In what will be counted as amongst the closest finishes of recent times thanks to Lewis Hamilton backing his championship rival Nico Rosberg into the third and fourth place drivers Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen respectively, the German survived the pressure to finish second behind Hamilton in first and win his maiden world title.
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Twitter was all lit praising the endurance and resilience of the 2016 World Champion. Here are some of the best tweets:
It's not just the guys and girls at the track who make these dreams... It's a cast of hundreds across the world #F1 Champions, every one 👏
A tearful Rosberg: "Very proud to have done the same thing my dad achieved. He's coming here in about half an hour. I'm excited to see him"
Somewhere in there is the 2016 #F1 WORLD CHAMPION!!!! #F1Finale #AbuDhabiGP #F1
Well done Nico Rosberg. Joining Piquet and Prost as champions who won less races than their rivals. #AbuDhabiGP #lewistruechamp
The story of the 2016 season, and how Nico Rosberg became champion in his seventh season with Mercedes #AbuDhabiGP telegraph.co.uk/formula-1/2016…
Hugs all round for the new world champion... #AbuDhabiGP #F1Finale 🇦🇪
#AbuDhabiGP last laps seemed a 300kmh chess match. The only drawback: my german friends will say yep the Ferrari is nice but the Mercedes..
THE CROWD SURFING CHAMPION!!!! #F1Finale #AbuDhabiGP #F1
Donuts, world champion style! 🔄🙌 #F1Finale #AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪
What more can you say about this guy... A fighter to the last A Champion, always 👊 What a battle from 4️⃣4️⃣ #F1Finale #AbuDhabiGP #F1
Congratulations to @Nico_Rosberg on winning the 2016 F1 Drivers' Championship! 🏆👏 #AbuDhabiGP Don't worry, no shoeys this time... 😉
Feel the Fourth! 💪🏻😜🏁 #AbuDhabiGP #F1 @f1 @ForceIndiaF1
Faster than anyone in the closing stages, a podium and #F1DriverOfTheDay - not a bad #F1Finale for VET and @ScuderiaFerrari
👏🏼 Congratulations to @nico_rosberg, the 2016 #F1 World Champion 🏆🍾 Complimenti!!! 😉 🇦🇪 #AbuDhabiGP 🎆🎉 #F1Finale 🏁
Lewis had no other race strategy choice today but at the end they should shake & be men about it #bigkids #bbcf1 #AbuDhabiGP
https://twitter.com/leimzz/status/802888589763756032
Sebastian Vettel took a brave and exciting third place to finish off his disaster of a season while the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth and fifth.
Force India sealed off the fourth place in constructors after finishing 7th and 8th for Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez respectively. Felipe Massa ended his final world championship on a high finishing 9th and Fernando Alonso finished 10th.
I hope we see HAM and ROS speak their hearts out in the post-race interviews than dish out usual corporate PR crap! #F1 #AbuDhabiGP
What a end to #F1 season well done to new champion @nico_rosberg hopefully next season will be even closer with @LewisHamilton #AbuDhabiGP
Talk about Rosbery all you want he won because of the engine blow up in Malaysia for hamilton car #AbuDhabiGP
Nevertheless a well deserved podium by Ferrari and a amazing recovery effort by max to come back from behind #AbuDhabiGP #F1
Too busy sulking to even congratulate his team mate. Even Nico swallowed that pill the last 2 seasons. #F1 #AbuDhabiGP #F1Finale
Brilliant #Seb5 #AbuDhabiGP 👊🏼🏎
https://twitter.com/macey_sophie/status/802889417954181120
HAM: "I just want to say thanks to the team and my family. And congratulations to Nico - the new world champion" #AbuDhabiGP
That was some good racing from vettel :) well done to Lewis!!! Shame you didn't win the championship #AbuDhabiGP
Lewis tried everything but Nico held his own. Both are world champs and both drove like one this year. Fair play to both drivers #AbuDhabiGP
Jenson Button, racing his final grand prix had the worst of lucks and had to retire after jumping his car over the kerbs and breaking something with the suspension.
From @JensonButton to the fans: "A massive thank you for your support, it's been a rollercoaster. I'm happy. I had a fantastic career"
A standing ovation from the crowd for @JensonButton And a hug from his tearful mum as he retires #F1Finale #AbuDhabiGP
Nico Rosberg has NEVER beaten Lewis Hamilton to a title in his entire motorsport career - until now! ➡️ bbc.in/2fSZn8a #AbuDhabiGP
ROS: "That was not the most enjoyable race I've had! I'm glad it's over and am absolutely ecstatic. The win was for my wife" #AbuDhabiGP
Big love for our champ @LewisHamilton🙌🏾🙌🏿🙌🏼 ❤️All our hearts are always with you. We are so proud. #TeamLH forever #AbuDhabiGP #F1
"A big congratulations to @Nico_Rosberg. Your first World #Championship! Good job, man." – @LewisHamilton. #AbuDhabiGP #F1
It’s all over for 2016! HAM wins #AbuDhabiGP, ROS P2 & takes the title, then VET, VES, RIC, RAI, HUL, PER, MAS, Fernando #F1Finale
