INTERNATIONAL: Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the Formula One championship, denying Lewis Hamilton a record eighth, with a last-lap overtake to win a season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday amid controversy and high drama. Hamilton's Mercedes team took the constructors' title for an unprecedented eighth year in a row but their run of double dominance was ended by the 24-year-old Dutch driver, his country's first champion.

Two post-race protests, which might have overturned the outcome, were dismissed but Mercedes refused to drop the matter and said they had filed notice of intention to appeal. Verstappen's hopes had soared when he qualified on pole position, sunk when he lost the lead at the start and rose again as the safety car came out and race director Michael Masi decisively pushed the boundaries late in the race.

The floodlit race at Yas Marina avoided the collision many had feared, with Verstappen sure to be champion if Hamilton failed to score, but instead left arguments raging long after the finish. As Verstappen and Red Bull bosses shed tears of joy, Mercedes's management turned on race director Masi.

 The safety car had been deployed after Canadian Nicholas Latifi crashed his Williams with five laps to go and Masi then decided not to demand all lapped cars pass it before resuming racing. That allowed Verstappen -- on fresher, faster tires after strategic stops -- to close and go wheel-to-wheel with Hamilton for the lead.

Just when it seemed the race would be finishing behind the safety car, which would have handed Hamilton the title, it turned into a sprint finish.

Verstappen says, "It's unbelievable. Throughout the whole race I kept fighting and of course that opportunity in the last lap, it's incredible. I'm still having a cramp but it's insane."

Hamilton, who had been heading for a fourth successive race win, congratulated the new champion. Verstappen ended the season with 10 wins to Hamilton's eight, having also led more laps and taken more poles and podiums.

Hamilton says, "Firstly, a big congratulations to Max and to his team. I think we did an amazing job this year. My team, everyone back at the factory, all the men and women we have and here works so hard this whole year. It's been the most difficult of seasons and I'm so proud of them, so grateful to be a part of the journey with them and yeah, we gave it everything. This last part of the season we gave it absolutely everything and we never gave up and that's the most important thing."

After 22 races, Verstappen had 395.5 points to Hamilton's 387.5. Mercedes scored 613.5 to Red Bull's 585.5. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz finished the race in third place, with AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda fourth and team mate Pierre Gasly fifth. Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas was sixth in his last race for the team, ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris and the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took the final point with the Italian team ending the season third overall.

Verstappen's Mexican team mate Sergio Perez, hailed as a "legend" by the Dutch driver for slowing Hamilton significantly while leading earlier in the race, was retired in the pits. The race hit immediate controversy on the opening lap when the title rivals almost collided after the Briton had taken the lead. Hamilton was pushed wide, cutting a corner as he came back still in front of Verstappen who had made a lunge on the inside and seemed to be ahead at the turn, and stewards decided no investigation was needed.

^{PHOTO: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX, MAX VERSTAPPEN CELEBRATING, SOUNDBITES FROM MAX VERSTAPPEN, LEWIS HAMILTON AND CARLOS SAINZ}