Lewis Hamilton went into the final race of one of the most controversial seasons of F1 believing he was fighting a Dutchman for his record eighth World Championship title. But in a race that was as contentious as anything previously seen the outcome was eventually decided on the last racing lap of the year - by a Canadian and an Australian.

It began with another near collision between Hamilton and arch-rival Max Verstappen. The latter had taken a stunning pole position, but was forced to start on the softer Pirelli tyres after flat-spotting one of his mediums. Hamilton, against expectations, grabbed the lead on his harder-compound medium tyres and got as far as Turn 6 before Verstappen dived for the inside. It was a trademark Verstappen move, insofar as it was spectacular but relied on somebody else moving over. Hamilton had to jink wide to avoid a collision and run across the corner as a result. Contentiously, the stewards decided he did not need to give the place back, as Verstappen had to for a slightly different move in Jeddah the previous week, because he had been forced to go wide rather than doing so deliberately.