Martin Brundle wishes Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton could share F1 title

A controversial final lap in Abu Dhabi saw Verstappen dethrone Hamilton as F1 champion on Sunday

Martin Brundle has said he wishes Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton could share the Formula 1 title, after a controversial last-lap finish in Abu Dhabi saw Verstappen crowned champion.

The Dutch-Belgian and Hamilton entered the final race of the season level on points, with a victory for either driver guaranteeing a title win on Sunday.

Verstappen started on pole but was immediately overtaken by Hamilton, who led the Red Bull driver for the majority of the race. A late crash by Nicholas Latifi meant the emergence of the safety car with just a few laps remaining, however, and a controversial decision by the FIA allowed Verstappen a final-lap shootout with Hamilton to determine the drivers’ championship.

Verstappen got past the Mercedes man to win his first ever F1 title, as defending champion Hamilton missed out on the chance to go one clear of Michael Schumacher on a record eight championships.

“Does Max deserve the championship? Of course he does,” former F1 driver Brundle wrote in his Sky column.

“He led 652 laps compared with Lewis’ 303 laps. He departed 15 of the 22 races leading the championship, including the last seven. He won 10 races compared to eight for Lewis (yes I know, we’ll get onto that shortly), and it was 18 podiums playing 17.

“And he didn’t have the best of luck along the way, until the last few miles of course,” the Briton added, before giving credit to compatriot Hamilton.

“Lewis would equally have deserved his eighth title. I wish they could share it to be frank. His raw speed, consistency, determination, style, class and stamina – particularly in the closing stages – was outstanding as he delivered another blistering start in his 288th GP at approaching 37 years old.

“The final few laps in Abu Dhabi, when the world’s eyes were on us in staggering numbers, were not our finest moment and some things have to change this winter. We certainly confused our fans on Sunday.”

Brundle continued: “It is going to be a big topic, I guess, but if you take the 22 races... as I said on Thursday, any of the two could be a world champion.

“I think more than any other year, if you could split the trophy in two, this was the year to do it – because both of them were outstanding.”

After Sunday’s season finale, Mercedes immediately launched two appeals against the result – one against Verstappen for allegedly overtaking under a safety car, and a second claiming a breach of rules regarding race restarts following a safety car period.

Both were dismissed after the two teams spent hours in the stewards’ office, Verstappen able to toast his title over four hours after crossing the finish line – albeit with Mercedes opting to lodge an intention to appeal the call.