Simply Abu Dhabi XXIV

6 1 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I Round 7 Canada: With a 43 point lead slashed to 24, Rosberg was under pressure and Hamilton’s confidence was on fire. So it wasn’t a surprise to see the Brit claim back-to-back wins to slash Nico’s points lead to just nine. Hamilton lost the start to Vettel but the Ferrari driver was on a two-stop strategy while Hamilton stuck with the harder tyres and a single stop to leapfrog him in the pits. Rosberg suffered another miserable race after he was bumped off at turn 1, dropping to ninth at the end of the first lap. He then suffered a right-rear puncture forcing him to pit again and despite his late charge, suffered an off on the penultimate lap trying to overtake Verstappen for fourth. He was able to recover to finish an underwhelming fifth. Hamilton won fromVettel and Bottas in the Williams while Ricciardo lost out in traffic during the opening stint and could only manage seventh. Driver: Rosberg 116, Hamilton 107, Vettel 78 Constructor: Mercedes 223, Ferrari 147, Red Bull 130 Round 8 Europe: F1’s first race in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku was a walk in the park for Rosberg who won easily from pole. The German was followed home by Vettel and a charging Sergio Perez who scooped Force India’s second podium in three races. Hamilton could only recover to fifth after a crash in qualifying relegated him to tenth, but it was even more costly due to a mid- race engine setting issue which temporarily slowed him. Rosberg rebuilt his championship lead to 24 points after cruising to a lights-to-flag win. Vettel had a trouble-free run to second fromRaikkonen who copped a five second post-race penalty that handed the last podium to Perez for the second time this year. Driver: Rosberg 141, Hamilton 117, Vettel 96 Constructor: Mercedes 258, Ferrari 177, Red Bull 140