F1: Rosberg picks up third consecutive win in season finale
Nico Rosberg grabbed his third consecutive win in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit after starting on pole.
Rosberg's Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton finished second, while Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen completed the podium in third. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Force India's Sergio Perez rounded out the top five.
Rosberg led 44 laps on his way to his 14th career victory. It was also the first time he has won three races in a row.
Lewis Hamilton ran 29 laps on a set of tires in between his first and second pit stop, and even requested to keep going on the same set until the end of the race. The team decided that strategy would not pay off, and Hamilton was told to pit on Lap 41.
After the stop, Hamilton was consistently one second faster than Rosberg, but laps ran out before Hamilton was able to challenge his teammate for the win.
Despite a dismal qualifying effort, Vettel battled back from the 16th starting spot to finish fourth.
Williams' Valtteri Bottas made contact with Jenson Button's McLaren coming out of the pit lane, creating front wing damage for Bottas. The Finn was given a five second time penalty for an unsafe release after the collision. Bottas went on to finish 14th.
Pastor Maldonado collided with Fernando Alonso at the start, forcing Alonso to pit early for a new front wing, while Maldonado retired from the race immediately.
Romain Grosjean received a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change before the start of the race and was forced to start 19th. Grosjean finished 9th in his final race for Lotus before moving to the new Haas F1 Team for 2016.