Lewis Hamilton aces Saudi Arabia GP, F1 title race down to wire

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will go to the final race of the current season tied on points. Twenty one races done and the two will have to start all over to claim the crown of what has been the most well-fought season in a long time. 

Seven-time champion Hamilton, on Sunday, aced the chaotic inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Now, the winner at Abu Dhabi takes it all. 

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The race at Jeddah was marred by three standing starts, a pair of restarts, multiple safety cars and an intense back-and-forth between the title contenders. Hamilton passed Verstappen with six laps to go to finish first. Meanwhile his partner Valtteri Bottas finished third.   

Red Bull was allowed to negotiate a penalty for Verstappen, Mercedes head Toto Wolff slammed his headset in rage, and Hamilton drove into the back of his title rival before ultimately passing Verstappen for the win with six laps remaining.

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“Lewis, that has got to be the craziest race I can remember,” Hamilton’s engineer radioed after he crossed the finish line.

“Great job, guys, great job!” Hamilton replied. “That’s more like it, let’s keep pushing!”

A dejected Verstappen, who has seen his hold on the title race evaporate over the last three races, was dejected.

“It is what it is,” the Dutchman said. “I tried, at least.”

Verstappen was penalized for going off course on the second restart, was later told to yield position to Hamilton, but Hamilton ran into the back of his Red Bull to damage the front wing on his Mercedes. The two then went back and forth over the closing sequence.

But once the seven-time world champion passed Verstappen for good, Hamilton controlled the finish and won for the third consecutive race. The British driver has eight wins on the season and has now pulled into a tie with Verstappen in the standings.

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The championship will be decided next Sunday in the finale in Abu Dhabi.

Hamilton is the four-time defending F1 champion and seeking an eighth title to break the all-time record he shares with Michael Schumacher. The 24-year-old Verstappen is seeking his first championship and had dominated the season for Red Bull until this late three-race charge by Mercedes and Hamilton.

With inputs from the Associated Press