Abu Dhabi Grand Prix driver ratings

6 NICO ROSBERG
Mercedes F1 W06

Start: 1st
Finish: 1st
Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/soft/soft)

Rating: 10

Rosberg's performance in taking a sixth pole in succession was sublime. He made a lot of his "very old" engine costing him power, but this deficit was estimated to be worth just 0.05s in reality.

Rosberg completed his hat-trick © XPB

His race was another textbook showing. He nailed the start, controlled the gap, and was fast when he needed to be. It was arguably Rosberg's most convincing display of the season. If only he could have found this form sooner...

44 LEWIS HAMILTON
Mercedes F1 W06

Start: 2nd
Finish: 2nd
Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/soft/soft)

Rating: 7

Following his biggest intra-team qualifying defeat of the season, the world champion revealed he's not felt as comfortable with his car since suspension and aero tweaks were made after Singapore. Rosberg's camp reckons this is just mind games on Hamilton's part.

He tried hard in the race, but an attempt to offset his final pitstop didn't pay off. Title success matters far more, of course, but Hamilton will need to regroup over the winter after this late reversal in form.

3 DANIEL RICCIARDO
Red Bull-Renault RB11

Start: 5th
Finish: 6th
Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/soft/soft)

Rating: 8

Ricciardo reckons the RB11 is now the best chassis on the grid, and he was back to his best in qualifying at the head of the tight pack behind Raikkonen and Perez, achieving his top-five target.

Sainz ushers Kvyat aside on the opening lap © XPB

He regained ground lost to Hulkenberg at the start with an early first stop in the race, but a similar trick didn't work on Perez thanks to the Red Bull getting stuck behind Grosjean's Lotus. Ultimately he narrowly lost out in his chase of the Force India, but it was a decent drive.

26 DANIIL KVYAT
Red Bull-Renault RB11

Start: 9th
Finish: 10th
Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/soft/soft)

Rating: 6

Kvyat was not entirely happy with his RB11 on Friday, and felt he went "blind to qualifying" on account of electrical problems that ruined final practice. This meant a lack of set-up refinement, which helped explain his "shit" grid position, and the large 0.489s gap to his team-mate.

The Russian endured a frustrating race. He got bullied by Sainz on the first lap but recovered well, until ERS problems intervened and made him easy meat for rivals late on.

19 FELIPE MASSA
Williams-Mercedes FW37

Start: 8th
Finish: 8th
Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/soft/soft)

Rating: 7

Williams was puzzled by its struggles here, as both drivers lapped six tenths slower in qualifying than they managed at this race last season. Massa was happy with his lap, but felt the car simply lacked rear grip.

Bottas lost half his wing on Button's McLaren © LAT

He drove a solid race, keeping out of trouble and scoring points after a battle with Hulkenberg and Kvyat, but was right to describe this as a "poor way to end the season" for Williams.

77 VALTTERI BOTTAS
Williams-Mercedes FW37

Start: 6th
Finish: 13th
Strategy: 3 stops (super-soft/soft/soft/soft)

Rating: 5

Bottas tried to work around the FW37's low-speed deficiencies by altering his approach to the out-laps during qualifying, and this proved just enough to squeak ahead of Hulkenberg's Force India.

He got badly outmanoeuvred at the start of the race, so lost a lot of places, then suffered wing damage and a five-second penalty for clattering into Button's McLaren in the pits, which ruined things completely. A sad way to end a strong season.

5 SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Ferrari SF15-T

Start: 15th
Finish: 4th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/soft/super-soft)

Rating: 7

Ferrari looked slow over a single lap on Friday, but we never got to find out how much improvement Vettel might have made on Saturday, as his attempt to squeeze through Q1 on the harder tyre backfired spectacularly.

It was Raikkonen representing Ferrari on the podium this time © LAT

He recovered well in the race, climbing to 12th on the first lap and using an alternative strategy to get the top-four result the car merited, but he had to play second fiddle to his team-mate this time.

7 KIMI RAIKKONEN
Ferrari SF15-T

Start: 3rd
Finish: 3rd
Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/soft/soft)

Rating: 8

With Vettel MIA at the business end of qualifying, Raikkonen upheld Ferrari honour by squeaking ahead of Perez's Force India in Q3.

The race was relatively straightforward. Raikkonen fended off Perez at the start and chased after the Mercedes, but Ferrari was not quick enough to challenge in race trim, despite showing good long-run pace in practice. Raikkonen has struggled to string his weekends together, so this performance was a welcome change.

14 FERNANDO ALONSO
McLaren-Honda MP4-30

Start: 16th
Finish: 17th
Strategy: 3 stops (super-soft/soft/soft/super-soft)

Rating: 5

Alonso was very quick on Friday evening over one lap, and would likely have made Q2 comfortably without an unlucky puncture. He made a good start to the race but first corner contact spoiled things.

Alonso was miles behind from the start after his first-corner tangle © XPB

The double champion criticised officials for penalising him, but appeared to move over slightly on Nasr's Sauber, which caused the hit that pitched the McLaren into Maldonado. Alonso lacked the desire to carry on, but used the rest of the race for testing instead of stopping.

22 JENSON BUTTON
McLaren-Honda MP4-30

Start: 12th
Finish: 12th
Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/soft/soft)

Rating: 8

Button struggled to find a decent balance on Friday, but the car came alive once his suspension was revised to match Alonso's set-up, and he came within two tenths of making Q3 for the first time all season.

He drove another combative race, clinging on gamely to the midfield group, fighting hard with Verstappen's Toro Rosso, and holding on to beat the compromised Williams of Bottas. A very respectable drive in a slow car.

