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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Liam Llewellyn

Lewis Hamilton fans crash Max Verstappen party outside FIA ceremony in Paris

Some Lewis Hamilton fans made their presence known at the FIA Awards in Paris.

At the event, Max Verstappen was presented with the F1 world championship after winning the Abu Dhabi GP in dramatic circumstances.

The Briton, along with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, opted not to attend the gala following the controversial events at the weekend.

Avid supporters of the seven-time world champion are still aggrieved with the decision made on Sunday, and used a giant screen to make a bold statement.

Parked outside the awards presentation was a van, with an interactive message that read: "WeStandWithLewis" - a hashtag that has been trending on twitter this week.

Hamilton received an award of his own this week, as he was honoured with a knighthood.

This billboard was on show in Paris on Thursday night (Twitter)

The 36-year-old joined Sir Jack Brabham, Sir Stirling Moss and Sir Jackie Stewart as the fourth motorsport star to be knighted.

Hamilton, however, is the first to be awarded a knighthood while still an active driver.

The Mercedes driver was cruising to an unprecedented eighth world title on Sunday, having led arch title rival Verstappen by 11 seconds going into the remaining laps.

But a late Nicholas Latifi crash dramatically changed the landscape of the race and the title battle.

The safety car was brought onto the track and Verstappen opted for a change in tyres.

FIA race director Michael Masi initially instructed that lapped cars could not overtake the safety vehicle until it left the track, meaning there would not have been time for Verstappen to get behind his rival.

However, Masi later controversially changed his mind, allowing the cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves before ordering the safety car off the track.

Hamilton was controversially beaten by Max Verstappen at the Abu Dhabi GP (Getty Images)

Therefore, the Dutchman could get on the British driver's tail before overtaking him in a one-lap shootout, benefiting from driving on far newer tyres.

There were still more cars that should have been able to unlap themselves, according to the rules.

If these rules had been followed, then the race would likely have finished behind a safety car as it was the final lap, and as Hamilton was in the lead, he would have been crowned champion.

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