F1: Verstappen triumphs in a season for history 4:49
(CNN) -
This Sunday, Max Verstappen clinched his first Formula 1 championship by beating Lewis Hamilton in a controversial season finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Verstappen was declared champion, but only after both teams spent hours in the stewards' box, after Hamilton's Mercedes team filed two protests against the result, which were dismissed by officials.
Mercedes on Sunday presented its intention to appeal the decision regarding the resumption of the race on the last lap, which could pave the way for more drama in the coming weeks.
Mercedes said Monday that "there is no further communication planned at this time" regarding its intention to appeal Sunday's result.
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Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton starred in the great rivalry of the 2021 Formula 1 season. The championship went to the Red Bull driver's record this year in a dramatic season-ending race, where everything was decided on the final lap.
As well as this confrontation, there are others in the history of F1 that have been lived with great drama.
Here we present them to you.
(Credit: Lars Baron / Getty Images)
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1974: Emerson Fittipaldi (left) and Clay Regazzoni (right) entered the last race of the season in the United States with the same points, the first time in F1 history that this had happened.
Brazilian Fittipaldi, whose grandson Pietro is a reserve and test driver for Haas, took the championship by finishing fourth.
(Credit: Eric Marrapodi / CNN)
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1976: James Hunt (pictured) won the title by one point over Niki Lauda on a rain-soaked track in Japan.
The dramatic season - in which Lauda suffered a near fatal accident - was the subject of the 2013 film "Rush."
(Credit: The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)
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1984: Niki Lauda (left) won the championship by 0.5 points - the smallest margin in F1 history - over Alain Prost (right) in Portugal.
Lauda had lagged behind Nigel Mansell in the race, but the Briton withdrew due to brake problems, which saw Lauda finish second and win the title from Prost.
(Credit: Shutterstock)
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1986: When he only needed a podium to win a dramatic three-way title fight in Australia, British driver Nigel Mansell suffered a tire blowout, allowing Alain Prost to clinch victory over Mansell and Nelson Piquet.
(Credit: Roger Gould / Getty Images)
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| 1994: After being separated by only one point when reaching the last circuit in Australia, Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill collided on lap 36, both retiring from the race. The stewards considered the collision a racing incident and Schumacher won his first championship. (Credit: Melchert Harry / picture alliance / Getty Images)
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1997: Perhaps the most infamous F1 season finale of all time, championship leaders Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve collided as the Canadian attempted to overtake in Spain.
Schumacher withdrew from the race while Villeneuve finished third to win the title, and the German - later deemed by the FIA to have caused an avoidable accident - was disqualified from the championship.
(Credit: AFP / Getty Images)
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2003: Michael Schumacher survived the collapse of the last day in Japan.
He needed to finish in the top eight to secure the title, and he started 14th on the grid, but managed to be eighth to take the title ahead of Kimi Raikkonen.
(Credit: Alexander Hassenstein / Bongarts / Getty Images)
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2007: Kimi Raikkonen (up front) won the title by one point over Lewis Hamilton (left) and Fernando Alonso (right) in Brazil.
Hamilton was leading on the final day, but a gearbox problem made him finish seventh.
Raikkonen took pole and secured a famous victory after arriving in Brazil in third position in the championship.
(Credit: Antonio Scorza / AFP / Getty Images)
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2008: Hamilton won his first world title by one point in Brazil, beating Felipe Massa.
The Brazilian looked to have scored a celebrated victory at home, but the Briton edged out Timo Glock at the last corner to clinch the fifth place he needed to clinch the championship.
(Credit: Mark Thompson / Getty Images)
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2010: Sebastian Vettel (left) defeated Fernando Alonso for the title in Abu Dhabi, in a final that started with four drivers who could claim victory.
Alonso only needed a fourth place to take the title, but finished seventh.
(Credit: Paul Gilham / Getty Images)
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2012: Vettel rallied from last place on the first lap to finish sixth in Brazil, taking the title ahead of Fernando Alonso by three points.
In passing, he became the youngest three-time world champion in F1.
(Credit: Paul Gilham / Getty Images)
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2016: Nico Rosberg snatched the title from his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi with a podium, despite the Briton taking pole.
A week later, Rosberg retired from F1.
(Credit: Peter J Fox / Getty Images)
What happened during the race?
The two titanic Formula 1 rivals this season arrived at the Yas Marina circuit tied on points.
Verstappen took the early lead by qualifying in first position after a magical qualifying lap on Saturday, but it was Hamilton who started the race best from second position, beating Verstappen before turn one and dominating most of the Grand Prix. with the rhythm of Mercedes.
There was controversy from the start, as there has been throughout the season, as Red Bull insists that Hamilton should have returned his top spot to Verstappen after the Mercedes driver left the track following contact with his rival.
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The stewards, however, decided not to investigate the incident and allowed Hamilton to continue in first position.
Red Bull then resorted to its plan B, with Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez deftly holding Hamilton after the Mercedes driver came out of the pits in second position.
Max Verstappen celebrates his victory in Formula 1.
The Brit finally found a way to beat Red Bull's racing car, but not until Verstappen was on his heels.
But Hamilton seemed to have done enough, building a double-digit lead, and was heading for victory before the chaos of the final lap.
The drama escalated when Williams Racing driver Nicholas Latifi crashed into the barriers with four laps to go, causing the safety car to exit.
While the Mercedes team decided they could not afford to pit Hamilton in case he lost the lead, Red Bull did opt to pit Verstappen and fitted him with a new set of soft tires.
Verstappen re-entered the track with five cars, one lap behind him and Hamilton.
The controversy reached a fever pitch when a message from race director Michael Masi initially said that the lagging cars between Hamilton and Verstappen would not be allowed to pass, only for Masi to appear to change his mind moments later, leaving the driver behind. Red Bull just behind Hamilton on fresh tires and just one lap ahead.
This meant that the race was restarted on the final lap, with Verstappen now cleared to start almost alongside Hamilton, even though the Briton had established a healthy lead.
The Dutchman, with new tires, had the pace necessary to overtake his rival at the fifth turn and win one of the most dramatic F1 races in history (and thus the Formula 1 title).
F1: what we can expect from next season 2:24
A controversial victory in Formula 1
Verstappen's victory prevented Hamilton from breaking the Formula 1 record he still shares with motorsport legend Michael Schumacher.
Although Hamilton offered his congratulations to Verstappen, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was visibly furious after the Dutchman's victory.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner called Mercedes' early appeals "a bit desperate."
Social networks were filled with angry reactions at the result of the race.
George Russell, Mercedes driver next year, said: "Max is an absolutely fantastic driver who has had an incredible season and I have nothing but enormous respect for him, but what just happened is absolutely unacceptable. I can't believe it. that we just saw. "
Former Formula 1 champion Damon Hill questioned the way the race was handled, writing: "This is a new way of running the sport where the race director can make these
ad hoc
decisions
. It has been a bit too much 'guess. what I'm going to do now, 'I think. "
For his part, the captain of the English team, Harry Kane, as well as Piers Morgan and the football commentator Gary Lineker are some of the celebrities who have shown their dissatisfaction with the final result on social networks.
However, Liverpool FC footballer Virgil van Dijk was among those who congratulated Verstappen, writing: "WHAT A BOSS!"
"It's crazy. I don't know what to say. I'm very happy for the team and all these guys. I enjoy working with them so much," an excited and slightly dazed 24-year-old Verstappen said after the race.
"Finally, today I have had a bit of luck. My team knows that I love them and that I want to do this with them for the next 10 or 15 years," he added.
With information from CNN's Amanda Davies and Matt Foster.