Hamilton pole-Maxed

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff launched a double protest. The Silver Arrows claimed Verstappen had, at one point, illegally nudged ahead of Hamilton when behind the safety car, and that the regulations were not followed when Masi brought in that safety car.

Mercedes insisted it should have stayed out for one more lap, meaning Hamilton would have followed it to victory.

The protests were rejected by the stewards and Mercedes immediately registered a notice of intention to submit another appeal, which would need to be tabled by Thursday.

But even if Mercedes do continue with their formal objections, the final standings are unlikely to be altered.

Hamilton congratulated his bitter rival immediately after the race but Verstappen then had to wait FOUR HOURS before his first championship triumph was confirmed.

“It is disappointing we had to go through that,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

“It has been an amazing year. I’m proud of Max and the whole team. He is the deserving world champion.” After the ruling, Verstappen said: “I might have a tiny drink. It’s been a stressful day!”

Hamilton looked to be cruising to an eighth crown until Nicholas Latifi’s late crash brought out the safety car.

And then Masi’s contentious decision gave Verstappen an unlikely chance to grab glory.

The new champion, the first non-Mercedes driver to triumph since 2014, said: “That was insane. It summed up the season – unpredictable and crazy.

“This has been a dream of mine – it is unbelievable.”

But the circumstances of the victory still left a sour taste in some mouths, with Williams driver George Russell, who will be Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate next year, tweeting: “Max is an absolutely fantastic driver and I have nothing but huge respect for him but what happened is absolutely unacceptable.”

KIMI RAIKKONEN suffered heartbreak in his final Formula One outing as the Finn was forced to retire. Renowned as being a man of few words, Raikkonen posted on Twitter: “Goodbye Formula 1.”