Lewis Hamilton said this was the most important race of his career. It turned out to be a moment more fleeting. The most important fragment, perhaps. The most vital fifth of a second. That was the time between the encouragement of the final go light and Hamilton’s Mercedes car making its move. And soon after that, it was all over.

There are moments in sport, cameos and no more, that define history and remain in the memory. Hamilton’s race to the first turn in Abu Dhabi was one such act.

Whatever marvels the rest of his time in Formula One contain — and he is now one short of equalling Jackie Stewart’s total of three drivers’ championships — he will be remembered for this, his duel in the fading desert sun. The total eclipse of his team-mate and rival, Nico Rosberg.

VIDEO Scroll down to watch the epic Hamilton vs Rosberg trailer for the F1 season finale

Lewis Hamilton is drenched in bubbly after posing for a team photo with his Mercedes crew the Abu Dhabi

Hamilton was brave yet emphatic in Abu Dhabi... there was only one winner after turn one

Hamilton is paraded in front of the world's media after celebrating his second world championship triumph

FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS 1. Lewis Hamilton - 384 points 2. Nico Rosberg - 317 points 3. Daniel Ricciardo 238 points Advertisement

With everything to lose and from second place on the grid, Hamilton destroyed Rosberg before the first bend. Usain Bolt and Olympian sprinters aside, no momentous sporting achievement was ever over in more of a flash. The best part of 55 laps remained when Hamilton hit the front — but technical disaster aside, the race was done.

As it was, misfortune befell Rosberg, not the man hurtling through clean air. A mechanical failure saw him lose horsepower and precious seconds, tumbling back through the field, finishing forlorn in 14th place. The double points that may have been his friend instead served only to underline the true pecking order at Mercedes Benz.

Hamilton has won 11 races to Rosberg’s five this season and the 67-point winning margin now emphasises that. Rosberg on pole, Hamilton flying past him: the sight of that little triumph seemed to encapsulate the story of the season.

Hamilton leapt out of his Mercedes and ran to his family and girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger

Hamilton celebrates with his the full Mercedes team in the pit lane following the victory

VIDEO Hamilton secures title in Abu Dhabi

Australian rules football coined the concept of the March champion. A young player, good at the start of the year, who fades as the campaign progresses. Rosberg has been a Saturday champion this season. He has made pole more times than Hamilton, only to get blown away 24 hours later when the race begins. That is what happened on Sunday. With one lap to go, Rosberg was lapped by Hamilton, the ultimate humiliation.

After taking him all the way — despite the travesty of double points, even had conventional scoring been applied, there would still have been a way that Rosberg could have won on Sunday — it was a pity that the German could not at least share some of the reflected glory on the podium. It seemed rather incongruous for the man who has helped drive the excitement not to be present.

There are a thousand technical details that contribute to speed from the grid but, deep down, one couldn’t help but feel that in the most old-fashioned sense, Hamilton just wanted it more. The lead he had established within seconds of the race starting was unnatural, considering Rosberg started ahead and has the same car.

Hamilton ended the season with a win which sealed him the second F1 Drivers' Championship of his career

Hamilton hit the front with an almost animal ferocity at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

There will be small degrees of separation, drivers’ individual preferences on torque and bite, but the main difference between the Mercedes cars is the human within. Hamilton’s sheer will and daring eclipsed German efficiency.

He hit the front with an almost animal ferocity, transcending the cold mechanics and creating something visceral, like a punch.

A frozen image of the two Mercedes coming out of the turn showed Hamilton a good five car lengths clear of Rosberg.

There can be various explanations for Rosberg’s slow start. A technical glitch, a lack of grip — certainly Hamilton was careful to hand the lion’s share of the praise to his backroom team, playing down his own part.

Yet amid talk of clutches and feeding the throttles, it was impossible not to consider the man, enclosed in his cockpit, thinking of everything that could go right and so much that could go wrong — and deciding to remove all obstacles from his path as early as possible.

Hamilton said he arrived on four hours’ sleep, unable to rest until 1am, up again at 5am, waiting until it was light before going for a run.

It is in the wee small hours that the doubts crowd in; the knowledge that a lead that would have been commanding in any other year had been rendered vulnerable by Formula One’s bizarre double points finale.

Hamilton knew the correct strategy, the one that had delivered 10 race wins already this season, but the blinking light of an F1 cockpit tells of a sport wide open to the vagaries of random failure.

‘I could go into the race and something could happen to the car and that would be the championship done,’ said Hamilton.

‘I was just thinking of all the negative things and working so hard to bring the positives into it.

‘That start — very little of it is me. Obviously, there is a sequence we have to go through and we have to perform at the right time, preparing the clutch, preparing the tyres.

'I work very closely with my clutch engineer. He came to my room and asked how I wanted to approach it. I said, “The same as every time, no more and no less.”

‘When the pre-start goes, when you do the formation lap, you get a feel for how good the clutch is. You have to guide them, give them feedback. And we hit it spot on.

Hamilton celebrates on the rostrum with Felipe Massa, Toto Wolff and Valtteri Bottas

Nico Rosberg embraces his Mercedes' team-mate after Hamilton's world championship victory

The second part — when you let it out and feed the throttle, that’s when the driver comes into it. It felt like the best start I had ever had. For sure, it was phenomenal.’

Read between the lines and the answer is in there. Hamilton is nothing without that perfectly tuned clutch; but it still needs flesh and blood to create the surge — and under the most intense pressure, too.

That was Hamilton’s masterwork in Abu Dhabi: under the greatest stress of his career, he produced his absolute best.

The finest athletes perform at precisely the moment required. And this was Severiano Ballesteros from the car park, Botham’s Ashes, the last-minute intervention of Sergio Aguero or Jonny Wilkinson. It was a man at the top of his game.

Hamilton celebrates on the podium in typical fashion by spraying the bottle of champagne

Despite the fear of technological failure, ultimately it was friend, enabling Hamilton to take on Felipe Massa and win the race.

Once it became clear that Rosberg’s car was failing, Hamilton no longer had to worry about pushing too hard.

With the German out of the points, the title was his and he drove like it, with a freedom and confidence not greatly obvious this week.

Hamilton insists he was not uptight prior to racing but mistakes had crept in during qualifying and his demeanour was not that of a man taking a chequered flag for granted. His decision not to extend invitations to family was real, although thankfully ignored, and ultimately father, brother and partner Nicole were all present in Abu Dhabi, making a surprise arrival at breakfast.

Hamilton looks less than impressed as the Rosberg lifts the trophy after winning in Monaco

Rosberg grins as he prepares to pick up the Brazilian Grand Prix title, with Hamilton finishing second

Hamilton appeared genuinely touched. ‘I knew how intense it was going to be and I didn’t think I’d be able to give any of them my time,’ he said. ‘I was here to work. I wasn’t out at restaurants, having a good time.’

He can do that now. At 29, he has enough time to match Stewart’s three titles and maybe even surpass them.

This is a strong Mercedes team and is expected to challenge again in the next campaign.

Hamilton will be emboldened by this, too.

It was an emphatic win, a mature win, a brave win. He was right. He didn’t need to fight dirty or be naughty to win; he didn’t need mind games or skulduggery. This was a victory for pure racing.

Coming out of turn one, he was free. From that moment, there was only one champion.

Hamilton celebrates after clinching the Formula One World Championship at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix



