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RED BULL team boss Christian Horner has admitted Lewis Hamilton and his fans can feel aggrieved over his title loss at Abu Dhabi last year. The seven-time World Champion missed out on an eighth F1 crown after the extremely controversial ending to the 2021 season.
Team boss Christian Horner saw Red Bull win their first Driver’s Championship since 2013 last yearCredit: Getty
Hamilton went quiet for several weeks after last year’s Abu Dhabi GP finaleCredit: Rex
Hamilton and his title rival Max Verstappen went into the final race of last season level on points.
After leading the entire race, the Mercedes driver was overtaken by his Dutch challenger on the final lap after race director Michael Masi applied the safety car rules incorrectly.
The Australian has since left the FIA, and said he has faced death threats over the ending to the race.
Audio also emerged after where Hamilton revealed he believed the result had been “manipulated”.
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Despite the extraordinary ending at the Abu Dhabi GP, Horner insists Verstappen is the rightful champion – but admits he understands the ill-feeling from Mercedes.
He told Sky Sports: “I always tend to look forwards so Abu Dhabi already seems a long time ago. The page always turns.
“I can understand that if you were a Lewis fan or a Mercedes fan, that you’ll feel pretty aggrieved by the events of Abu Dhabi.
“If you’re a Max fan, you’ll feel it was redemption for earlier in the year.
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“That’s where sport is always going to be polarising. Last year wasn’t just about Abu Dhabi, last year was about 22 races.
“Do I think Max deserved that championship? Absolutely. I’m not ever going to get too hung up on it.”
After last year’s tense title tussle which saw momentum swing from Verstappen to Hamilton every other race, this season has proven to be more straightforward for the Red Bull driver.
Verstappen is currently running away with the title and opened up an 80-point lead over his closest competitors going into the mid-season break.
Arguably his most accomplished moment so far was starting from 10th on the grid to win the Hungarian Grand Prix.
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It’s not just the 24-year-old’s brilliant driving which has led to his domination over the rest of the grid.
He has been helped by a series of high-profile errors at Ferrari which has left fans scratching their heads. More

LEWIS HAMILTON has revealed he is considering extending his F1 career beyond next season.The Mercedes star has a contract until the end of 2023 but has vowed that he is “still on a mission”.
Lewis Hamilton is regarded as one of the best drivers of all time but is now among the oldest on the gridCredit: Splash
Hamilton has faced two of the most topsy-turvy seasons of his career in recent times.
Last year he locked horns with Max Verstappen in an extraordinarily intense title battle that saw crashes, controversy and drama on the very last lap of the last race of the season.
And this season he has found himself in an uncompetitive Mercedes car which has tested the 37-year-old in all new ways.
But the seven-times world champion has made clear that he’s still up for the fight and could well keep driving beyond 2023.
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Hamilton told Vanity Fair: “I’ll be lying if I said that I hadn’t thought about extending.
“I’m still on the mission, I’m still loving driving, I’m still being challenged by it.
“So I don’t really feel like I have to give it up any time soon.
“I’m built different. I mean, I was built for this. It reminds me that people still don’t know me.
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“Even after all these years. People still don’t know. So, all right, I’ll prove you wrong again.”
Hamilton also reflected on the heartbreak of last year, when Max Verstappen overtook him on the final lap at Abu Dhabi to take the World Championship.
The moment was mired in controversy after the now departed race director Michael Masi was found to have not followed race procedure correctly, leading to the final lap shoot-out.
Hamilton said: “I don’t know if I can really put into words the feeling that I had. I do remember just sitting there just in disbelief.
“And realising I’ve got to undo my belts, I’ve got to get out of there, I’ve got to climb out of this thing, I’ve got to find the strength. I had no strength.
“And it was one of the toughest moments, I would say, that I’ve had in a long, long time.”

After a difficult start to the season, the Mercedes car has gone from strength to strength and Hamilton has finished on the podium in the last five races.
He is now enjoying some well-earned time off during the F1 season break – and keeping himself busy in interesting ways.
Not long after being pictured riding an electric jet surfboard, the star arrived in Africa to trace his roots. More

