Izuchukwu Okosi
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Max Verstappen on Sunday won his first Formula One World Championship at the expense of close rival, Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi.
Verstappen snatched the Formula One world championship away from Lewis Hamilton in dramatic fashion with a pass on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi GP after many thought the pendulum of victory would swing in the direction of Verstappen.
Mercedes filed two protests after the race, which were dismissed more than four hours after the race and Verstappen’s first world championship was upheld.
Hamilton led 51 of the 58 laps and was only five trips around Yas Marina Circuit away from passing Michael Schumacher in the record books with an eighth championship on Sunday. Then a crash gave Verstappen and Red Bull one final chance.
F1 race director Michael Masi took his time figuring out how to conclude the race before controversially settling on one final lap of racing to decide the title. Verstappen started the final lap just behind Hamilton, chasing him through the first four turns.
Verstappen made his pass on the fifth turn and Hamilton had one last shot. He pulled his Mercedes even with the Red Bull in turn nine but could not clear Verstappen, who surged ahead to become the first Dutch world champion.
“It’s just insane, I mean, my goal when I was little was to become a Formula One driver and to go for wins, to be on the podium,” said Verstappen.
It was a fitting end to a season that saw the two contenders go wheel-to-wheel across 22 races spanning four continents and arrive in Abu Dhabi tied in the championship standings. It marked the first time the contenders were equal at the season finale since 1974.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
