A mid-season dip in form, some inexplicable reliability issues and pure driver error on the part of Mercedes AMG F1's Nico Rosberg made his championship challenge for the season end sooner than last season. However, following the error in Austin, the German seemed to shift into almost robot like consistency that saw him win two straight races. He made that three at the season ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the 5.554km Yas Marina Circuit where teammate Lewis Hamilton played second fiddle to him again.
After claiming his sixth straight pole position of the season, Rosberg shot away from the line at the start of the 55-lap race to open up a comfortable gap from Hamilton. which he then controlled till the end to win by over eight seconds.
Finishing behind the Mercedes cars, and perhaps giving a hint as to who the German squad may have to worry about for the 2016 F1 season. the scarlet Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel finished third and fourth. An error of judgement by Ferrari in qualifying that left Vettel in 16th, leading to a rare weekend when the former four-time champion finished behind Raikkonen, who sealed fourth place in the drivers' championship after closest rival Valtteri Bottas finished a lap down in 13th.
Behind Raikkonen, Sergio Perez of Force India-Mercedes, Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull-Renault, Nico Hulkenberg of Force India, Felipe Massa of Williams-Mercedes, Romain Grosjean of Lotus-Mercedes and Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull-Renault completed the top ten.
Rosberg's late season charge meant that his final gap to Hamilton was only two points more to the one last year, when the final race of the season ending with a crippling reliability issue for him.
Mercedes' final points tally of 703 points in the constructors' championship this year was also two points more than last year, despite the season-ending race of 2014 being worth double points.
Led by Vettel's eleven podium finishes in the season, three of which were victories, Ferrari almost doubled their points tally from last year and leapfrogged Williams and Red Bull.
Sahara Force India scored fewer points than they did last season, but on account of McLaren-Honda suffering an incredibly difficult year, they finished the season in fifth ahead of Lotus who are all but set to be taken over by Renault and turned into a factory team.
Another significant change for 2016 is the addition of the American-based Haas F1 team, for whom Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez will be behind the wheel of a Ferrari powered machine. The vacancy left by Grosjean will be filled by Britain's Jolyon Palmer who will partner Pastor Maldonado.
With these exceptions all the remaining teams have announced unchanged driver line-ups.
The first race weekend of 2016 is from 18th to 20th March at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia.
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