for the team, but it does not change anything. It is a great weekend and I'll take it as it is," said the 2007 world champion.

james@khaleejtimes.com


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