Nico Rosberg has taken his third consecutive race victory by winning the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The German, who edged out teammate Lewis Hamilton for pole position at the Yas Marina, stayed ahead at the first corner, but Pastor Maldonado's race came to an end when he crashed into Fernando Alonso, with the McLaren driver quickly coming in for a new front wing.

Sebastian Vettel made light work of moving through the field and, after starting from 16th on the grid, the former Red Bull man managed to finish in fourth place at the end of his first season with Ferrari.

At the front, Hamilton was trying to put Rosberg under pressure and when his teammate stopped for his final set of tyres on lap 33, the Briton's race engineer warned the world champion that he would need to extend his penultimate stint.

Hamilton refused to give up on victory, despite coming in with 13 laps left and being put on the same rubber as his Mercedes rival, he put the hammer down and took large chunks of time out of Rosberg.

However, Rosberg managed to hold on to first place and a third win in a row since missing out on the drivers' championship, coming home ahead of Hamilton and third-placed Kimi Raikkonen.

Full Standings

1. Nico Rosberg
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Kimi Raikkonen
4. Sebastian Vettel
5. Sergio Perez
6. Daniel Ricciardo
7. Nico Hulkenberg
8. Felipe Massa
9. Romain Grosjean
10. Daniil Kvyat
11. Carlos Sainz Jr.
12. Max Verstappen
13. Jenson Button
14. Valtteri Bottas
15. Marcus Ericsson
16. Felipe Nasr
17. Fernando Alonso
18. Will Stevens
19. Roberto Merhi

Did not finish: Pastor Maldonado