Mercedes driver disagrees with controversy: 'Title not lost in Abu Dhabi'

For Vandoorne, who witnessed the season from the Mercedes camp, the conclusion left something of an aftertaste. "The way the championship was decided is not right," he prefaces in an interview with rtbf.be. "It changed the outcome of the race and with it the championship, which is very difficult to swallow."

Nevertheless, the Belgian driver disagrees with the statements made by Hamilton, who claimed at the end of the race that the result was manipulated by the race control. "I don't think the result was manipulated," he said. "I just think race control didn't want the race to end behind the safety car."

Verstappen won title earlier in the season

Vandoorne also disagrees with the claims that Hamilton was robbed of his eighth world title. He argues that he may have been robbed of the win because the usual safety car protocols were not fully applied, but that was not decisive for the championship. "The title was not lost on the last lap of the last race, " he observes.

The former McLaren driver therefore believes Verstappen secured the championship earlier in the season. "Let's not forget that Mercedes underperformed at the beginning of the season and lacked pace against Red Bull Racing, who took advantage of that by opening up a gap," said Vandoorne.