what was one of The most closely contested Formula One World Championship For the drivers’ title, 24-year-old Max Verstappen from Netherlands Became the sport’s latest champion in a breathtaking season finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday. The Dutchman, who drives for Red Bull Racing, achieved the feat in controversial circumstances by overtaking his title-rival, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, in the last lap of the last race of the year. Going into the weekend, both drivers had exactly 369.5 points, meaning whoever finished ahead would take the title, a scenario last seen in 1974. Ever since he made his debut in 2015 as a 17-year-old, the youngest in the history of the sport, Verstappen has been tipped as a champion in the waiting. Widely seen as a generational genius, in his sixth year in the sport, he finally had a car that could compete against Hamilton who has won the last four titles. This season, Verstappen was brutally consistent with 10 race victories and a second-place finish eight out of 22 races. Meanwhile, Hamilton was on his way to a record eighth drivers’ title, a feat that would have put him ahead of the great Michael Schumacher. For the first 54 laps, it looked like the British driver had an eighth title in his bag after beating pole-sitter Verstappen at the start and controlling the race with a nearly 10-second lead.
Four laps from the end, a crash for Williams driver Nicolas Latifi, brought in the safety car that nullified Hamilton’s lead. On the final lap of the 58-lap race, officials from the sport’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), made two decisions that worked to Verstappen’s advantage. Racing resumed for the last lap, allowing Verstappen, now on Hamilton’s tail, to attack his opponent and pass him to take the win. The Mercedes team opposed the classification of the results, arguing that the correct procedures were not followed before the race was resumed on the final lap. But in a late-night decision, the race stewards overruled the team’s opposition, formally confirming the Dutchman’s first world title. Mercedes has recorded its intention to appeal the stewards’ decision and has three days to decide whether it wants to take it to the FIA’s International Court of Appeals. The controversy has cast a long shadow over one of the closest seasons in recent times, with both Verstappen and Hamilton equally matched. The ad hoc manner in which race officials conducted the final moments of the race left a sour note, with the final result decided behind closed doors and still subject to change. The governing body desperately needs to address these discrepancies before next year, lest he loses fans’ confidence as an impartial arbiter.
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