11 SERGIO PEREZ
Force India-Mercedes VJM08

Start: 4th
Finish: 5th
Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/soft/soft)

Rating: 9

Perez was delighted to be third fastest on Friday, only six tenths slower than Rosberg's Mercedes, and he showed this form was no fluke by qualifying fourth, though the team reckoned Raikkonen was beatable had Perez not followed Rosberg's Mercedes too closely on his final Q3 run.

Perez was rapid all weekend © XPB

He almost jumped the Ferrari at the start, but Hamilton's defence from a sluggish getaway prevented a pass. Perez drove intelligently thereafter to bag the best result realistically possible. Another fine effort.

27 NICO HULKENBERG
Force India-Mercedes VJM08

Start: 7th
Finish: 7th
Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/soft/soft)

Rating: 7

Force India's development of the B-spec VJM08 has made it a far more formidable prospect in slow speed corners without adding too much drag, and that was in evidence here as it battled Red Bull to be the third quickest car in the field.

Hulkenberg didn't quite get as much out of it as team-mate Perez, particularly in qualifying, and struggled with understeer in the race, but a third consecutive points finish was welcome.

33 MAX VERSTAPPEN
Toro Rosso-Renault STR10

Start: 11th
Finish: 16th
Strategy: 3 stops (super-soft/soft/soft/super-soft)

Rating: 5

Verstappen struggled with the car on Friday, but reckoned he would have made the top 10 in qualifying but for traffic on his final Q2 run that he said cost him 0.15s - more than enough to reverse positions with his team-mate.

Sainz had to let Verstappen past at one point, but came out on top © LAT

His race was messy. A huge lock-up compromised his strategy, he got hung out to dry twice in battle, and carelessly got penalised for holding up Hamilton near the end. Not up to his usual high standard.

55 CARLOS SAINZ JR
Toro Rosso-Renault STR10

Start: 10th
Finish: 11th
Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/soft/soft)

Rating: 8

Sainz was concerned that needing to use an old engine would compromise his weekend, and his fears were realised when he suffered oil and water leaks, and an overheating MGU-K, that severely limited his Friday running.

He bounced back brilliantly to make Q3 on Saturday, and his first-lap rise to seventh was a superb blend of aggression and skill. The final point proved just beyond reach, but this was still a really good performance.

8 ROMAIN GROSJEAN
Lotus-Mercedes E23

Start: 18th
Finish: 9th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/soft/super-soft)

Rating: 10

Grosjean's final race for 'Team Enstone' was a catalogue of disasters initially. He missed practice one again in favour of his 2016 replacement Jolyon Palmer, lost valuable time in practice two to a problem with the fuel tank, then a gearbox failure ruined qualifying and forced him to the back of the grid after Lotus fitted a new unit.

Maldonado's race ended at the first corner following contact from Alonso © XPB

He followed the same alternate strategy as Vettel in the race, and exceeded team expectations to bag two points, despite all the setbacks. A superb recovery.

13 PASTOR MALDONADO
Lotus-Mercedes E23

Start: 13th
Finish: Retired
Strategy: (super-soft/retired)

Rating: 6

Maldonado showed encouraging pace on Friday, despite the Lotus team's race against time to prepare after yet another delay to its freight ahead of this event. The team felt his qualifying performance was "quite reasonable", even though it wasn't enough to make Q3 ultimately.

His race was over quickly, as he was speared by Alonso's McLaren at Turn 1, which pitched his car off the track and broke the rear suspension. Maldonado was totally blameless on this occasion.

28 WILL STEVENS
Marussia-Ferrari MR-03B

Start: 19th
Finish: 18th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/super-soft/soft)

Rating: 8

Stevens looked comfortably the quicker of the two Manor drivers on Friday, on the track where he made his F1 debut and has more relevant experience than at any other venue.

Stevens chases the pack © XPB

That form carried over to qualifying, where he was a very un-F1 like 1.137s faster than team-mate Merhi. Comparison in the race was tricky given the Spaniard's problems and a pitlane start, but Stevens reckoned this was his strongest drive yet. It's difficult to disagree.

98 ROBERTO MERHI
Marussia-Ferrari MR-03B

Start: Pits
Finish: 19th
Strategy: 1 stop (soft/super-soft)

Rating: 4

Merhi's return to the Manor driving seat in place of Alexander Rossi was a disaster. He couldn't get comfortable in the car, struggling especially with the brakes. He estimates his weight deficit to Stevens is now a negligible 2-3kg, but admitted to being off his pace even without getting baulked by Vettel's Ferrari in qualifying.

He started from the pitlane after the team altered the set-up when fixing a loose wishbone, but the brake problems remained.

9 MARCUS ERICSSON
Sauber-Ferrari C34

Start: 17th
Finish: 14th
Strategy: 2 stops (soft/soft/super-soft)

Rating: 6

Ericsson struggled to get his car to handle consistently in practice, despite hoping the relatively smooth surface and long straights here would suit the C34. He had a decent first run in qualifying, but a gearbox sensor problem ruined his hopes of making Q2.

Ericsson had a feisty battle with Button © LAT

The race was better, as he avoided trouble and executed an alternative two-stop strategy to finish close to Button's McLaren and the Williams of Bottas, but this event brutally exposed Sauber's lack of development.

12 FELIPE NASR
Sauber-Ferrari C34

Start: 14th
Finish: 15th
Strategy: 3 stops (super-soft/soft/soft/super-soft)

Rating: 7

Sauber struggled to get the C34 working over the Yas Marina kerbs, and Nasr felt the slow corners also exposed the car's traction weakness, but he benefited from others' misfortunes to make Q2 in a car that wasn't quick enough to get there on merit.

Contact with Alonso's McLaren damaged his front wing and forced an extra pitstop in the race. To finish only four seconds behind his team-mate in those circumstances represented a good effort.