MERC ACE IS BOY IN BRAZIL

leads Hamilton by 23 points ahead of next week’s concluding race in Abu Dhabi.

He said: “All of these memories sort of come flooding back, starting off with my mum and dad in go-karting.

“And all the support from the rest of my family, my girlfriend, my trainer, my manager – the list is endless – and I can’t thank you enough.

“This is just the beginning.” But it was the collision between Hamilton and Red Bull’s Verstappen that was the main talking point. Hamilton took second while the world champion, forced to stop for repairs and then hit with a five-second penalty by stewards, came in sixth. He said: “I had no intention to back out and we both went off. I had the front-wing damage, but we were too close anyway, so there was not a lot we could have done.” Red Bull boss Christian Horner said: “I thought the penalty was hard.” Verstappen was later involved in a team row when he refused to move aside and let Sergio Perez overtake him.

Verstappen (left) had been allowed to pass Perez – who is battling for second in the championship – a few laps earlier to chase Alonso, but heading into the final lap refused to reciprocate.

Asked what happened, Verstappen said: “I told you already last time, you guys don’t ask that again to me, OK? Are we clear about that?

“I gave my reasons and I stand by it.”

Perez said over his radio: “It shows who he really is.”