Three years on from the toughest day of Lewis Hamilton’s career in Abu Dhabi, this final lap at the Yas Marina Circuit was altogether sweeter. There was no dodgy interference here; just pure racing.
Sure, it didn’t really matter. Hamilton does not compete in F1, a month before his 40th birthday, to finish in fourth. Who even knows how bothered his teammate was in defence? But swooping around the outside of George Russell in the Marina section of lap 58 reminded the world – even if television coverage did excruciatingly cut away – why Ferrari pursued the Briton for half a dozen years.
