First championship: 2021
Age: 24 years and 73 days
Stage of his F1 career when the title was won: Complete seventh season
F1 debut: 2015 Australian Grand Prix (17 years old)
Hamilton won the title on the final lap of the 2008 season, but he would lose it on the final lap in 2021 in circumstances that remain a source of huge controversy.
His rival in an exciting and intense duel throughout the season was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. There were many hot spots along the way and it all came to a head in Abu Dhabi.
Verstappen and Hamilton entered the final race of the season on points level. The Dutchman qualified on pole but Mercedes’ Hamilton beat him off the line and largely controlled the race thereafter, until Williams’ Nicholas Latifi crashed five laps from the finish, bringing in a safety car.
Hamilton did not have enough of an advantage over second-placed Verstappen to look for fresh tires and maintain the lead, so he stayed out. Verstappen, having nothing to lose, went in and installed some software.
Race director Michael Masi allowed cars lagging between Hamilton and Verstappen to overtake, but not those behind the Red Bull. He allowed the race to resume for one final lap of the race and Verstappen overtook Hamilton, who was an easy target on his old hard tires.
Verstappen and Hamilton, in their own ways, were both stunned and Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff shouted over the radio at Masi: “No, Michael, no! That really wasn’t good!”
As happened with Vettel from 2010 to 2013, this was the first of four consecutive titles for a Red Bull driver, with Verstappen dominating the 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons.
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