But I hope that someone reaches out and I would love to know what is happening here and what they’re doing to help that community more, the LGBT+ community. While Verstappen circulated serenely up front, Hamilton was left to try to hold off a determined challenge from Alonso. Max Verstappen is congratulated by Lewis Hamilton after the race’s dramatic finale. Photograph: Mario Renzi/Formula 1/Getty Images This year he has taken 10 wins, delivering some relentlessly confident and controlled drives for some dominant victories. He was unbowed and entirely unintimidated going up against the seven-times champion Hamilton, supremely confident in his own ability to do so. His appetite to race, to compete, is fierce.

Fireworks light up the sky behind Max Verstappen’s car after his dramatic Abu Dhabi GP victory. Photograph: PA Wire/PAIn the sprint, Hamilton made up a remarkable 15 places in 24 laps to finish fifth. That meant, with a five-place grid penalty for the engine change, he started the race 10th. And Hamilton fully intends to keep wearing his helmet for them both. Lewis Hamilton praised by intersex Progress flag designer for support 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. Just days before the win, Hamilton condemned Saudi Arabia’s anti-LGBT+ laws and said he wore Pride colours on his helmet to “spark the conversation” on LGBT+ rights in homophobic countries. 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.

It’s the second Grand Prix race in a row where Hamilton donned the Pride colours. The Mercedes driver previously wore the helmet in a show of LGBT+ solidarity at the Qatar Grand Prix in November. Hamilton goes into the meeting, the first to be held in Saudi Arabia, in a tightly fought battle with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who leads the championship by eight points with two rounds remaining. Yet much as the world champion is focused on this nail-biting finish, Hamilton, as he has been in the past, was also insistent that he would play a part in trying to make a difference. 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." Sainz benefited, promoted to fourth place by Russell's problem and slowly pushing up to challenge Hamilton and Alonso but unable to pass them.

Verstappen, who had made a bad start and dropped behind the Mercedes cars, ran third for a while but once in front was in total control. 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.

From a young age, Hamilton only had one idol he aspired to be like. Not Nigel Mansell, not Damon Hill, but Ayrton Senna - the influential and rapid Brazilian driver who won three F1 titles in the late 1980s and '90s. On the contrary, we just need to really dig deep and deeper than we have ever done and provide both drivers with a car they are able to fight with. 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. A race which began with Russell overtaking Verstappen off the line turned to despair with a power unit failure The bizarre and controversial climax Wearing a blue suit, the record 103-time grand prix winner received Brazil’s legislative medal of merit and a diploma, and he made a speech thanking his fans and dedicating the honour to Senna.Racing fans worldwide were blown away by Lewis Hamilton’s remarkable win as well as his stark show of allyship with the LGBT+ community. Having joked he was “waiting for my passport” in the wake of the offer, the 37-year-old discovered it was a done deal just before this season’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix in June.

The Aston Martin of Lance Stroll was fourth, followed by Perez, McLaren's Lando Norris and Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg. McLaren's Oscar Piastri, Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu and Alpha Tauri's Yuki Tsunoda completed the points positions. What happened before the controversy? That has reinvigorated Hamilton’s shot at claiming second in the drivers’ championship. He was 39 points behind going into the race but now trails by 20, with three races remaining, and the British driver will believe it can be done, not least given Pérez’s poor form.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. And as so many times in the past, he was able to manage his tyres with expertise as Alonso did the same and the two circulated close together to the flag. 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. Within two laps of the restart, the Red Bull was right with Hamilton, and Verstappen blasted past the Mercedes on the straight up to the fast Turn Nine/10 chicane, displaying the huge advantage the Red Bull has on the straights with the DRS overtaking aid open.