Max Verstappen was crowned World Champion at the end of a sensational season, that saw him and Lewis Hamilton engage in a an astonishing battle until the very last corners of Yas Marina.

Arriving in Abu Dhabi with the exact same number of points – 369.5 each – turned the season finale into an all or nothing showdown that was decided on the last lap.

“Fantastic,” commented Fernando Alonso after the race. “He’s a champion, it was a matter of time that he would win the trophy.”

“I think today he was lucky. Without the safety car Lewis was World Champion, and with the safety car Max is World Champion. So it is a pure luck thing, what happened today.”

Hamilton took the lead at the start from pole sitter Max Verstappen and looked on the way to an historic 8^th title, despite an incredible defence from Sergio Perez that reduced the gap between the two contenders, until a late Safety Car turned things around.

At the restart, which spiked many controversies for the way it was carried out by race director Michael Masi, with only one final lap to go, Verstappen - on a fresh set of softs- took the lead after diving down the inside of Hamilton’s W12 around Turn 5 and kept it until the chequered flag.

“It is going to be a big topic I guess, but if you take the 22 races, as I said on Thursday any of the two could be a World Champion. I think more than any other year if you could split the trophy in two, this was the year to do it. Because both of them were outstanding.”

“Sure. Lewis as I said he was driving at another level, especially in the second part of the championship," he continued. “The Mercedes was the faster car, yes, but Valtteri [Bottas] was not second, it was Lewis putting out that performance.”

“When you lose the championship because of the safety car in the last moment, for sure you feel a little bit sorry. As I said on Thursday, I had a little bit more, 51-49 [per cent] for Max, and I was clear from the beginning, because I thought that over the season there were a couple more unlucky moments for Max than Lewis.”

“The new is sometimes more attractive than the old in terms of a new champion, it’s good when you see the grandstands. If Max wins one day four or five championships, then a new guy will come, and he will be like the big attraction. I think that’s what I feel now,” concluded Alonso.

Of the same notice Sebastian Vettel, who also expressed his sympathy for Hamilton.

“I'm happy for Max, but I'm mostly sorry for Lewis,” he shared. “I think he had an incredible end to the season. And to be honest, in my point of view, I don't care who wins, but I think they both deserve it. In the end only one can take it.”

“So yeah, it was an intense fight, good for the sport. And you know, it's always obviously if you're the lucky one, it’s great. If you're not, it's not great.”