Damon Hill impressed with Lewis Hamilton’s ‘dignity’ in F1 championship defeat to Max Verstappen

Damon Hill impressed with Lewis Hamilton’s ‘dignity’ in F1 championship defeat to Max Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton lost out on a record eighth-championship title in the most heart-breaking manner, as the Briton was overtaken by Max Verstappen on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi GP. All that occurred after Lewis Hamilton led the race for 57 laps and was on course to win the title.

However, Lewis Hamilton graciously accepted defeat and went up to Max Verstappen to congratulate him for his first title. Damon Hill, former F1 driver was impressed with Lewis Hamilton’s sportsmanship like conduct despite an agonizing loss.

Damon Hill believes that Hamilton recognized that Max Verstappen deserved the title this year, as the duo put on a show for decades to come. “[Lewis had] massively impressive dignity in defeat,” Hill told the F1 Nation podcast.

“I think, in some ways, that can also be a way of winning as well, because you have to accept that it’s not an exact science, our sport, and sometimes it goes against you when you might feel aggrieved, but everyone gave their best. He recognized the greatness in Max, and Max has acknowledged that it’s also there in Lewis and they’re worthy – they found their worthy opponent,” he added.

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They were both the right guy: Damon Hill on Hamilton and Verstappen

Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen

The 1996 F1 champion added that both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were right in their shoes throughout the season. Often, we saw media trying to portray one driver as more evil as compared to the other.

“They were both the right guy, it could have gone to either of them. It was like a reverse brewing storm and all it took was one tiny twist of a molecule and suddenly it snapped and it jumped one way and it jumped towards Max on his Soft tyres with one lap to go,” Hill said.

Damon Hill stated that the after-match of what happened at Abu Dhabi GP was expected as several fans around the world were kept glued to their screens throughout the season. The duo were level on points for the final race of the season at the Yas Marina circuit.

“There has been obviously a lot of reaction to say the least, it had the world watching. There was so much expectation, and rightly so, because it was such a tight title fight right down to the wire There was every reason to expect a thriller because the racing this year has been phenomenal,” said Hill.

Also Read: Damon Hill: Verstappen and Hamilton both deserved the world title