There was a “brilliant” moment between Formula 1 rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen during the Abu Dhabi race weekend but cameras failed to capture it.
Before their press conference, journalist Tom Clarkson said Hamilton entered the room and gave Verstappen a fist bump and asked how he was doing. Clarkson remarked it was the perfect shot between the title rivals instead of a staged handshake.
However, it didn’t pan out how Clarkson imagined it. He told the F1 Nation podcast: “I thought ‘brilliant, that’s the shot, I don’t need to worry about this cheesy handshake thing anymore’. We had a Netflix camera in there. We had the two cameras we have in the press conference room anyway. There was even a photographer in there as well.
“So the press conference happens and they have a good natter. And then at the end, I said to the Netflix guy ‘ah, you must have enjoyed the fist-bump’. And he goes ‘oh, I missed it, mate, I missed it’.
“So nobody knows about this fist-bump except for me and the people in [there], about three others in the room!”
Despite the final race of the season ending in controversial circumstances both Hamilton and Verstappen have been respectful of one another in the wake of the event.
Verstappen picked up his first world championship after winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hamilton had been leading for the majority of the race but a safety car was deployed after Nicholas Latifi crashed. The race director Michael Masi restarted the race with a lap to go but allowed some cars to unlap themselves and others not.
This meant Verstappen was right on the British star’s tail and had the speed to overtake and hold the lead.
After the race Hamilton was dignified in defeat, saying: “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… have worked so hard this whole year. It’s been the most difficult of seasons. I’m so proud of them, so grateful to be a part of the journey with them.”
