YAS MARINA, Abu Dhabi -- Nico Rosberg said it felt "special" to beat Lewis Hamilton to the 2016 world drivers' championship as his Mercedes teammate and old friend is "one of the best in history".
Rosberg clinched his maiden crown in a tense finale at Yas Marina as Hamilton backed the German into the chasing Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. A faultless drive from Rosberg meant he narrowly stayed in front of the pair to secure the championship by five points.
Much has been made of Rosberg and Hamilton's history together, with their careers linked back to their days as karting teammates. Having lost the 2014 and 2015 championships to Hamilton, Rosberg said it felt good to finally overcome the three-time world champion for a title of his own.
"It feels like I've been racing him forever," Hamilton said. "He's just managed to edge me out and get the title even when we were small in go-karts. He's an amazing driver and one of the best in history, so it's special to beat him because the level is so high and that makes it so much more satisfying for me. He drove extremely high level, he's done some incredible racing, so he's been a very tough competitor."
Rosberg claimed the title in fine style, passing Max Verstappen with a fantastic wheel-to-wheel overtake in the second stint which turned out to be crucial to his race, before staying calm under incredible pressure in the closing stages. Reflecting on his race and championship, Rosberg confessed it was one of the hardestof his career.
"The feeling is out there. The battle with Max ... unreal. I hope I don't experience that again anytime soon. The same again at the end with the pressure on from behind with Lewis driving slow out, it was a tough one.
"It was crazy. The thing is it was so intense the race, it's still going to take some time to settle in and come out because it was really intense out there and so tough in the end. Those last couple of laps with those two guys, if I drop behind then it's over so not enjoyable."