Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen has admitted that he feels he is the rightful winner of the 2021 season, despite the controversial end to the race. Verstappen won his maiden Championship after a last-lap overtake at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

He ended with 395.5 points, 8 more than rival Lewis Hamilton. In a recent interview, the Dutchman has delivered his opinion defending his Championship victory. He said, “A championship is won over a whole season. Not by one decision in the last race. I also think I deserved the title, absolutely. There may be people who only watched the last Grand Prix. They may think I was lucky. But normally the championship would have been decided in my favor long ago.”

He further added, “I lost a lot of points twice, after being knocked out by another car and I had that blowout in Baku. Because of all that bad luck it came down to the last race.”

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Hamilton, who led most of the race, established an 11-second gap over Verstappen. However, a late Nicholas Latifi crash forced a safety car which enabled Verstappen to narrow the gap. The controversy arose when former race director Michael Masi allowed lapped cars to overtake the safety car. The Red Bull driver, on fresher tires, overtook the Brit in the last lap and won the race and his first championship.

Max Verstappen v Lewis Hamilton II?

Verstappen and Hamilton battled throughout the last season, with both drivers pushing each other to the limit. The two drivers went back and forth in the Championship leaderboard, which was eventually won by the Dutchman. However, the 7-time Champion Hamilton will be hungry to overcome the shattering result.

The 2022 season promises to renew the rivalry between the two teams. Hamilton, who will now team with George Russell at Mercedes, will hope to avenge the heartbreaking loss of 2021. Meanwhile, Verstappen, who made the switch to ‘No. 1’ from ‘No. 33’ will aim to get the ground running as the season begins at the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 18-20.

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Will Verstappen and Hamilton continue their fierce rivalry or will there be a new entrant into the Championship scene?