Nicolas Hamilton, Lewis Hamilton’s younger brother said that Lewis Hamilton was ‘let down’ by the sport to which he had given so much. This is following Max Verstappen winning Abu Dhabi’s title.
Before a safety car was introduced, the Mercedes driver was on his way to a record eighth title.
Red Bull’s Hamilton was able to pass the lapped cars and win his first F1 driver’s championship.
Following his Abu Dhabi F1 loss, Lewis Hamilton is now known as the ‘true champion’
Mercedes launched immediately two appeals to the outcome, one against Verstappen after he allegedly drove under a safety vehicle and another against Verstappen claiming that he violated race rules following safety car periods.
After spending hours at the office of the stewards, both teams were disqualified. Mercedes however decided to appeal the decision.
Hamilton’s brother Nicolas, his younger brother, has called him “THE TRUE CHAMPION” in an Instagram post.
Nicolas Hamilton (left), feels Lewis is ‘let down’ by the sport that he gave so much.
Hamilton’s dad Anthony felicitated Max Verstappen and Max after the race.
He added: ‘The FIA broke their own rules, which is a disgrace to our whole sport.
“Nevertheless, despite being maltreated today, Hamilton’s were humbled in defeat.
‘My father (Anthony), the guy who raised us, congratulating Max & his father Jos. People can say what they like, but my father’s gesture proves all of the doubters & haters wrong & shows who we are as ‘The Hamilton’s’.
Lewis lives by the principle of proving people wrong.
‘With utter professionalism & decency in defeat, even though we all know, that he was let down by the sport that he has given so much to.
“Congratulations Max on a great season.”
Hamilton received a terrible twist of destiny just minutes earlier. After the race, Hamilton gave an elegant response.
“Firstly, congratulations to Max, and his team,” the Mercedes driver stated.
“But, I am so proud of myself and my team. We gave everything. These last two months, I have felt amazing in my car. We will see next year.
Hamilton, in spite of his defeat, was gracious to Verstappen after the race.
Hamilton won the race, taking the lead from the start. Verstappen was second after Hamilton ran wide as Verstappen tried to take the lead.
Red Bull didn’t look like Mercedes. Hamilton was already well on his path to the record-breaking eighth title.
The Williams of Nicholas Latifi gave the Dutchman some good luck, as he crashed out at the race that brought out his safety car.
Verstappen was pitted to soft tyres, and it appeared that he would have to un-lap five cars in order for him make any move against Hamilton with fresh rubber.
Verstappen was given one lap by the rival cars and they all unlapped. Verstappen did however, with an impressive lunge along Turn 5’s inside.
Hamilton showed grace after the race, in spite of his misfortune. But Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ principal and high-ranking officials were not happy and started two protests against Red Bull.
Mercedes claimed that the safety car decision violated the FIA’s sport regulations. They requested that the laps be rescheduled to end at the penultimate lap. However, the stewards rejected the protest.
Mercedes has filed an intent to appeal Abu Dhabi’s title-deciding outcome.
In a bulletin to stewards, Mercedes claimed there was an infringement of Article 48.12 regulations. This states that cars being lapped by the leader must pass those on the lead lap and safety car and that once the leader has been passed, the safety vehicle will return to pits.
The stewards said that although that article may not have been “applied fully” as the safety car came in at the end of the same lap, “Article 48.13 overrides that and once the message ‘Safety Car in this lap’ has been displayed, it is mandatory to withdraw the safety car at the end of that lap.”
Masi was also present for the hearing, and said that it had been “long been agreed by all the teams that where possible it was highly desirable for the race to end in a ‘green’ condition” and not behind the safety car.
Mercedes has not abandoned their fight for an amended result, and they have announced that they will appeal against one of the reject protests about the safety car.
After Sunday’s race, a Mercedes spokesperson stated that they had filed their intention to appeal Document58/the decision of the Stewards to disqualify the protest.