Nicholas Latifi regrets influencing Max Verstappen-Lewis Hamilton’s championship match

Williams driver Nicholas Latifi has apologized and said his intention was not to play such an important role in deciding the outcome of the F1 championship at the Abu Dhabi GP on Sunday.

Latif’s collision in lap 52/58 was a spark for a safety car that changed the entire race and put Controversial Max Verstappen past rival Lewis Hamilton for victory and championship.

Verstappen’s boss Christian Horner joked to Sky Sports after the race to make sure he got a lifetime Red Bull for the Canadian driver.

Latifi said he had no idea how nicely the title battle was ahead and blamed the crash on the driver’s mistake.

“It was never my intention, and I can only apologize for influencing and creating an opportunity,” Latifi said. “I made a mistake.”

He added: “We just struggled to get a grip on the next twists and especially where I ended up running away.

“It’s been an awkward bend for me all weekend, so dirty tires, dirty air and I made a mistake.

“I wasn’t aware of the state of the competition until then. Apparently it was never my intention to accidentally influence it, but I made a mistake and destroyed my own competition.”

The controversy over the situation was due to decisions made after the safety car was introduced. The FIA ​​initially said the toured cars could not disengage themselves by overtaking the safety car, but overturned the decision soon after.

Mercedes was angry and complained about the result after the race, but its protest was rejected.