Nico Rosberg has won his first Formula One world championship, finishing second to his Mercedes team-mate and defending World Champion Lewis Hamilton when he needed to at least finish third.

The German driver, the son of Keke Rosberg, who won the title for Williams in 1982, entered the race with a 12-point advantage over Hamilton, with a possible 25 available at the final meeting. Rosberg’s second-place finish and Hamilton’s win left the German driver with 385 points to Hamilton’s 380 at the end of the championship.

Whilst Hamilton has won 10 races to Rosberg’s nine this year, the latter had been a consistent performer, reliably managing his races whereas the Briton has several costly mistakes that ultimately doomed him to fall short on points.