‘He did everything right’ – Verstappen feels for Hamilton after F1 title loss

‘He did everything right’ – Verstappen feels for Hamilton after F1 title loss

 

 

 
Hamilton looked on course to land a record-breaking eighth world championship having controlled the season finale in Abu Dhabi until a late safety car flipped the race and title battle on its head when Nicholas Latifi ed his Williams. The safety car wiped out Hamilton’s 12-second advantage and also enabled Red Bull to pit Verstappen for fresh soft tyres, with Mercedes keeping its driver out to retain track position with only a few laps remaining. “ad_Verstappen went on to pass Hamilton during a controversial last-lap sprint to the flag to clinch his maiden F1 world championship. “There was one side that was incredibly happy, and one side that was disappointed,” Verstappen said during a chat with select media including on Monday. Related Bottas makes Alfa Romeo F1 debut as post-season testing begins Hamilton absent, Bottas to debut for Alfa Romeo in F1 tyre test“Of course, I felt for Lewis. He did everything right throughout the whole race. “But F1 can be very unpredictable and it can go either way. It could have been the other way around as well, where I would be controlling the race and then I lose it on the last lap. “Unfortunately, it’s also part of racing.”3011463.0064.jpg Verstappen admitted he did not have the pace to challenge Hamilton without the intervention of the safety car but stressed he was determined not to give up despite the outlook appearing bleak for his title prospects. “Of course I saw that I was not catching enough,” he explained. “So I told myself to just keep pushing until the end, because I’m not gonna give up. And that’s what we did.Related Verstappen to run No.1 for F1 title defence in 2022 Williams F1 junior Sargeant gets F2 promotion with Carlin“The safety car came out of course. We needed a miracle and it did happen, but you still need to then capitalise on that. “You need to go for the overtake. That’s what we did. And yeah, it was a dramatic end for sure.”Verstappen revealed he was congratulated by both Hamilton and Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff after winning the title. “4The Dutchman also tipped Hamilton to bounce back strongly from his title disappointment next season. “Lewis is a great sportsman,” he said. “It’s racing and we all have to deal with it, if it’s positive or negative.  “But he will come back again very strong because he’s an amazing driver.”  

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