Nicholas Latifi shocked by 'death threats' after recent Hamilton vs Verstappen controversy

Williams driver Nicholas Latifi played a huge part in Red Bull Driver Max Verstappen piping Lewis Hamilton and winning his maiden F1 World Championship during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Hamilton vs Verstappen rivalry had come down to the final race with World Championship on line.

In the end, it was the Dutch driver who claimed victory at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in a controversial fashion. However, Max Verstappen's win has now come at a cost for Nicholas Latifi with reports emerging that he received death threats following the crash.

Nicholas Latifi receives death threats

Nicholas Latifi crashed his car with only a few laps to go prompting the safety car to be brought onto the track. The change in safety car procedure gave Max Verstappen the opportunity to pass Mercedes Lewis Hamilton on the last lap and claim the win. After that crash episode, Nicholas Latifi released a statement over the online abuse and death threats he has been receiving. Here's what Nicholas Latifi had to say in his statement.

Hamilton vs Verstappen rivalry: Highlights from the final race of the season 

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was all about the winner takes all and it was Verstappen who danced on the chance. Lewis Hamilton lead the race for 57 laps but a yellow flag was brought out after Nicholas Latifi crash incident during the 37th lap. When Virtual Safety Car was brought on the race track, Rd Bull decided to pit stop Max Verstappen and change tyres of his car. However, Mercedes team director Toto Wolff was not pleased and asked Michael Masi the race director to not introduce any more safety cars in the race.

It was initially decided that as per the rules "lapped cars will not be allowed to overtake the safety car," however change in the decision at the final moment saw five cars between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen being allowed to get ahead of the.  The decision proved to be a blessing in disguise for Verstappen, who was on fresher soft tyres, went past Leis Hamilton with ease, to clinch his maiden F1 championship. Following Verstappen's "controversial" victory, Mercedes F1 protested the decisions made by race control. However, they did not find any solace as their protests were rejected and the Red Bull Racing driver was confirmed 2021 Formula 1 champion.