Five key moments which helped Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to the F1 title
The IndependentSign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Now Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing are being met with same accusations of contaminated success, because of the controversial and unprecedented way in which FIA race director Michael Masi oversaw the late safety car restart at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which pretty much guaranteed the Dutchman the win and thus victory over Lewis Hamilton in the race for the Formula 1 world championship. Hamilton’s botched Baku restart Verstappen led the championship by five points after five races when Formula 1 headed to Baku in early June, and despite qualifying behind Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, the Dutchman used an overcut strategy at the first round of pit stops to take the lead. With Hamilton taking hard tyres to the end, Red Bull made the call to pit Verstappen for a second set of mediums with 20 laps remaining and he nailed his laptimes from there on in to first overtake Valtteri Bottas and then took the inside line at the end of the DRS straight to pass Hamilton for the win on lap 52 of 53. open image in gallery Esteban Ocon celebrates after beating Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton to victory Mastering the rain in Russia Verstappen took a slew of engine penalties and started at the back of the grid in Sochi, where Lando Norris started on pole position for the first time in his career and looked set to take the win until chaos was unleashed by a late deluge.