Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg has revealed that he did not enjoy the race that brought him his maiden Formula One World Championship title in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
The German needed at least a third-place finish to secure the crown, but race winner and his Mercedes team-mate Hamilton slowed down deliberately to allow Red Bulls' Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel catch Rosberg.
"Many moments were not so enjoyable. It was very tough, with Verstappen at the beginning and in the end of course - not nice. It was definitely not the most enjoyable race I've ever had," the Guardian quoted Rosberg as saying.
Rosberg, who admitted to have come under pressure in Abu Dhabi, managed to finish second despite Hamilton disobeying Mercedes orders not to back his team-mate into rivals.
However, the newly-crowned champion refused to blame the Briton for his backing-up tactics.
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"It is a pretty simple discussion, you can understand the team's perspective and understand Lewis's perspective, and that is it. Lewis was using all his skill to do it perfectly so there was no way for me to get by. I thought about it but it was pointless. There was no way, he did it in a perfect way," insisted Rosberg, who won nine of the 21 races in 2016, beating Hamilton by five points.
When asked about the claims that he did not receive enough credit for his achievement, the German insisted he doesn't drive for credit and is satisfied to fulfill his childhood dream.
"I don't drive for credit. I drive to win the world championship. It is my childhood dream to win the world championship, and I have done that," he said.
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