Abu Dhabi GP: How Red Bull defended Mercedes' protest after controversial Verstappen win

Lewis Hamilton's dominance on the race track was finally broken by his fiercest rival and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen as the Dutch driver went on to win the F1 World title the first of his F1 career. 

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix had drama and action that fans had hoped for with Verstappen clinching his maiden F1 title in a controversial fashion. Following Verstappen F1 Championship, Mercedes decided to protest Verstappen's victory, only to see it get turned down following Red Bull's argument.

Lewis Hamilton vs Max Verstappen: What Red Bull said after Mercedes lodged protest

After Max Verstappen's victory over Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes decided to lodge a protest, which was regarding Max Verstappen overtaking Lewis Hamilton and the safety car restart procedure. The safety car was called onto the track following Nicolas Latifi's crash, with little time left to remove the crashed car and clear debris off the track.

Red Bull team had pitted Max Verstappen and switched his old tyres with new ones ahead of the final lap of the race. The switch of tyres gave the dutch driver advantage over Lewis Hamilton who was dependent on the slower and fading tyres to take him past the finish line but it wasn't enough during the final lap.

Initially, it was decided that lapped cars will not be allowed to overtake the safety car, which would have cost Max Verstappen a chance to close the gap on Lewis Hamilton over one lap. However, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was in radio contact with F1 race director Michael Masi at that point and said that the team needed only one lap to finish a race properly.

Of the lapped drivers, only Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel overtook — those between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen while Daniel Ricciardo, Lance Stroll and Mick Schumacher decided not to pass the two. Max Verstappen, however, made his pass in the fifth turn despite Lewis Hamilton putting his Mercedes car even with Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: How Max Verstappen won his maiden F1 Championship 

Lewis Hamilton did take the lead in the initial part of the race, however, Max Verstappen was right on his tail and kept the pressure on the defending champion. The pressure on Lewis Hamilton slowly began to build, starting with lap 21 when Verstappen's Red Bull Racing teammate, Sergio Perez, fought Hamilton for the lead and helped Max Verstappen reduce Lewis Hamilton's lead to less than two seconds.

The dramatic final lap saw the lapped cars being allowed to overtake the safety car just before it was taken off. With Max Verstappen lining up alongside Lewis Hamilton, it was the Red Bull driver who took the advantage of his fresh tyres to seal the victory and break Hamilton's dominance.