Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team - Lewis Hamilton Flag - Purple - Size: 35x47 Inches

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The Dutchman made his second poor start of the weekend. He lost places to both Mercedes at the first start, and was challenged by third-placed Alonso at the second, but once up and running was in a class of his own.

I've driven so many cars in my life. I know what a car needs. I know what a car doesn't need. I think it's really about accountability." The Congress vote was largely symbolic as the debate lasted for about 10 minutes. Some members of Congress, however, met the bill with criticism. Hamilton trailed Verstappen by 21 points going into the race but is now only 14 behind with three meetings left. He emphasised how, despite the penalties over the weekend, he refused to be bowed and got past nine drivers on Sunday to win, including a tense battle against Verstappen. “Mentally you can just think it’s over, it’s impossible,” he said. “Nothing is if you put your mind to it. That’s really why we just cultivated a positive mental attitude and went in fighting, guns blazing.”

That suggestion was made by congressman Andre Figueiredo after Hamilton held a Brazilian flag behind him on the podium, his love for the country having stemmed from his childhood admiration for Ayrton Senna. The helmet features the revamped Progress Flag designed by British intersex artist Valentino Vecchietti, with a yellow triangle and a purple circle, as well as the words “We Stand Together” on it. Aston Martin have done so with great effect to start the season with the second-fastest race car after finishing seventh in the championship last year. In a season already marked by drama this finale simply could not have been scripted nor will there be consensus on how it played out. Inevitably it ended in protests to the stewards grinding on long after the trophies had been awarded and the fans departed. The stewards rejected the protests but more wrangling may lie ahead with Mercedes having lodged an intention to appeal against the decision, and with the right to take their case to the court of arbitration for sport. Hamilton's comments conveniently came just as he was arriving in Brazil to deliver a keynotes speech at an event, with the Mercedes driver having travelled to both Kuala Lumpur and Sao Paulo since last weekend's Australian GP.

While in the UAE, death, life in prison, floggings, forced anal examinations and hormone injections, among other grisly punishments, await LGBT+ people. For Verstappen should he maintain his grip on the trophy, this was the culmination of a lifelong dream, achieved in the white heat of competition against the best driver of this generation in what has been a superb season. He can be rightly proud in winning it although he is still only 24 and becomes the first Dutchman to have won the F1 world championship. He was the youngest driver in the history of the sport on his debut aged 17 in 2015, and has the potential to go on and win many more. Lewis Hamilton was fined after taking off his seatbelt to accept a Brazilian flag on his in-lap after his momentous victory. Photograph: Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty Images Russell was taken out of contention for the lead by a pit stop hoping to benefit from the safety car for Albon's crash, only to see the race stopped for the first time soon after. He described the decision to stop the race at that point as "totally unnecessary". A race which began with Russell overtaking Verstappen off the line turned to despair with a power unit failure The bizarre and controversial climax

F1 has attracted considerable criticism for racing in Saudi Arabia and Hamilton, who has been a strident supporter of equality and diversity, admitted he did not feel at ease with the regime. Hamilton's remarks came as team principal Toto Wolff admitted Mercedes had made a mistake in continuing to pursue their car philosophy after a difficult 2022. Alpine drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were the other big losers from the official decisions - they took the penultimate restart fifth and 10th but crashed into each other and retired at the second corner. It's about owning up and saying, 'Yeah, you know what? We didn't listen to you. It's not where it needs to be and we've got to work'," he said.

There is a direct line from the final laps of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021 - when officials made errors that changed the course of the world championship fight between Verstappen and Hamilton - to these events, as the final two red flags were thrown to try to ensure the grand prix would finish under racing conditions. To add to the controversy, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was given a five-second penalty for causing the decisive crash at the first corner by tagging Alonso's car, dropping him from fourth to 12th and out of the points. One example is that Mercedes sit their drivers further forward than Red Bull. This approach enabled them to combine the mandatory side-impact structures with an aerodynamic airflow-shaping element which led to their so-called 'zero-sidepod' approach.Hamilton, however, had much more work to do having started in sixth and the seven-time champion put his head down to deliver the sort of run that has put him at the peak of the sport for so long. Under FIA regulations, the finishing positions were taken from the last restart, with the cars then having to complete a final lap behind the safety car.