Abu Dhabi will prompt strong memories for Rosberg, the scene of his one-and-only world title win in 2016 and his last race in F1.
The German was beaten by team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the race however, but Rosberg managed to stay ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, despite the Brit’s best efforts to back him up into the clutches of his rivals.
Hamilton is likely to finish his first season ever in F1 without a podium, in what can only be described as a car crash of a first season with Ferrari.
Rosberg on Hamilton’s first F1 season
Speaking after FP3 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, where Hamilton suffered a dramatic crash at the high-speed Turn 9, Rosberg reflected on his former team-mate and claimed he was at risk of endangering his F1 legacy.
“It’s been a terrible season for him, and it’s not a worthy way to kind of end his career like this is,” Rosberg said.
“It’s so hard for him to deal with that because he’s just been beaten by his teammate, he’s struggling to get into Q2 most of the time, he’s spinning on his own. It doesn’t get worse than that.
“So it’s a real nightmare. And I think it’s even worse than it looks on the outside for him personally, who’s he’s the greatest, and we’re never going to debate that anymore. But still, it’s putting a little scratch as well, and his legacy in a way now, and it’s just really not nice.”