F1 fans could barely believe their eyes as the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix descended into chaos on Monday morning.
The title fight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton took some ugly turns as Red Bull and Mercedes accused each other of dodgy driving and questionable tactics in the wildest race of the year.
Hamilton won the dramatic rollercoaster, Verstappen came second in controversial fashion and Valtteri Bottas rounded out the podium. Esteban Ocon was fourth, while Aussie Daniel Ricciardo avoided the carnage to cross the line fifth.
The incredible result means Hamilton and Verstappen are all square in the drivers’ standings on 369.5 points heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi later this month, where a world champion will be crowned.
‘Absolute chaos’: Huge drama in title fight
There was plenty of drama in the early stages of a 50-lap race that took two hours and 12 minutes to finish, but the height of it arrived on lap 37, when Hamilton tried to use DRS to pass Verstappen.
The pair were fighting wheel-to-wheel but the seven-time world champion couldn’t get past as they made slight contact. Verstappen’s defending was ruled to have been illegal and he was ordered to let Hamilton through.
However, the Dutch driver hit the brakes, slowed down and Hamilton ran into the back of his biggest rival, damaging his front wing.
“He just brake tested me!” Hamilton fumed. “I don’t know what’s going on.
“This guy is crazy man!
“It was just dangerous driving dude.”
Social media erupted as some accused Verstappen of driving dangerously, while others suggested there was a misunderstanding and Mercedes didn’t realise Red Bull had been ordered to let Hamilton past.
Ron Meadows from the Mercedes garage engaged in a heated argument with FIA race director Michael Masi over the radio, saying they weren’t told Verstappen had been instructed to let Hamilton overtake.
F1 journalist Luke Smith tweeted: “Nah, that’s not good man … Jesus, this title fight is getting ugly.”
MMA reporter Chamatkar Sandhu tweeted: “OMGGGGGGG! Absolute chaos between Lewis and Max. Wow.”
With seven laps to go, Hamilton took the lead and Verstappen was slapped with a five-second time penalty.
Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle said: “This is absolutely crazy. It’s kind of like we’re making it up as we go along.
“But it’s so many unusual situations.
“It has been a dirty race in terms of tactics.
“There is aggressive, determined, feisty racing and then there is what we saw this evening — which was too much.”
After the race, Red Bull boss Christian Horner told Verstappen he had no idea why Hamilton crashed into him when he was trying to let the Mercedes star overtake.
“I don’t know why he ran up the back of you like that, it makes no sense at all,” Horner said.
Verstappen and Hamilton both answered questions in their post-race TV interviews about the controversial contact in the dying stages.
Verstappen said: “It was eventful, a lot of things happened that I don’t fully agree with but it is what it is.
“I slowed down, I wanted to let him by, I was on the right but he didn’t want to overtake and we touched. I don’t really understand what happened there.”
Hamilton added: “I didn’t understand why he hit the brakes quite heavily.
“I didn’t understand ... then I got a message later on he was going to let us pass, so it was a bit confusing.”
- News.com.au