‘What is the point of these idiots?’: Jeremy Clarkson sent into rage as F1 stewards make controversial call at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to hand Max Verstappen championship title
Car enthusiast Jeremy Clarkson was just one of the many people around the world left confounded by the dramatic result of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen lift his first ever championship title.
Drama spilled out into the final lap as Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton looked to be well on course to defeat his younger rival and claim a record-breaking eighth title.
Yet the controversial emergence of a safety car at the eleventh hour, combined with some highly dubious steward rulings meant Verstappen was given a clear break at winning the race with a neck-and-neck finish with Hamilton, while having the advantage of better tyres.
Jeremy Clarkson was left furious after a controversial end to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to the championship title
The ever-opinionated Clarkson was quick to question the need for stewards in F1 racing
Verstappen nipped ahead of his opponent and saw victory over the line, much to the shock and anguish of F1 fans around the globe.
And, watching on from home, former Top Gear host Clarkson was no different. He wasted little time in taking to his Twitter account and airing his opinions.
Clarkson wrote: ‘It’s like the VAR handball yesterday. What is the point of these idiots?’
When one Twitter user replied to him saying the stewards simply fix the races in order to obtain the most thrilling result, Clarkson retorted: ‘As you may know, I have campaigned for an end to the stewards for some time.’
Verstappen was able to nip ahead of Hamilton on the final lap thanks to a controversial call
The highly controversial finish first began its snowball effect when Williams driver Nicholas Latifi slid off the track and hit a wall on the closing lap, leading to a safety car being required.
It was that safety car which turned out to be the fateful event as it closed the gap between race leader Hamilton and the chasing Verstappen.
The decision to restart the race while several cars were not allowed to unlap themselves garnered criticism and questions.
FIA rules indicate that any and all lapped cars that line up behind a safety car are allowed to overtake and un-lap themselves while the safety car is out on the track – yet this was not seen in Abu Dhabi.
Mercedes plan to continue their appeals against the ruling which saw Hamilton miss out