It's Sir Lewis Hamilton now; F1 veteran receives knighthood for services to motorsport

After Lewis Hamilton's heartbreaking defeat to Max Verstappen in the 2021 F1 Drivers' Championship, he had a moment to savour on Wednesday as he received his knighthood from the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle, hence, receiving the title of Sir.

The Mercedes F1 driver was awarded this honour in the 2021 New Year Honours list after matching Michael Schumacher's tally of winning seven world championships.

Lewis Hamilton receives knighthood

Lewis Hamilton appeared at the Windsor Castle along with his mother Carmen, who watched her son become the fourth F1 driver in history to receive the knighthood. Previously, Sir Jackie Stewart, Sir Stirling Moss and Sir Jack Brabham received this honour. He is now expected to make an appearance on Thursday during the FIA's end of season Prize Giving Ceremony in Paris alongside newly crowned champion Max Verstappen.

How did Lewis Hamilton lose to Max Verstappen?

Lewis Hamilton came agonisingly close to winning a record eighth F1 Drivers' Championship at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, only to lose to Max Verstappen after a controversial call was made by race control. Following Nicholas Latifi's crash on lap 53 of 58, a safety car was introduced in the race, bringing the pack together and thereby completing eliminating the Brit's 12 second lead over the Dutchman.

Michael Masi, who is the race director, was responsible to get racing underway as soon as possible since it would have been unfair for the world championship to be decided under a safety car. While race control did manage to restart the race, the manner in which they did so created massive controversy.

At first, it was declared that lapped cars will not be able to overtake the lead car, only to change this decision a few seconds after. Race control permitted five lapped cars to overtake Hamilton, resulting in a straight fight between Verstappen and the Brit to the finish line. Since the Dutch driver had pitted under the safety car for fresher soft compound tyres, he was easily able to pass the 36-year old to win the Abu Dhabi GP and his maiden F1 championship. Meanwhile, the Silver Arrows did manage to win a record eighth Constructors' Championship.