2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

The 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (officially the 2015 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) was the 19th and final round of the 2015 Formula One season. This Grand Prix will not be worth double points for the World Championship, unlike in . It was held between 27 November and 29 November 2015.
In the only driver change, Roberto Merhi returned to , replacing Alexander Rossi.
The practice sessions saw the drivers share fastest times, with Lewis Hamilton topping FP1 and Nico Rosberg topping FP2 and FP3. Daniil Kvyat suffered an issue in FP3 and only completed two laps.
In qualifying, the s appeared to have some pace and while Jenson Button managed to secure ninth in Q1, Fernando Alonso suffered a puncture on his key lap and thus was unable to secure a spot in Q2. More surprising was Sebastian Vettel's failure to progress from the first session, as he was unable to best his lap on the slower tyres. In Q2, Romain Grosjean's car suffered gearbox issues that saw his stop on track and eventually receive a five-place gearbox penalty.
For the final session of qualifying, it was a straight battle between the Mercedes drivers. Rosberg laid down the first marker, besting Hamilton's first attempt. As the chequered flag fell, Hamilton improved enough for provisional pole before Rosberg continued his fine form to post an even faster time to take his sixth consecutive pole position. Kimi Räikkönen restored some pride with third while Sergio Pérez equaled his best qualifying result with fourth.
At the race start, Rosberg got off much better than Hamilton, who was forced to defend second place into turn one. Further back, Valtteri Bottas lost four places, and a touch of wheels between Alonso and Felipe Nasr sent Alonso into Pastor Maldonado, and the Venezuelan was forced to retire. Bottas' day got worse when he was released from his first pit stop into the path of Jenson Button and the front wing hit the McLaren's tyre and Bottas was forced to complete the lap with a damaged front wing before pitting to change it.
Vettel, on the prime (soft) tyres slowly made his way through the field and even managed to as high as second before his pit stop on lap 24. During the second stint, Rosberg suffered from graining and thus Hamilton closed on his teammate, to nearly a second behind, before Rosberg made his second stop. Hamilton remained out for eleven more laps before pitting, and he was given the prime tyres, unlike Vettel who had two laps earlier put on the option (super soft) tyres. Räikkönen pushed on, setting a few fastest laps, while Vettel overtook Pérez for fourth place; a strong recovery given his starting position. Due to his strategy, Hamilton lost all the ground he made in the second stint and thus was unable to fully close the gap to Rosberg, who won by eight seconds, ahead of Hamilton, who managed to set the fastest lap, and Räikkönen finished in third place.
The result meant Hamilton's title-winning margin fell to 59 points to Rosberg, with Vettel 103 behind. Mercedes managed to break their points record from the previous season, scoring 703 points.
==Background==
Heading into the final race of the weekend, both championships had already been decided with Lewis Hamilton and leading the championship in their respective championship. But several positions in the championship hadn't been decided with the highest of those being for fourth with Valtteri Bottas having a one-point advantage over Kimi Räikkönen while teammate Felipe Massa could still finish in 4th as he was 19 points behind the Fin. All of the teams used super soft and soft tyres.. After the previous race in Brazil, the 2015 Race of Champions was held with Sebastian Vettel defeating Tom Kristensen in the final at London. Vettel wasn't the only Formula One driver with eight drivers formerly or currently driving in Formula One.
