Joined in 2023 
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A more mature, complete driver now, Verstappen’s youthful excesses have been largely curbed and his judgement is more circumspect although he remains an aggressively confrontational driver, uncompromising with his elbows as Hamilton discovered this season.
Lewis Hamilton was fined after taking off his seatbelt to accept a Brazilian flag on his in-lap after his momentous victory. Photograph: Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty Images There is a direct line from the final laps of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021 - when officials made errors that changed the course of the world championship fight between Verstappen and Hamilton - to these events, as the final two red flags were thrown to try to ensure the grand prix would finish under racing conditions. Pérez leaves his home race with his future at Red Bull once more under intense scrutiny but for Mercedes and Hamilton this was perhaps as optimistic as they have been all season as finally there is a sense that next year Verstappen might not quite have it all his own way. Verstappen, who had made a bad start and dropped behind the Mercedes cars, ran third for a while but once in front was in total control. Verstappen rarely needed to use his pace, but the advantage the Red Bull has over the rest of the field was clear as he homed in on Hamilton to take the lead after the restart.Russell retired from fourth place a few laps after the restart with an engine failure - a weekend that had started with a superb second place on the grid ending in frustration. And particularly 2021. Knowing you guys would cheer me on the way was one of the most special moments of my entire life. I can’t wait for us to continue to strive ahead.” We have won eight constructors' championships and six drivers' championships with him and that relationship holds. Hamilton, who was talking to the latest edition of BBC Radio 5 Live's Chequered Flag podcast, said he still believed Mercedes could return to the front at some point.
The timing of the incident meant that, according to the rules, there would be two racing laps after the restart.Under FIA regulations, the finishing positions were taken from the last restart, with the cars then having to complete a final lap behind the safety car. And Hamilton fully intends to keep wearing his helmet for them both. Lewis Hamilton praised by intersex Progress flag designer for support While Verstappen circulated serenely up front, Hamilton was left to try to hold off a determined challenge from Alonso. Leclerc, disappointed by a third consecutive difficult race, described it as "the worst start to a season ever".
The extraordinary events at the end of a race that had already had two safety cars and a previous red flag were triggered when Kevin Magnussen's Haas ran wide at the first chicane and tagged the wall. While in the UAE, death, life in prison, floggings, forced anal examinations and hormone injections, among other grisly punishments, await LGBT+ people.For Verstappen should he maintain his grip on the trophy, this was the culmination of a lifelong dream, achieved in the white heat of competition against the best driver of this generation in what has been a superb season. He can be rightly proud in winning it although he is still only 24 and becomes the first Dutchman to have won the F1 world championship. He was the youngest driver in the history of the sport on his debut aged 17 in 2015, and has the potential to go on and win many more. In a season already marked by drama this finale simply could not have been scripted nor will there be consensus on how it played out. Inevitably it ended in protests to the stewards grinding on long after the trophies had been awarded and the fans departed. The stewards rejected the protests but more wrangling may lie ahead with Mercedes having lodged an intention to appeal against the decision, and with the right to take their case to the court of arbitration for sport. But I hope that someone reaches out and I would love to know what is happening here and what they’re doing to help that community more, the LGBT+ community. Perez ran wide across the grass and then Gasly, appearing not to see Ocon on his outside, pushed his team-mate into the wall, taking both cars out. Ironically, that desire led to the final, bizarre and confusing climax, and a race that instead ended under a safety car.
Wearing a blue suit, the record 103-time grand prix winner received Brazil’s legislative medal of merit and a diploma, and he made a speech thanking his fans and dedicating the honour to Senna. To add to the controversy, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was given a five-second penalty for causing the decisive crash at the first corner by tagging Alonso's car, dropping him from fourth to 12th and out of the points. His reaction and that of his Red Bull team was one of unbridled joy while Hamilton and Mercedes were left disconsolate and convinced the win that had been in their hands had been unfairly snatched from their grasp, leaving the greatest prize in motor racing potentially in the laps of the lawyers. The first safety car was caused by a crash between Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Stroll at Turn Three on lap one, the second by a heavy crash by Alex Albon's Williams at Turn Six. It’s the second Grand Prix race in a row where Hamilton donned the Pride colours. The Mercedes driver previously wore the helmet in a show of LGBT+ solidarity at the Qatar Grand Prix in November.An emotional Sainz described that decision as "unacceptable", adding: "They need to wait until after the race and discuss with me. Clearly the penalty is not deserved. It is too severe." And as so many times in the past, he was able to manage his tyres with expertise as Alonso did the same and the two circulated close together to the flag.
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