“Lewis Hamilton came immediately to me”: Max Verstappen reveals the words exchanged with his title rival after he won the World Championship in Abu Dhabi

Max Verstappen reveals what he and title rival Lewis Hamilton spoke about following the end of the Abu Dhabi GP.  

Verstappen passed Hamilton on the final lap in Yas Island to win the race and his first World Championship. The ending of the race was controversial to say the least, but Hamilton was gracious in defeat. The Mercedes driver immediately came up to Verstappen and shook hands.

While speaking to David Coulthard in an interview, the 2021 F1 Champion revealed what he and Hamilton spoke about. He said that the Briton came up to congratulate him before the celebrations began.

“I was, and the whole team, were going crazy.” said Max.

“But of course, you also have the other side, where they are very disappointed and upset. I think what was nice, was Lewis immediately came to me and said, ‘Well done, congrats’. You know, and I said, ‘Thank you very much for an amazing season’.”

“Because, at the end of the day, I think it was an amazing season, whoever won or came second, because we did push each other every single race to the limit with ourselves, but also the car and the whole team.”

“Everyone is very happy that the season is over, to have a bit of a break, because it has been very tense and very tough on everyone. But yeah, it was definitely a great rivalry.” the 24 year old admitted.

Also read: Max Verstappen’s mom reveals what he said to her after becoming world champion

Lewis Hamilton’s father came to congratulate Max Verstappen and his dad Jos

Max’s father Jos Verstappen praised Anthony Hamilton for coming up to them after the race. The Verstappen duo was seen sharing a moment alone when Lewis’ father Anthony came up to congratulate the two.

“When I was sitting with Max before he went up to the podium, Anthony was there.” Jos Verstappen said.

“He congratulated us, so that was really nice. And also, during the season, I had some conversations with him over WhatsApp. He’s really nice.”

A touching moment as Max and Jos Verstappen are congratulated by Lewis Hamilton’s father, Anthony 👊#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/5n2uaLrfr2

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 12, 2021

“They’ve won seven titles already so, for them, it is a bit different to when we won the first one, but he’s always respectful.” he said.

According to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, Hamilton is still in ‘pain and distress’ following last Sunday’s events. However, the way he carried himself after such a heartbreaking loss has earned plaudits worldwide.

Also read: Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits he is trying to convince Lewis Hamilton to come back to F1 next year