LEWIS HAMILTON was ‘robbed’ of a record eighth F1 title, according to Piers Morgan.
The Brit was pipped to the win by Max Verstappen in controversial fashion on Sunday and Morgan, 56, labelled it ‘completely unfair’.
Hamilton lost to Verstappen in heartbreaking fashion, seeing the Dutchman controversially pull in front of him with just one lap left to race in Abu Dhabi.
The Mercedes superstar had been heading for victory when a Nicholas Latifi crash resulted in the safety car being deployed.
Stewards said lapped cars would not be allowed to pass under safety car conditions, before reversing that call to allow a handful of backmarkers through.
That cleared the way for championship rival Verstappen to attack Hamilton on a fresher set of tyres, with the Red Bull man taking victory and his first world title.
And furious Morgan tweeted: “New F1 World Champion @Max33Verstappen’s Grand Prix win yesterday was thrillingly unpredictable, sensationally exciting, and also completely unfair…
“@LewisHamilton was robbed by rule-bending officials who wanted to give us all a great dramatic TV moment. That’s not sport.”
JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET A FREE £10 BONUS WITH 100s OF GAMES TO PLAY AND NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED (Ts&Cs apply)
@font-face{font-family:’The Sun’;src:url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Regular.woff2’) format(‘woff2’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Regular.woff’) format(‘woff’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Regular.ttf’) format(‘truetype’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Regular.svg#’) format(‘svg’);font-style:normal;font-weight:400;font-display:swap;}@font-face{font-family:’The Sun’;src:url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Medium.woff2’) format(‘woff2’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Medium.woff’) format(‘woff’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Medium.ttf’) format(‘truetype’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Medium.svg#’) format(‘svg’);font-style:normal;font-weight:500;font-display:swap;}@font-face{font-family:’The Sun’;src:url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.woff2’) format(‘woff2’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.woff’) format(‘woff’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.ttf’) format(‘truetype’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.svg#’) format(‘svg’);font-style:normal;font-weight:400;font-stretch:semi-condensed;font-display:swap;}@font-face{font-family:’The Sun’;src:url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Bold.woff2’) format(‘woff2’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Bold.woff’) format(‘woff’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Bold.ttf’) format(‘truetype’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Bold.svg#’) format(‘svg’);font-style:normal;font-weight:700;font-stretch:normal;font-display:swap;}@font-face{font-family:’The Sun’;src:url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.woff2’) format(‘woff2’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.woff’) format(‘woff’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.ttf’) format(‘truetype’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.svg#’) format(‘svg’);font-style:normal;font-weight:700;font-stretch:condensed;font-display:swap;}.css-qu9fel{border-top:1px solid #dcdddd;}.css-b9nmbi{margin-bottom:16px;border-top:1px solid #dcdddd;}
Most read in Sport
.css-1gojmfd{margin-bottom:16px;}
Furious Merc chiefs immediately appealed the safety car decision at Yas Marina Circuit and vowed to take their case to the FIA’s appeals court after their pleas were rejected.
But a classy Hamilton refused to be drawn on the controversial call as he praised Verstappen in his post-race interview.
Morgan’s comments came after Jeremy Clarkson called for ‘idiot’ stewards to be banned.
He tweeted: “That stewards’ decision is wrong.
“It’s like the VAR handball (on Saturday). What is the point of these idiots?
“Delighted with the result but the stewards need to be banned. We’ve had enough of them.”
Chelsea fan Clarkson was referring to the dubious decision to award Manchester City a penalty against Wolves.
The Blues’ Premier League rivals were awarded a spot-kick after VAR replays failed to overturn a dodgy handball call against Joao Moutinho.
FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN NEW CUSTOMER DEALS
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk