Daniel Ricciardo had the best seats in the house for the decisive, dramatic and highly controversial final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the McLaren driver directly behind the contenders for a crazy lap that left him with mixed feelings. Sound familiar?
By now we all know what happened Sunday night at Yas Marina Circuit, Verstappen snatching what would've been Hamilton's eighth Crown on the last lap of the Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver claiming his first F1 World Title after a controversy packed final minutes of an unforgettable race.
After 22 grueling rounds, it all culminated, in a one-lap sprint that had just about everyone confused as the FIA's Race Director Michael Masi and his stewards turned what should have been a showcase finale into the laughing stock of motorsport.
Record numbers of viewers who watched F1's 'Race of the Century aka its 'Clash of the Titans', many tuning into the sport for the first time would not have been impressed with what transpired.
While Verstappen is, without doubt, a worthy Champion he deserved a better ending to his epic season, deserved to be crowned without controversy, with dignity and in style.
And allowing Mercedes to take defeat with humility and grace. Neither happened.
It was like the World Cup Final refereed by a Sunday league 'ref' and 'officials' picked from the bleachers
Ricciardo, a veteran of 210 Grand Prix starts, watched matters unfold on that one lap decider and said over the team radio: "I'm glad I'm not part of that, whatever just happened. That seemed pretty fucked up."
Later, after the race at Yas, the Australian told reporters: "Crazy! I’m honestly a bit speechless. I don’t know what to make of all that. At the end, it was kind of weird, they said cars can't pass, the lapped cars, then some of them did, but then I wasn't allowed to.
"We did a one-lap restart, I'm sitting right behind Lewis and Max, like, why am I here? I don't know. It was very interesting. Just when you think the season could not get any more dramatic, it does.
"I don’t even know if this is good because I think people’s TVs are just going to explode. I don’t think it can handle that much drama, I don’t think the watts on a TV can handle it. It was a lot."
Ricciardo: Congratulations Max but I feel for Lewis
The Aussie was Verstappen's teammate at Red Bull for three years, and watched the young prodigy arrive in his team and win the first race. Before long it was clear that Max was the team's preferred option and Dan walked to Renault for a big bucks rather than be a number-two to the Dutch ace.
Nevertheless, Ricciardo praised his former teammate: “Obviously on one side I want to congratulate Max, first-time world champ, and obviously Red Bull, a team I know very well, I am of course happy for them. But I can’t say that in the same sentence and not say I feel for Lewis.
"He had the race under control and sometimes it doesn’t swing in your favour, the safety car – I mean it didn’t not only swing in his favour, it obviously cost him the title. I obviously do feel for him, so yeah, it’s a crazy end to the year.”
“I said before the weekend, there’s no loser. They’ve both done everything possible … but of course, for Lewis to lose it on the last lap, that’s a tough one today," added Ricciardo.
Before the race, Ricciardo revealed how the battle for the Title brought out the F1 fan in him, he explained the significance of the Verstappen-Hamilton contest in the context of F1 having been a one-man and one-team show for far too long.
“You want a battle like this," trumpeted the 32-tear-old. "You have got the veteran record holder on the one hand, and then the youngest ever winner on the other. It is a really cool battle and it is a great story. Obviously, they are going toe-to-toe, and it is real genuine battle.
“I have some envy not being a part of it, but ultimately for the sport and as a fan of the sport, it is a dream scenario," explained Ricciardo before a highly contentious ending to one of F1's greatest seasons.
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