After 1,268 laps, nine victories from 21 races and 385 points, Nico Rosberg claimed the Formula One world championship for the first time.

In the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, the Mercedes driver finished less than a second behind his race-winning teammate Lewis Hamilton, who himself took his win tally to ten. But Rosberg has been the most consistent driver on the grid in 2016 and after an intense battle with Hamilton, few dispute he's a worthy champion. Looking back, it's been an amazing eight months for the world's most prestigious motorsport.

The action began at Melbourne in March in a race that will forever be remembered for two-time champion Fernando Alonso's spectacular crash on lap 19. Fortunately the McLaren man walked away - testament to the incredible strength and safety features of modern F1 machines. Rosberg went on to take a win that looked unlikely, but once again pit stop and tyre strategies played their part and Nico's crew were smarter than Hamilton's and Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari garage. That was the German's fourth win in a row, going back to last season, and his early dominance also led to wins in the next three at Bahrain, China and Russia. Rosberg's lead of 43 points was beginning to look ominous for the rest of the drivers.

The drama would be dialled up further as the European races kicked off with the Spanish grand prix. Hamilton and Rosberg collided on lap one and crashed out, leading to the history books being re-written when 18-year-old Max Verstappen became the youngest ever race winner. What's more it was his first race for Red Bull after his sudden promotion from Toro Rosso. After the dust settled on a disastrous race for Mercedes, and the flames of rivalry between Nico and Lewis licked up, the Briton recovered well to win in Monaco and Montreal. His reliability problems resurfaced at the European grand prix in Baku, which helped Rosberg reclaim top spot on the podium, but then four wins on the spin in Austria, Britain, Hungary and Germany put the triple world champion into an impressive 19-point lead.

Incidentally, the inaugural F1 event in Azerbaijan was also a landmark for the Williams team. It was there on the street circuit that they recorded the best pit stop time in 2016 - an unbelievable 1.92 seconds. This reflects not only the incredible technology being used by the garages but also what a team sport motor racing really is. Everyone on an F1 setup knows their role in the pit lane and the pieces must come together to deliver the perfect package on race day.

After race 13 in Belgium, the penultimate in the European calendar, Hamilton held just a 9-point gap over his rival, with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo third. Vettel was disappointed not to be pushing the Mercedes pair harder, sitting fourth on 128 points, and the McLaren duo of Alonso and Jenson Button had just 47 points between them.

A bad start by Lewis in Monza handed Rosberg the win, before further victories in Singapore and Japan established a 33-point lead for the German. But the reigning champ never threw in the towel and took the chequered flag in the US and Mexico to bring the deficit down to 19. Mexico's high-speed circuit was also where the season's highest speed was recorded - Williams' Valtteri Bottas clocking up an eye-popping 231.46mph through the speed trap.

Looking to wrap up his maiden title in Brazil, Rosberg could only watch as Hamilton controlled a crazy, chaotic and crash-strewn race at Interlagos. The championship would down to the wire now with Nico needing just a podium finish in Abu Dhabi to get his hands on the trophy. His second place there did the job, despite Lewis slowing the field and trying to cause problems for his teammate. All said and done it has been an F1 season to remember, even if Lewis Hamilton would rather forget it.