Abu Dhabi: Mercedes are to launch an inquest into world champion Lewis Hamilton’s decline in recent races, team boss Toto Wolff said after Sunday’s Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton’s teammate Nico Rosberg won the Yas Marina Circuit race — his third in a row — following his sixth consecutive pole position.

Before Rosberg’s resurgence, Hamilton had won 10 of the first 16 races and clinched 11 poles to secure his third drivers’ championship at October’s US Grand Prix.

Wolff said there had been much “discussion” about the reversal in fortunes.

“We have to do an intelligent list over the next weeks and try to analyse it. We have to find out,” he added.

The Austrian said the discussion had centred on whether championship runner-up Nico Rosberg had “stepped up his game”, found that the car had “come towards him development wise”, or was due to Hamilton unconsciously easing off.

“Lewis is still pushing very hard, he is still the guy with the same talent and putting the same effort into it. You have to ask him.”

Hamilton has said a recent change in the car set-up has made him less comfortable with the balance, but Wolff said: “I wouldn’t say it is the most likely suspicion. The car is being developed and improved.”

Hamilton could only get close to his rival ahead of the final pit stops on Sunday and Mercedes then tried to extend his middle stint to give him fresher tyres to attack Rosberg at the end. However, the Briton was unable to make up the deficit in the closing laps and finished second again.

“I did what I was told pretty much,” he said of his race strategy afterwards.

“I tried as hard as I could in the first stint, keeping a decent gap to Nico, looking after the tyres.

“The second stint I was quicker, getting close [one second behind], and I could have made the tyres last longer.

“But it was down to the team which tyre we went to for the final stint.

“I’m not sure if I could have taken my tyres to the end — some part of me wishes I had just given it a go.”

Hamilton had a lengthy exchange with the Mercedes pitwall regarding his strategy before his final stop, and in the end his plea to try nursing the tyres to the finish was rejected by Mercedes because he would have been unable to keep Rosberg at bay.

“In hindsight, once Nico pitted I probably would have backed off a little bit and I’d have made those tyres go a lot longer.

“The tyres were fine so I honestly felt I could have taken them to the end, but that didn’t work. Going too long [before the final stop] was probably the wrong thing to do, but we gave it a try and I did the best job I could with it.”

Hamilton added that he would ask Mercedes why they kept changing his engine mode during the race.

“I’m not really sure why it was like that because I had lots of life left [in the engine]. I’ll ask when I get back to the debrief.”