George Russell criticises ‘unacceptable’ end to F1 season as Max Verstappen beats Lewis Hamilton to title

Verstappen beat Hamilton on a hugely controversial final lap of the season - as Mercedes launch their appeal

George Russell, who will partner Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next season, has criticised Michael Masi’s decision to allow Max Verstappen to overtake lapped cars during the dramatic conclusion to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as “unacceptable”.

Verstappen won his first F1 title on the final lap of the season after he passed Hamilton to claim a decisive and dramatic victory at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Hamilton was closing in on a record-breaking eighth F1 championship until Nicholas Latifi’s late crash and the resulting safety car gave Verstappen the chance to pit for a fresh set of soft tyres.

The Mercedes driver remained out on his old set of hard compounds, and after Verstappen emerged from the pits he was allowed to line up behind Hamilton as Masi said the Red Bull man could move ahead of the previously lapped cars ahead of him.

The decision split opinion on the pit wall - with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff left furious by the call, and there will be an official appeal of the result of the race after Verstappen secured a controversial victory.

Russell, whose last race with Williams before joining Mercedes next season ended in an early retirement, was watching from his team’s garage as the F1 season headed to its thrilling conclusion.

And the 23-year-old driver instantly criticised the decision as Hamilton’s championship slipped through his fingers.

“THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!!,” the Briton tweeted, before adding: “Max is an absolutely fantastic driver who has had an incredible season and I have nothing but huge respect for him, but what just happened is absolutely unacceptable. I cannot believe what we’ve just seen.”

During his heated exchange with race director Masi, Wolff said: “Michael, you need to reinstate the previous lap. That was unacceptable. That is not right.”

In response, Masi hit back by insisting: “Toto, that is called motor racing.”

Hamilton, meanwhile, was magnanimous in defeat and congratulated Verstappen for winning his first title at the age of 24.

“A big congratulations to Max and to his team,” Hamilton said.

“We did an amazing job this year. It’s been the most difficult of seasons, we gave it everything, this last part of the season, we never gave up and that’s the most important thing.”