Winning Formula? Hamilton, Verstappen & Netflix drive F1 resurgence.

Hamilton, meanwhile, will have to console himself with Mercedes' victory in the constructors' championship - for an unprecedented eighth consecutive year. Yet whatever anyone's view of the various incidents in the race, few would begrudge Verstappen the title after a season in which he and Hamilton have gone toe-to-toe throughout in one of the most remarkable F1 seasons there has ever been.

Verstappen passed Hamilton into Turn Five and held off his attempts to re-pass down the two straights that followed and completed the lap before erupting with joy.

Red Bull complained and Masi changed his mind, allowing the lapped cars between the title contenders past Hamilton, which put Verstappen right behind Hamilton for the one remaining lap of racing. There was more controversy as race director Michael Masi initially said lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen would not be allowed to un-lap themselves, as is normal practice. Mercedes felt they could not afford to pit Hamilton because to do so would have been surrendering the lead if Verstappen did not do the same - and he may well not have done because his tyres were relatively fresh after a second stop.īut when Hamilton did not stop for fresh tyres, Verstappen did and that was the decisive call. Red Bull and Verstappen were exasperated and disbelieving about it, but Hamilton was imperious from then on, through a pit stop and a virtual safety car, until Nicholas Latifi crashed his Williams with five laps to go. The race had appeared to surrender to Hamilton after he was controversially allowed to keep the lead he had earned with a better start than Verstappen, despite going off track to retain his position when the Dutchman tried to pass him at the end of the first back straight.

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