Hamilton wins Abu Dhabi GP and 2014 F1 title

Lewis Hamilton's 11th win of the 19-race season secured the title and he joins British drivers Jim Clark and Graham Hill in the two-championship club; Jackie Stewart has three to his name.

Nico Rosberg, Hamilton's teammate and the season's runner-up, started on pole position, but lost that advantage right at the start of the race. Hamilton, beginning in second place, shot past the German to take the lead before the first turn.

The initial part of the race was a mirror of the entire Formula One season - with the two Mercedes drivers pulling away from the pack. Their respective pit stops did nothing to change the contest, with Hamilton leading Rosberg throughout.

Technical problems, however, spelled an end to the German's hopes of overtaking Hamilton on track. Around lap 25, Rosberg's electrical motor (ERS) failed leaving him with only a turbo and robbing him of horsepower. The German was powerless to stop dropping down into the pack. However, had Rosberg won Sunday's race with Hamilton second, the title would still have gone to the number 44 car.

Hamilton also appeared to suffer brief engine trouble, but his car recovered, and he was able to hold off Felipe Massa to take the checkered flag. Massa's Williams' teammate Valtteri Bottas finished third - the team's first double podium finish since 2005. Rosberg, who insited over team radio in the closing laps that he would rather finish the final race than pull in early, had to settle for a disappointing 14th.

Rosberg, whose relationship with Hamilton has not always been the best, was gracious in defeat.

"All in all, Lewis deserved to win the championship," the German said after the race. "What happened to me had no impact. It did not change anything so there is no point focusing on that."

Although Hamilton was able to cruise through the final race of the 2014, the Englishman said the pressure in the run-up had been intense.

"It's hard to soak all of this up. So much pressure," he told reporters after the race. "I didn't sleep last night. I went for a run and had a massage, I thought I would be tired, but somehow I felt composed for the race. This has been an incredible year. It feels
very surreal, like an out-of-body experience, like it's not really happening."

With double points awarded in Abu Dhabi, the result meant that Hamilton wins his second Formula One drivers' title with 384 points. Rosberg finished second overall, ultimately more than fifty points behind Hamilton. Mercedes had wrapped up the constructors' title with several races to spare, in a dominant season for the British-built Silver Arrows.