Hamilton: I am happy it's over

With the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship title claimed a while back by Lewis Hamilton, the Briton would be excused a degree of complacency in the final race of the season, but that is not how he ticks and thus it was no surprise that he chased Abu Dhabi Grand Prix winner and teammate Nico Rosberg all the way to the finish line. The reigning world champion spoke after the race at Yas Marina Circuit in which he finished second.

It’s been a great season for you, but it doesn’t seem to have finished quite as strong as it started. We heard you mention that there have been some changes to the car and it hasn’t quite suited you but is it as simple as that or is there something else we need to know now the season’s over?
Lewis Hamilton: Well, firstly it’s been an amazing – an amazing – year, and happy 44th UAE National Day. So happy to be here and celebrating it with the UAE, they’ve done an amazing job for this show – and what a great crowd we’ve had today. No man, it’s been a good year. I’m happy. I’m happy it’s over, for sure. So now we can really enjoy. I really have to take my hat off to this team who once again did an amazing job in building this car. The pitstops today, the performance through the whole year, they’ve surpassed their own expectations, our expectations, and so we’ve truly shown that Mercedes-Benz is the best team in the world. I’m proud to be a part of it.

Just to touch on strategy, we heard you again on the radio, asking the team “can I go the distance on these tyres?” We know the team have to deliver the one-two result. Nico earned the pole, he was leading the race – is that just the inner racer in you? Even though you probably know ahead of time that there’s nothing that can be done, that’s why you’re pushing your engineers, pushing the team.
LH: No, I think in hindsight once Nico pitted I would probably have backed off a little bit and I would have made those tyres go a lot longer. The tyres were still fine at the end so I honestly felt that I could potentially have taken them to the end. But as that didn’t work out, going too long was probably not the right thing to do – but y’know, we gave it a try and did the best job I could with it.

You’re a three time World Champion, it’s been a record-breaking year, which of the two of you goes into the winter feeling the happier?
LH: I think being World Champion sounds a lot better than winning the race, so that’s good.

Tell us a little bit about your race because we were let in on quite a lot of radio?
LH: Well, I just did what I was told pretty much, most of the time and then yeah, I tried as hard as I could in the first stint, I tried to keep a relatively decent gap to Nico, looking after my tyres and then my right front... or both fronts went off quite early and Nico was able to... in the clean air, was able to look after them. In the second stint I was quicker and getting close and then... I could make the tyres last longer, yeah, of course, but after that it was really down to the team, whether or not we went to the option or the other tyre. I’m not sure which one was better but the prime tyre was quite good. I’m not sure whether or not I could have taken it to the end but some part of me just wishes I’d just given it a go. But no, the engine modes were going up and down throughout the race, not really sure they were like that because they had lots of life left in my engine but I’ll ask when I get back to the debrief.

Will you get [Nico] a Christmas present?
LH: I don’t think we’ve ever done either so there’s no reason to change.