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Race Recap: Abu Dhabi GP is reversals, luck, leanness and last dances

We weren't sure if Alter Ego Nico Rosberg, the one who flew into Brazil and showed Mercedes AMG Petronas teammate Lewis Hamilton that he knew also knew how to grab an entire race weekend by the scruff of the neck, arrived in Abu Dhabi. In both Friday practice sessions Hamilton showed Rosberg the way. Then on Saturday, Alter Ego Rosberg took over, taking the last Free Practice session and then pole position by a whopping four-tenths of a second over Hamilton. Thanks to the gimmicky and soon-to-be-obliterated spectre of double points, if Rosberg won the race and Hamilton finished lower than second, the World Championship would remain in German hands. Behind Hamilton came the Williams duo, again, with Valtteri Bottas ahead of Felipe Massa. Daniil Kvyat did swell to put his Toro Rosso in fifth, Jenson Button was just as swell getting his McLaren into sixth. Kimi Raikkonen outqualified his Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso for the third time this year, the pair taking seventh and eighth on the grid. Kevin Magnussen lined the second McLaren up in ninth, Jean-Eric Vergne making the top ten for Toro Rosso in his last race for the team. To be clear, that was the final grid for race: Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel had both qualified in the top ten but were sent to the back of the grid when their Infiniti Red Bull Racing front wings were deemed illegal. They'd start from the pit lane, which was still ahead of Romain Grosjean in the Lotus, who took so many penalties for new engine components that he started the race in Turkey. At lights-out on Sunday, well, it was pretty much lights out. That's when Hamilton got the start of the year, bolting off the line so quickly it didn't take him 100 meters to get in front of Rosberg. The Brit took Turn 1 in the lead, then laid more than a second into the German on the first lap. Rosberg kept close, about 2.5 seconds back, but it was Hamilton's race to lose and everyone knew it; barring a reliability issue or the kind of driving mistake Hamilton hasn't made all year, Britain would have its fourth double world champion. Rosberg was left asking his engineer what kind of strategy they might use to claim first place. That reliability issue did come, but it struck Rosberg on Lap 26 when his entire Energy Recovery System failed, robbing him of 160 horsepower and taxing his brakes.

Here's how wildly expensive it is to participate in F1

The cost of competing in Formula One racing is extremely high. Not in the physical and lifestyle sense, although that too takes a major toll on each team and driver, but in a literal hand-over-the-cash sense. Each F1 team pays hundreds of thousands of dollars to enter, plus a fee for every single point the team earned in the previous season. Motorsport.com recently detailed just how absurdly pricey entering the F1 field is. According to the piece, the price of entry goes up each year due to the U.S. Consumer Price Index. For 2019, the entry fee is $546,133, and it doesn't stop there. There are additional dues required of each team based on where the team finished in the previous season. Interestingly, the winners pay more. For example, Mercedes-Benz, the constructor champion for the past five years, must pay $6,553 per point it scored in 2018. With 655 points scored, that's $4,292,215. All other teams must pay $5,459 per point. For a full rundown of what the teams will be paying for 2019, check out the full article here.Related Video:

Mercedes-Benz G500 4x4 is a 6x6-2 [w/video]

In terms of truly badass off-roaders, it doesn't get much cooler than the Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6x6. After all, the thing has three axles powering six wheels, not to mention an AMG-tuned V8 that makes the truck pretty much unstoppable. Call it an exercise in excess, if you will, but we call it super cool. And now, at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, Mercedes is showing off a slightly less outrageous version of its insane off-roader, called the G500 4x42. And by "slightly less outrageous," we pretty much mean, "with one fewer axle." Sure, there have been some other changes, too – namely under the hood, where the AMG's twin-turbo 5.5-liter V8 has been removed in favor of a new, twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8, good for 422 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque. Off road, this thing should be a freaking beast. It can ford depths up to 39 inches, the approach angle is 53 degrees, departure is 54, and the breakover is 47. Talk about all-terrain. Plus, it looks freaking cool, with 22-inch wheels on 325/55-series tires (which can be swapped for a set of 18-inch wheels on 37-inch beadlock tires). We even love the lime green paint it wore upon debut, and are kind of sad the Geneva showcar is painted in this less-awesome silver. Either way, it's certainly a creation to behold. Check it out. Near-series show car G 500 4x42: The G-Class Squared Stuttgart, Feb 21, 2015 -- Only a G-Class can be better than a G-Class. This is the credo followed by the developers with the Mercedes-Benz G 63 AMG 6x6, and they are now stepping up a gear with the G 500 4x42. The basic recipe for this overcomer of everything is simple: take the superior all-wheel-drive powertrain including portal axles from the 6x6 – take away one axle – and blend it all with a newly-developed variable chassis and the series-production G-Class body. A large pinch of V8 power with 310 kW (422 hp), a set of 22-inch 325/55 R 22-sized wheels, carbon-fibre body parts and then just gourmet ingredients from the seductive designo Exclusive range for the interior – and the 5-star menu for all off-road enthusiasts is ready. A new addition to the extreme G-Class model family: the G 63 AMG 6x6 has a model brother in the form of the G 500 4x42. The near-series show car is a new highlight in the superlative-rich history of the G-Class and blends all the advantages of the model series.