Hamilton had led the vast majority of the race and, after a crash for Nicholas Latifi brought out the Safety Car, Verstappen pitted for soft tyres and only the lapped cars separating the two leading drivers were allowed to overtake the Safety Car, in an apparent breach of FIA regulations.
Rather than an extra lap being run per the usual procedure, which would have seen the race end under Safety Car conditions, the Safety Car was pulled in for the final lap, leaving Hamilton on used hard tyres and Verstappen on preferable soft rubber.
He used this to his advantage, overtaking at the Turn 5 hairpin and crossing the line to win his first World Championship in both dramatic and controversial fashion.
Time has now passed since that night in Abu Dhabi, and the Mercedes driver has been able to reflect on how he responded – and he explained that having his father Anthony in the pit lane was a moment of great comfort.
“Was I robbed? Obviously. I mean, you know the story,” Hamilton told GQ Magazine when asked if he felt he was ‘robbed’ of an eighth title.
“But I think what was really beautiful in that moment, which I take away from it, was my dad was with me. And we’d gone through this huge roller coaster of life together, ups and downs.
“And the day that it hurt the most, he was there, and the way he raised me was to always stand up, keep your head high.