==Entry list==
The full entry list for the is shown below:
No. 	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor 	Chassis 	Engine 	Model 	Tyre
44 	Lewis Hamilton 	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	 	W06 Hybrid 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
6 	Nico Rosberg 	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	 	W06 Hybrid 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
3 	Daniel Ricciardo 	Infiniti Red Bull Racing 	 	RB11 	 	Energy F1-2015 	
26 	Daniil Kvyat 	Infiniti Red Bull Racing 	 	RB11 	 	Energy F1-2015 	
19 	Felipe Massa 	Williams Martini Racing 	 	FW37 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
77 	Valtteri Bottas 	Williams Martini Racing 	 	FW37 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
5 	Sebastian Vettel 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	SF15-T 	 	059/3 	
7 	Kimi Räikkönen 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	SF15-T 	 	059/3 	
14 	Fernando Alonso 	McLaren Honda 	 	MP4-30 	 	RA615H Hybrid 	
22 	Jenson Button 	McLaren Honda 	 	MP4-30 	 	RA615H Hybrid 	
27 	Nico Hülkenberg 	Sahara Force India F1 Team 	 	VJM08 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
11 	Sergio Pérez 	Sahara Force India F1 Team 	 	VJM08 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
33 	Max Verstappen 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR10 	 	Energy F1-2015 	
55 	Carlos Sainz, Jr. 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR10 	 	Energy F1-2015 	
8 	Romain Grosjean 	Lotus F1 Team 	 	E23 Hybrid 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
13 	Pastor Maldonado 	Lotus F1 Team 	 	E23 Hybrid 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
28 	Will Stevens 	Manor Marussia F1 Team 	 	MR03 	 	059/3 	
98 	Roberto Merhi 	Manor Marussia F1 Team 	 	MR03 	 	059/3 	
9 	Marcus Ericsson 	Sauber F1 Team 	 	C34 	 	059/3 	
12 	Felipe Nasr 	Sauber F1 Team 	 	C34 	 	059/3 	
Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only 	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only
30 	Jolyon Palmer 	Lotus F1 Team 	 	E23 Hybrid 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
source 	source 	source 	source 	source 	source 	source 	source
==Practice Overview==
===FP1===
===FP2===
===FP3===
===Practice Results===
No 	Driver 	Team 	FP1 	 	FP2 	 	FP3 	 	 	 	 	 	
No 	Driver 	Team 	Time 	Pos 	Time 	Pos 	Time 	Pos 	 	 	 	 	
3 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 	1:44.893	7 	1:42.647	4 	1:42.726	6 	 	 	 	 	
5 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	1:44.742	5 	1:42.717	5 	1:42.185	3 	 	 	 	 	
6 	Nico Rosberg 	 	1:43.895	2 	1:41.983	1 	1:41.856	1 	 	 	 	 	
7 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	1:44.500	3 	1:42.849	7 	1:42.627	5 	 	 	 	 	
8 	Romain Grosjean 	 	 	1:43.929	15 	1:43.928	15 	 	 	 	 	 	
9 	Marcus Ericsson 	 	1:46.407	17 	1:45.245	18 	1:44.325	17 	 	 	 	 	
11 	Sergio Pérez 	 	1:44.934	8 	1:42.610	3 	1:42.448	4 	 	 	 	 	
12 	Felipe Nasr 	 	1:46.115	15 	1:44.116	17 	1:43.718	13 	 	 	 	 	
13 	Pastor Maldonado 	 	1:45.314	9 	1:43.431	10 	1:43.680	12 	 	 	 	 	
14 	Fernando Alonso 	 	1:45.865	14 	1:42.955	9 	1:44.014	16 	 	 	 	 	
19 	Felipe Massa 	 	1:45.433	10 	1:43.506	12 	1:43.173	8 	 	 	 	 	
22 	Jenson Button 	 	1:45.773	13 	1:44.050	16 	1:43.508	11 	 	 	 	 	
26 	Daniil Kvyat 	 	1:44.702	4 	1:42.798	6 	 	20 	 	 	 	 	
27 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	1:44.751	6 	1:42.928	8 	1:42.859	7 	 	 	 	 	
28 	Will Stevens 	 	1:48.836	19 	1:46.450	19 	1:47.283	18 	 	 	 	 	
30 	Jolyon Palmer 	 	1:46.501	18 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
33 	Max Verstappen 	 	1:45.718	12 	1:43.662	13 	1:43.826	14 	 	 	 	 	
44 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	1:43.754	1 	1:42.121	2 	1:42.137	2 	 	 	 	 	
55 	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	 	1:46.220	16 	1:43.854	14 	1:43.429	10 	 	 	 	 	
77 	Valtteri Bottas 	 	1:45.603	11 	1:43.441	11 	1:43.239	9 	 	 	 	 	
98 	Roberto Merhi 	 	1:49.888	20 	1:47.022	20 	1:47.520	19 	 	 	 	 	
Source:	Source: 	Source:	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source:	Source:	Source:	Source:	Source:	Source:
==Qualifying==
===Q1===
===Q2===
===Q3===
===Qualifying Results===
===Grid===
Notes:
* * Romain Grosjean () was penalised five places for a gearbox change, and fell from 15th to 18th.
* † Will Stevens () was penalised five places for the usage of an additional power element, but his grid position did not change.
* ‡ Roberto Merhi () started from the pit lane as his car was modified under Parc Fermé conditions.
