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Associated Press

It seems simple for Nico Rosberg: Finishing in the top three at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix guarantees his first Formula One championship.
The German driver has pole position for the title thanks to a 12-point lead over Lewis Hamilton heading into Sunday’s showdown.
Even if Hamilton wins the race, Rosberg will clinch the bigger prize if he crosses the line third.
“Hopefully, the fans will get a great show to end the year,” said Rosberg, who is bidding to stop his Mercedes teammate from winning a third straight title and fourth overall.
Rosberg has been runner-up for the past two seasons, but the odds are stacked in his favour now.
If Hamilton finishes the race in second place, Rosberg needs only finish sixth, and if Hamilton places third, Rosberg needs eighth. Fourth place for Hamilton means Rosberg is champion regardless of where he places.
“(They) have been exceptional, and either one would make a worthy champion,” Mercedes head of motorsport Toto Wolff said. “After such a battle of endurance, the winner can say without doubt that they earned it.”
Both have won nine races each this year, and Hamilton has scooped up the past three to stay in contention.
I’m hunting you down, victorious Lewis Hamilton warns F1 title rival Nico Rosberg
Rosberg may be caught in two minds how to approach the race.
He does not need pole and can just sit behind Hamilton, knowing that the Mercedes car is easily fast enough to get him on the podium.
In fact, Rosberg has finished in the top three in 15 of 20 races this season, including the past eight.
But one notable factor may encourage him to race hard, rather than play it safe.
Fourth place in the championship is still up for grabs between Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the 19-year-old Dutchman who has taken F1 by storm.
Vettel, a four-time F1 champion, is only five points ahead of Verstappen, whose relentless hunger to impose himself – not to mention his increasingly fraught relationship with Vettel – may indirectly impact on Rosberg.
If Rosberg chooses to protect third place, rather than chase down Hamilton, he could get caught up in a potential scrap between Vettel and Verstappen, who has been involved in incidents with Ferrari drivers Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.
Nico Rosberg set to deliver knockout blow to Lewis Hamilton at Interlagos
“A small mistake during one of the many corner sequences can ruin a lap,” Verstappen said about the 51/2-kilometre Abu Dhabi circuit.
Missing out on the title would be especially demoralising for Rosberg, considering he has been in a strong position for much of the season.
Last year, Hamilton won with three races to spare, but in 2014, the title went to the last race. However, Rosberg was only in it that year because of the double points rule in place for the last race. The hugely unpopular rule was quickly abolished.
Rosberg has failed to finish only one race this season, when he collided with Hamilton on the first lap of the Spanish GP in May, sending both drivers out of the race.
A similar incident would gift Rosberg the title, but Hamilton does not anticipate any cynical tactics from his teammate.
“I don’t go into the race expecting anything less than a fair fight,” Hamilton said. “I like to think higher of (Rosberg), and that wouldn’t be something he would do.”
Battling Lewis Hamilton beats Nico Rosberg in Mexico to keep his title bid alive
Rosberg trailed Hamilton by 19 points heading into the summer break, but then turned the tables on Hamilton, who seemed to be drifting out of the reckoning only a few races ago.
Engine failure cost Hamilton a seemingly certain victory at the Malaysian GP.
Rosberg followed up that stroke of luck by padding out his advantage to 33 points with victory at the Japanese GP, where Hamilton finished third.
“I’m faced with pretty impossible odds,” said Hamilton, who has been hampered by engine problems. “But I can’t give up.”
Rosberg appears to have settled on a cautious approach for Sunday.
“I was joking that I would still be taking things one race at a time,” Rosberg said. “But, the more I think about it, that’s actually not as crazy as it sounds.”
He simply has too much to lose.


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Formula One 2016

Formula One title is in Nico Rosberg’s hands at tense season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg is just one race away from realising a lifelong ambition and becoming the Formula One world champion. Photo: AP

(161114) -- SAO PAULO, Nov. 14, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Mercedes British driver Lewis Hamilton celebrates after winning the Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Nov. 13, 2016. (Xinhua/Marcio Fernandes/AGENCIA ESTADO) (ma) (ah)

epaselect epa05630371 British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton (L), and German Formula One driver Nico Rosberg (R), both of Mercedes, celebrate on the podium after finishing in first and second place respectively in the Formula One Grand Prix of Brazil, at Interlagos race track in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 13 November 2016. EPA/FERNANDO BIZERRA JR.

(FILES) In this file photo taken on March 25, 2012 Formula One cars accelerate at the start of Malaysia Formula One Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang. Malaysia will discontinue its Formula One Grand Prix race after 2018 due to falling revenues, a government minister said, waving the checkered flag on one of Asia's longest-running F1 races. / AFP PHOTO / SAEED KHAN / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - NO ARCHIVES

(161114) -- SAO PAULO, Nov. 14, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Mercedes German driver Nico Rosberg drives during the Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Nov. 13, 2016. (Xinhua/Gabriela Bilo/AGENCIA ESTADO) (ma) (ah)

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Finishing in the top three at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix guarantees the German his first F1 world championship


Formula One title is in Nico Rosberg’s hands at tense season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Finishing in the top three at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix guarantees the German his first F1 world championship

Finishing in the top three at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix guarantees the German his first F1 world championship