RED Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Formula One (F1) championship, denying Lewis Hamilton a record eighth, with a last-lap overtake to win a season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday amid controversy and high drama.
Hamilton’s Mercedes team took the constructors’ title for an unprecedented eighth year in a row but their run of double dominance was ended by the 24-year-old Dutch driver, his country’s first champion.
Two post-race protests, which might have overturned the outcome, were dismissed but Mercedes refused to drop the matter and said they had filed notice of intention to appeal.
“It’s insane,” said Verstappen of a race that started with fans on the edge of their seats and ended in uproar, with lawyers looming.
Verstappen’s hopes had soared when he qualified on pole position, sunk when he lost the lead at the start and rose again as the safety car came out and race director Michael Masi decisively pushed the boundaries late in the race.
As Verstappen and Red Bull bosses shed tears of joy, Mercedes’s management turned on race director Masi.
The safety car had been deployed after Canadian Nicholas Latifi crashed his Williams with five laps to go and Masi then decided not to demand all lapped cars pass it before resuming racing.
That allowed Verstappen — on fresher, faster tires after strategic stops — to close and go wheel-to-wheel with Hamilton for the lead.
Just when it seemed the race would be finishing behind the safety car, which would have handed Hamilton the title, it turned into a sprint finish.
Hamilton, who had been heading for a fourth successive race win, congratulated the new champion.
Verstappen ended the season with 10 wins to Hamilton’s eight, having also led more laps and taken more poles and podiums.
After 22 races, Verstappen had 395.5 points to Hamilton’s 387.5. Mercedes scored 613.5 to Red Bull’s 585.5.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished the race in third place. — Reuters