==Race==
===Pre-race===
===Report===
===Post-race===
===Results===
Pos 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor	Laps 	Time/Retired 	Grid 	Points
1 	6 	Nico Rosberg 	 	55 	1 h 38 m 30.175 s	1 	25
2 	44 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	55 	+ 8.271 s 	2 	18
3 	7 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	55 	+ 19.430 s 	3 	15
4 	5 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	55 	+ 43.735 s 	15 	12
5 	11 	Sergio Pérez 	 	55 	+ 1 m 3.952 s 	4 	10
6 	3 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 	55 	+ 1 m 5.010 s 	5 	8
7 	27 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	55 	+ 1 m 33.618 s 	7 	6
8 	19 	Felipe Massa 	 	55 	+ 1 m 37.751 s 	8 	4
9 	8 	Romain Grosjean 	 	55 	+ 1 m 38.201 s 	18 	2
10 	26 	Daniil Kvyat 	 	55 	+ 1 m 42.371 s 	9 	1
11 	33 	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	 	55 	+ 1 m 43.525 s 	10 	
12 	22 	Jenson Button 	 	54 	+ 1 lap 	12 	
13 	77 	Valtteri Bottas 	 	54 	+ 1 lap 	6 	
14 	9 	Marcus Ericsson 	 	54 	+ 1 lap 	17 	
15 	12 	Felipe Nasr 	 	54 	+ 1 lap 	14 	
16* 	33 	Max Verstappen 	 	54 	+ 1 lap 	11 	
17 	14 	Fernando Alonso 	 	53 	+ 2 laps 	16 	
18 	28 	Will Stevens 	 	53 	+ 2 laps 	19 	
19 	98 	Roberto Merhi 	 	52 	+ 3 laps 	PL 	
Ret 	13 	Pastor Maldonado 	 	0 	Collision 	13 	
Source	Source	Source 	Source 	Source	Source 	Source	Source
* * Max Verstappen, who crossed the line in 12th place, was given two time penalties; one of five seconds for leaving track limits and gaining an advantage and one of twenty seconds for ignoring blue flags. Combined, these 25 seconds pushed him down to 16th.
===Fastest laps===
===Laps in the lead===
====Stints====
Stint	Driver 	Laps 	Total	Distance
1 	Nico Rosberg 	1 – 10 	10 	55.540 km
2 	Lewis Hamilton	11 	1 	5.554 km
3 	Nico Rosberg 	12 – 30	19 	105.526 km
4 	Lewis Hamilton	31 – 41	11 	61.094 km
5 	Nico Rosberg 	42 – 55	14 	77.756 km
====Totals====
Pos.	Driver 	Laps	Distance
1 	Nico Rosberg 	43 	238.822 km
2 	Lewis Hamilton	12 	66.648 km
==Milestones==
* 150th race for .
* scored their 12th one-two and their 33rd podium of the season, both new records.
* Mercedes' final points total of 703 beat their record.
* Nico Rosberg's sixth pole position in a row, and his third victory in a row.
* Final race for Will Stevens, Roberto Merhi, Alexander Rossi and Pastor Maldonado.
==Standings after race==
Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts 	+/-
1 	Lewis Hamilton 	381 	
2 	Nico Rosberg 	322 	
3 	Sebastian Vettel 	278 	
4 	Kimi Räikkönen 	150 	1
5 	Valtteri Bottas 	136 	1
6 	Felipe Massa 	121 	
7 	Daniil Kvyat 	95 	
8 	Daniel Ricciardo 	92 	
9 	Sergio Pérez 	78 	
10 	Nico Hülkenberg 	58 	
11 	Romain Grosjean 	51 	
12 	Max Verstappen 	49 	
13 	Felipe Nasr 	27 	
14 	Pastor Maldonado 	27 	
15 	Carlos Sainz, Jr. 	18 	
16 	Jenson Button 	16 	
17 	Fernando Alonso 	11 	
18 	Marcus Ericsson 	9 	
19 	Roberto Merhi 	0 	
20 	Alexander Rossi 	0 	
21 	Will Stevens 	0 	
NC 	Kevin Magnussen 	0 	
Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship
Pos. 	Team 	Pts 	+/-
1 	 	703 	
2 	 	428 	
3 	 	257 	
4 	 	187 	
5 	 	136 	
6 	 	78 	
7 	 	67 	
8 	 	36 	
9 	 	27 	
10 	 	0 	
==Notes==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:2015 Grands Prix
Category:Abu Dhabi Grand Prix