“Let’s do it for another 10 or 15 years!” Verstappen replied.
Max Verstappen snatched a record eighth title from Lewis Hamilton with a pass on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi GP and closed out one of the most exciting Formula One seasons in years as the first Dutch world champion.
Hamilton was leading on Sunday from Michael Schumacher’s record of seven titles until Nicolas Latifi crashed with five laps remaining. F1 sent the safety car in for a clean-up and restarted the race with one lap remaining.
Hamilton and Verstappen started together for one final trip around the Yas Marina circuit and the British driver took the lead. Verstappen chased him through the first four turns and then made his pass in five and pulled in his Red Bull.
It was a fitting end to a season that saw two contenders go wheel-to-wheel in 22 races spread across four continents and reach Abu Dhabi tied in the championship standings. It was the first time since 1974 that the contenders were on par at the conclusion of the season.
But Hamilton had controlled the race well until Latifi crashed.
“Oh dear me!” Verstappen shouted on his radio.
“You are the world champion! The world champion!” shouted Red Bull boss Christian Horner back.
“Let’s do it for another 10 or 15 years!” Verstappen replied.
Red Bull won its first F1 title since 2013; Mercedes had won every championship since then.
Several rival drivers headed to the grid to congratulate Verstappen as Hamilton sat motionless inside his Mercedes. The defeat ended his four consecutive title reigns and did not give Hamilton a chance to pass on Schumacher as the all-time best in F1.
“Congratulations to Max and his team, I think they did an amazing job this year,” Hamilton said as he closed down a bitter rivalry this season between Mercedes and Red Bull.
Hamilton received a long hug from his father in the garage, who then went to the garage and hugged both Verstappen and Verstappen’s father. Jos Verstappen himself was a former F1 driver and raised his 24-year-old son to become world champion.
mission accomplished.
,