Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Verstappen beats Hamilton to win first F1 title | Motoring News

Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton in the final round of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday to win the Formula One world championship.

Max Verstappen snatched the Formula One World Championship from Lewis Hamilton on Sunday with a pass on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Mercedes filed two protests after the race, which was canceled more than four hours after the end of the race and the first world championship at Verstappen was approved.

Hamilton led 51 of 58 laps and was only five laps short of the Yas Marina Circuit in Michael Schumacher’s record books with his eighth championship on Sunday. Then an accident gave Verstappen and Red Bull one last chance.

F1 race director Michael Masi took his time to figure out how to finish the race, controversially deciding the title on the final lap of the race. Verstappen started the final lap behind Hamilton, continuing on the first four laps.

A lot of people are not very happy. And a lot of people are very happy. It’s a new way to run the sport, where the Race Director can make these ad hoc decisions. I think it’s been too much to ‘guess what I’m going to do now’. # f1

– Damon Hill (@ HillF1) December 12, 2021

To counter the controversy, former champion Damon Hill said this was “a new way of doing sports”.

“It’s also been a bit of a ‘guess what I’m going to do now,’ I think.”

Verstappen made his pass on the fifth lap and Hamilton had one last shot. He also pulled out his Mercedes with Red Bull in the ninth round, but was unable to clean up Verstappen, who advanced to become the first Dutch world champion.

“It’s just crazy, I mean, when I was little my goal was to be a Formula One driver and go looking for victory, to be on the podium,” Verstappen said.

It was a good end to the season as the two competitors rode across 22 continents from wheel to wheel across four continents and reached the Abu Dhabi championship standings tied. It was the first time since the end of the season that competitors had been tied since 1974.

They both scored 18 victories, and Verstappen won 10 times, equaling the number of victories in the first six seasons of F1. Verstappen had a height of 652 F1s out of 1,211 laps this year and reached 18 podiums.

But this year he has been criticized for his aggressive leadership, as Hamilton himself said he was above the edge of Verstapp. The two were involved in an accident three times this season and were sent to Verstappen Hospital for evaluation after an incident at Silverston.

Verstappen reiterated that control of the race was not intended to play a role in the final, but when Masik did, he sided with Verstappen to decide the title with the final lap of the race.

“I think [the track] It was clear, then, why would you go out in the back of the car? ‘ said Verstappen. “When everything is clear, you have to clear the track, so I think that’s the reason for the race director. Sure, it works for me now. But it also works against me, I know that. ‘

Formula One legend Mario Andretti praised the two drivers, congratulating them on their victory at Verstapp and Hamilton’s “epic season”.

What a repair! I love the champions, the records and the stories that make my heart beat at 300 a minute! Congratulations World Champion @ Max33Verstappen. And @LewisHamilton for an epic season and a sure-fire story ????????????

– Mario Andretti (@MarioAndretti) December 12, 2021

‘The Hardest Season’

Meanwhile, Hamilton did not attend the post-race press conference with Verstappen and third-placed Carlos Sainz.

He did an interview before the victory podium and congratulated Verstappen and Red Bull.

Hamilton, who turns 37 next month, won three races in a row to reach the final, removing all 19 points from the lead in the Verstappen standings.

Lewis Hamilton congratulated the winner of the race and the 2021 F1 World Driving Champion, the Dutchman Max Verstappen, and the runner-up in the Red Bull Racing race and championship. [Lars Baron/Getty Images]

But his eighth win of the season is the lowest for Hamilton since 2013, when he only won once and finished fourth in the standings.

He praised Mercedes ’effort.

“It’s been the toughest season. I am so proud of them that I am so grateful to have traveled with them. We gave it our all, we never gave up and that’s the most important thing, ”Hamilton said.