Angry Hamilton and Mercedes exchange leads to SHOCK early exit

Lewis Hamilton is on his way out at Mercedes having already signed a deal to race for Ferrari in the 2025 Formula 1 season and beyond.

It's been a largely miserable final year at the Silver Arrows for the seven-time world champion, who despite winning two races has once again been nowhere near a title fight he so desperately wants to eclipse given he shares Michael Schumacher's championship record.

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The mood has risen slightly after a superb drive to claim second place behind team-mate George Russell at the Las Vegas Grand Prix last weekend, having started from 10th place that led to him being voted Driver of the Day by fans.

However, while Hamilton and many of his supporters will always look back at the Abu Dhabi 2021 finale with Max Verstappen as the title opportunity that controversially slipped away, there is another year where the British star also suffered heartbreak at the Yas Marina circuit.

Before 2021, there was 2016 and another bitter championship battle in Abu Dhabi with then team-mate Nico Rosberg which is now over eight years old.

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What happened in the 2016 Abu Dhabi GP?

Heading into the final race of the season, Rosberg led the standings knowing that a third place finish would be enough for him to be crowned champion.

This was a huge problem for Hamilton as the Mercedes was the class of the field, meaning if he zoomed off into the distance to win the race, Rosberg only had to follow in second to effectively stroll to a surprise title win.

But that was how the start of the race played out. Hamilton took the lead and perhaps surprisingly built a comfortable gap to the German that worked against his title hopes.

However, as the race neared its conclusion he purposefully eased his pace to the point he was caught by Rosberg. Rosberg refused to duel or even challenge Hamilton, perhaps fearing an incident could damage his championship hopes. Instead he radioed in to Mercedes with a bizarre request (in isolation at least) asking them to give Hamilton the 'hurry up'.

Rosberg said: "This is really slow pace so maybe at some point invert the cars and if by the end of the race Lewis is still second I’ll let him by again. I know that’s a really stupid request but this is really slow at the moment. He’s doing exactly… he’s quick in sector one so it’s difficult for me."

Hamilton, of course with a title on the line, wasn't playing ball and eventually the pair were then caught by the following Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Hamilton's plan was coming together. Back Rosberg up to the pair in the hope both would overtake the German, allowing him to sneak a then third consecutive world championship. It was the only weapon he had at his disposal to save his fast dwindling championship hopes.

The Mercedes pitwall though had other ideas. They had to remain neutral in the drivers' title chase, therefore priority was to focus on securing a one-two finish - even though the constructors' championship had long since been sealed.

Hamilton and Mercedes' radio war in Abu Dhabi

Four laps from the end, technical chief Paddy Lowe barked orders at Hamilton telling him: "Lewis this is Paddy. We need you to pick up the pace to win this race. That is an instruction."

Hamilton unsurprisingly responded saying: "Paddy I am actually in the lead right now I’m quite comfortable here."

A lap from the end and with Vettel and Verstappen still on the tail and another frantic radio call from Mercedes, Hamilton just delivered a simple understandable blunt response over why he wasn't following team orders.

"Right now I’m losing the world championship so I’m really not bothered if I’m going to win or lose this race," he pleaded.

Hamilton, almost regrettably, took the chequered flag ahead of Rosberg in second - handing the latter the title. As Rosberg celebrated his stunning championship success post race, team boss Toto Wolff informed Hamilton that his antics set a precedent and something that would have to be discussed - although he would later retract those remarks.

It was a highly dramatic end to one of the most bitter world championship fights the sport had seen - there really was no love lost between Hamilton and Rosberg given their title battles over the previous three years.

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Why did Nico Rosberg retire in 2016?

However, there was one more twist that not even Mercedes saw coming. Just days after clinching his maiden world championship, Rosberg announced a shock on the spot retirement from F1 citing how he had now achieved a lifetime ambition and had no desire to go through the mental and physical trauma needed to win the title again.

It was of course an irritation to Hamilton in the fact he never got the chance to have the last laugh on Rosberg in their feud, but it did lead to a more cordial atmosphere at Mercedes where Valtteri Bottas joined him as a team-mate as he then went on to reel off four more world titles at relative ease.

Then 2021 happened and the bar for bitter title fights was somehow raised even higher.

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