Nico Rosberg has won the 2016 Formula 1 world championship after finishing second behind Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton kept to his end of the bargain by winning the race to keep his hopes of retaining the title alive, but Rosberg only needed a podium finish to grab the crown and finished as runner-up to the Brit.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel did his best to overtake Rosberg in the latter stages of the race, but Rosberg held him off to become the 33rd world champion by five points from second-placed Hamilton, who ignored instructions from his Mercedes team to speed up in the final laps.

Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth and fifth respectively, but it was a disappointing end to Jenson Button's Formula 1 career as the Brit failed to finish the race due to a suspension failure.

Rosberg's father Keke Rosberg won the drivers' championship in 1982, making the Rosbergs just the second father and son to be crowned champions following Graham Hill and Damon Hill.

Standings:

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
3. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
5. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
6. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
7. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)
8. Sergio Perez (Force India)
9. Felipe Massa (Williams)
10. Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
11. Romain Grosjean (Haas)
12. Esteban Gutierrez (Haas)
13. Esteban Ocon (Mercedes)
14. Pascal Wehrlein (Manor)
15. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
16. Felipe Nasr (Sauber)
17. Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
RET. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso)
RET. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso)
RET. Jensen Button (McLaren)
RET: Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
RET. Kevin Magnussen (Renault)