LEWIS HAMILTON is spending Formula 1’s summer break tracing his roots in Africa.The Mercedes star has enjoyed much-improved fortunes in recent weeks, taking his place on the podium in five consecutive races.
Lewis Hamilton has been enjoying his summer holidayCredit: @lewishamilton
The 37-year-old poses in the desertCredit: @lewishamilton
Hamilton has been keen to explore his roots in AfricaCredit: @lewishamilton
Now that the summer holiday has arrived he’s also riding high off the track – exploring the stunning scenery of Namibia.
As he shared a number of stunning pictures on Instagram, the seven-time world champion wrote: “This year I’m spending my summer break doing something I’ve wanted to do for years.
“I’m finally tracing my roots through Africa and guys, to say this journey has been a grounding experience is an understatement.
“This has been a life changing reset. I feel like I have gained a new perspective on life, grown an even stronger love for animals and became even closer with my brothers who I’ve shared this special journey with.
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“Everywhere I look I’m surrounded by so much beauty, and I feel truly re-centred and at peace.
“My first stop was Namibia, one of the most stunning places I’ve ever seen with my own eyes. Words and pictures do not do it justice.
“The hot air balloon ride was surreal.
“We had to land sideways which is definitely something I’ll never forget.
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“I could not think of a better place to spend this time off. Sending everyone peace and light, I’m off to the next stop.”
Hamilton, 37, posed for snaps in the desert in the South West African country.
He recently hit the waves on a £20,000 electric jet-surfboard.
The British hero shared a video of himself in his swimming trunks riding on the incredible piece of kit alongside MotoGP pal Fabio Quartararo.
Hamilton isn’t back in F1 action until August 28, when the F1 season gets back up and running in Spa.
The seven-time world champion is back in action on August 28Credit: @lewishamilton
He shared his snaps with his 29.4million followersCredit: @lewishamilton
Hamilton reflected on his brilliant tripCredit: @lewishamilton More

MERCEDES have shared an adorable picture of George Russell as a young boy.The 24-year-old racer moved from Williams for the start of the 2022 season and currently leads team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 12 points in the drivers’ championship.
Russell has made an impressive start to his time at MercedesCredit: Getty
But years before his F1 career began, the British driver was rocking a cute fringe and light blonde hair.
Mercedes posted the throwback snap on Instagram alongside some more recent pictures.
And they added the caption: “George William Russell. 🙏 The glow up. 🔥.”
Fans of the British driver were loving the photo of a young Russell from back in the day.
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This picture of Russell as a kid was shared by Mercedes on social mediaCredit: George Russell Instagram
One person said: “Little George is adorable,” while another added: “The legend Russell🔥🔥🔥”.
And a third social media user said: “Mercedes admin knows what’s up ❤️”.
Russell has already secured five podiums so far this season, although he is yet to finish in the top two.
The former Williams driver had a healthy lead over seven-time champion Hamilton a couple of months ago.
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But Hamilton, 37, has come roaring back with five podiums in a row – including back-to-back second places in France and Hungary before the summer break.
Meanwhile, Russell came out earlier this week and accused rivals Ferrari and Red Bull of “pushing F1 rules”.
He told Sky Sports: “Spa is going to be interesting. There are some changes to some of the regulations which may bring other teams towards us.
“I think we as a team have a lot of confidence in ourselves and faith that we are doing a great job and there’s no reason we can’t be in the mix.
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“There is no doubt Ferrari and Red Bull have pushed the regulations in that regard and we have respected it as the regulation was intended.
“There’s no guarantee that it would bring them closer to us. We know if it was on our car it would make us slower.
“There’s no guarantees, every car is different but it’s not going to help them that’s for sure.” More

LEWIS HAMILTON could be left with brain damage because of his porpoising Mercedes, according to Toto Wolff. The Mercedes team have struggled with their cars bouncing all season, leading to the eight-times Constructors’ Champions to be off the pace of their rivals.
Despite their issues with bouncing, the Mercedes team – spearhead by Wolff and Hamilton – are growing strongerCredit: Splash
But in recent weeks the gap has closed as the grid headed to “smoother” tracks, with Hamilton on a run of five consecutive podiums.
The new 2022 regulations has seen porpoising become an issue at Mercedes and affect other teams on the grid.
And Wolff warned the situation was not safe for drivers.
He told reporters: “I still believe that the FIA and all of us must do something about it.
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“Frequencies of 1 to 1 hertz that last for a few minutes can cause brain damage. We have 6 to 7 hertz for several hours.”
Rule tweaks are set to come into place after F1’s summer break for the Belgian Grand Prix.
The changes from the governing body the FIA should see porpoising restrained and could close what some see as loopholes in the new regulations.
Not all teams are happy about these changes, with the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull, who have largely gotten on top of the bouncing, potentially losing their speed advantage.
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Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has signalled his discomfort for these changes, and said he “didn’t see any issues” with porpoising over the last few races.
Wolff has rejected the comments of his former rival.
He hit back: “That [argument] doesn’t count because Silverstone, Paul Ricard and Austria aren’t exactly tracks we bounce that much on anyway.
“I don’t want to come to Spa or some of the later races where the track isn’t as smooth as a conventional racetrack and we didn’t do anything about it.
“There is all this talk about lobbying in both directions, but what are we talking about here anyway?”
Further rule changes could come in from 2023 to raise the floors of the cars, according to some reports.
Horner was also not happy with that idea.
He added: “So I think there just needs to be a common-sense solution, not rewriting the rulebook for next year at a point of the year, with budget caps where they are, which is just too late.
“I think it’s actually an even bigger issue for some of the smaller teams that quite simply wouldn’t have the resources to be able to react.” More