Although Lewis Hamilton won the race, leaving Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg at second place – the latter claimed his first F1 World Title as the 33rd World Champion of the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on the 27th November.
Record breaking night under the Yas Marina lights for the Silver Arrows
- Lewis today took his 61st career pole position – his third at the Yas Marina Circuit and 12th of the 2016 season so far
- Nico completed a 14th Silver Arrows front row lockout of the season in P2 – his 60th front row start in Formula One
- The team has now taken 20 pole positions from 21 races in the 2016 season, which is a new all-time record
- Both drivers completed a single run in Q1 and Q2 then two runs in Q3, using UltraSoft tyres throughout
Photo: Formula 1
(L-R) Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton
Apparently Hamilton did not make it easy for the Champion; the former reportedly ignored team orders to accelerate his pace having tried to slow the pack down and make it more challenging for Rosberg to finish. He had ignored his team instructions twice, first from his race engineer and then from technical chief of Mercedes, Paddy Lowe, as he tried to back up the field to push Rosberg within reach of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.  However,  Rosberg held on in order to echo his father, the 1982 world championship winner, Keke – and finally secured the 2016 world driver’s championship, having earned 5 points more than Hamilton.
When the Grand Prix took place here in Malaysia in September-October, Lewis Hamilton’s hopes for the title were also dashed when he encountered engine failure. He was dominating the race until his Mercedes started spitting fire on the 43rd lap. Post-race, the Briton told BBC Radio 5 live’s Tom Clarkson that he is questioning Mercedes as to why only his engines were failing, saying that it was “not acceptableâ€.
On a side note, here are seven timepieces that can help you keep up with the Grand Prix Champions.
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Explorer
Navigate the racetrack with the Oyster Perpetual Explorer by Rolex, a robust timepiece certified as a Superlative Chronometer. After certification by COSC, Rolex, the Official Timepiece of F1, subjects the watch to further rigorous texting before going its stamp of approval. The result is a watch previse to the order of -2/+2 seconds per day after casing, which is achieved through innovative developments on the self-winding mechanical movement featuring the Calibre 3132. The oscillator is fitted with an anti-magnetic blue Parachrom hairspring that is held in place by a height-adjustable traversing bridge and surrounded by Paraflex shock absorbers, allowing it to remain resilient in the face of knocks and temperature fluctuations.
Oris & Williams Martini Racing
When you have one of motor racing’s best teams on your side, of course you’re going to make the best of it. That’s exactly what Oris did with the Williams Chronograph Carbon Fibre Extreme. Using the secrets of its F1 partner’s swift race cars, Oris patented a carbon fibre manufacturing technique to produce an extremely rigid and water-tight material. This high-tech element, developed using fibre waves instead of shreds, makes for a solid block used on the hand-made case middle that weighs merely 7.2g!
Bell & Ross & Renault Sport F1 Team
Celebrating its new partnership with the Renault Sport F1 Team, Bell & Ross created a watch truly made for a race car driver. The limited edition BR-X1 RS16 Skeleton Chronograph, named after the team’s new RS16 race car, features the brand’s signature yellow hue on the rubber grips and rubber inserts on the crown and rocker push buttons. Besides making for a very sporty looking watch, these rubber details also allow for easier handling of the watch’s chronograph functions while wearing gloves. Matching the race team’s outstanding performance is the mechanical automatic BR-CAL.313 housed in a sturdy grade five titanium and Carbone Forge case.
IWC Schaffhausen & Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
IWC Schaffhausen’s Ingenieur Chronograph Edition “W 125″ is the horological version of Mercedes-Benz’s legendary W125 Silver Arrow race from 1937. It almost feels as if Rudolf Uhlenhaut – the man behind the W125 – himself designed this timepiece, with a classic circular titanium case, silver-plated dial, vivid black hands and a leather calfskin strap reminiscent of luxurious interiors of classic motor cars. The new in-house Calibre 69370 of the column-wheel chronograph movement is definitely a worthy reflection of the car once lauded as the most powerful racer ever.
Hublot & Scuderia Ferrari
When watching an F1 race, it sometimes seems like the laws of physics have ceased to exist, with the cars appearing to be flying through the air. You’ll get the same feeling when looking at Hublot’s MP-05 “LaFerrari” Sapphire. The HUB9005.H1.PN.1 movement appears to be floating in mid air inside the case, fashioned entirely of sapphire, where the suspended vertical tourbillon can be admired from all angles. What’s more impressive is the 50 days’ power reserve provided when you wind up the watch using a miniature power drill, modelled on the tyre-changing tool used in F1.
Tag Heuer & Red Bull Racing
When TAG Heuer became the official timekeeper and watch of Red Bull Racing, two things came into being: a new race car, the RB12, and the Formula 1 Red Bull Racing Team watch. The quartz chronograph timepiece is undeniably cool in the team’s colours of midnight blue and red. The tachymeter scale is in matte blue aluminium while the blue strap is made of technical textile with red seat-belt inspired stitching. The Ronda 5040D movement also impressed with accuracy to a tenth of a second!
Richard Mille & McLaren Honda F1 Team
A red-hot entry to the horological sweepstakes, Richard Mille’s limited-edition RM 011 Red TPT Quartz is a scarlet display of incredible technology that combines NTPT carbon (also found in the chassis of F1 cars) with TPT quartz to fashion hardy case immune to high temperatures, impervious to electromagnetic waves and extremely resistant to impact forces of up to 5,000 Gs. The amalgamation of the two materials also yields a unique design on every case, as random patterns form during the machining process. Amping up the heat is the superb RM 011 automatic flyback chronograph calibre with 55 hours’ power reserve.
