Chances are you will never be Brad Pitt, either. The F1 Arcade in Denver’s RiNo neighborhood, however, offers a simulation of being both behind the wheel and the life of the party in a setting that evokes Ocean’s Eleven.

The game bar, at 2734 Walnut St., is one of a handful launched this year by the F1 Arcade brand. The company opened its first simulator in London three years ago and has goals of running 30 of them worldwide by 2027.

Like the others, the Denver location aims to dazzle in the social media age. The interior is lined with 69 racing simulators, accompanying flatscreen TVs and enough computers to power the whole affair.

On a recent Saturday before 9 p.m., when the venue closes to those under 21, the outside buzzed with the nervy energy of a nightclub. Eager groups who made reservations to race (walk-ins, try your luck) waited in line down Walnut Street. Club employees checking IDs donned bomber jackets that shimmered gold. Others lingered in envy around a gleaming sports car parked out front.

Players can book a simulator and race with friends on three or five maps in a session. (It’s $22 per person for three races and $32 for five races weekdays before 2 p.m. Prices surge at night and on weekends to $31 per person for three races and $42 for five races.)

F1 Arcade also promotes the 15,000-square-foot space for employee outings, F1 watch parties and its food and drink menus. The Art Deco-inspired bar sells a full array of beers, wines, cocktails and liquors. The food menu boasts shareable appetizers such as Dynamite Fried Chicken ($16) and F1 Arcade Oysters ($15), taco flights (six for $22) and a $28 Wagyu burger.

Racing can be a visceral experience even on the most novice setting, with cars occasionally flipping around and the simulation chair rumbling as the car accelerates. For some, it may cause dizziness or nausea, employees advise. Here, drinking and driving a simulator is not frowned upon.

Despite the international appeal of Formula One and having an interior reminiscent of a Las Vegas casino floor, it was a local artist, Ally Grimm, who painted the mural that covers the exterior wall of the Denver game bar. (Grimm, who goes by a.l. Grime is also the director of the Denver Walls mural festival.)

Speaking of Vegas, an F1 Arcade opened in October inside Caesars Palace. Another is set to open in Atlanta early next year.

Malone, 84, will become chairman emeritus at Liberty Media, based in Douglas County, and advise management and the board after he steps down on Jan. 1. Liberty Media Board Vice Chairman Robert Bennett, who goes by Dob, will become chairman of that company, while Mike Fries, CEO and vice chairman of Liberty Global, will take on the chairman duties at that company, which is based in London but has executive offices and a large presence in Douglas County.

“Founding Liberty Media and serving as its Chairman has been among the most rewarding experiences of my professional life,” Malone said in a statement. “With the successful simplification of our portfolio in recent years and our operating businesses in positions of strength, I believe it is an appropriate time to step back from certain of my obligations, and I am very pleased to have Dob Bennett, my partner and colleague of 35 years, stepping into the Chairman role.”

Malone added that Bennett has been involved in all the key decisions throughout Liberty Media’s history and said that he plans to remain actively engaged in an advisory role.

“I want to thank John for more than three decades of partnership and mentorship. His legacy as a visionary business leader is without parallel and I am deeply grateful for his confidence,” Bennett said in the release.

Bennett has served as a director on the company’s board since 1994 and served as Liberty Media’s president and CEO between 1997 to 2005. After Malone’s resignation, the Liberty board will have eight directors, five of whom will be independent.

Fries, who has been CEO of Liberty Global since it formed in 2005, said Malone was willing to invest in what was a “small but ambitious” international cable operation in the mid-1990s. It now employs 30,000 people and operates cable systems in six countries.

“I often remind my team that we stand on the shoulders of giants in this industry, and none broader than John’s. His extraordinary wisdom and strategic guidance have been invaluable, and personally, I could not have asked for a better mentor and friend,” Fries said in a statement.

An electrical engineer by training, Malone moved to Colorado in the early 1970s to run TCI, a fledgling cable company founded by Bob Magness in 1968. Malone instilled financial discipline and honed dealmaking skills that brought TCI back from the brink and built it into the country’s largest cable television provider. He earned the nickname “Cable Cowboy” for his pioneering moves and aggressive dealmaking.

Malone’s success helped establish metro Denver as a hub for the cable industry and drew other cable companies and content providers to the region, generating thousands of jobs. He also shaped a cooperative and collaborative model that still guides the cable industry to this day, said Phil McKinney, CEO of CableLabs in Louisville, which Malone founded in 1988 to promote industry innovation.

Malone brought together the leaders of all the major cable companies to work together on new technology and improve the customer experience.

“At that time, he recognized that the industry would strongly benefit from a sustained, long-range integrated approach to research and development — a central organization to monitor, evaluate, report and collaboratively develop technology for the industry.  Today, half a billion people use at least one CableLabs technology every day,” McKinney said.

CableLabs, which was originally based in Boulder, played an important part in establishing that city as a tech hub. The collaborative continues to draw cable industry CEOs serving on its board to Colorado three times a year.

Malone had the same level of vision as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk did in their fields, said McKinney, who was the chief technology officer at Hewlett-Packard before joining CableLabs. But he also was “amazingly humble.”

“It is not a game of trying to be the smartest person in the room,” he said.

In 1991, TCI spun off Liberty Media, which focused more on the content of what moved through the cables rather than the hardware. The bulk of TCI was sold to AT&T Broadband in 1999, with other systems ending up with Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, and Cablevision.

Liberty Media became a holding company that acquired stakes in numerous companies over the years and spun many of them off. Current and past investments include the Atlanta Braves, Formula One Group, Quint, Starz, Sirius XM Holding, LiveNation Entertainment, QVC and HSN or the Home Shopping Network.

Liberty Global, which focuses on acquiring, building and operating cable systems outside the U.S., was another spinoff in 2005. That company in turn spun off Denver-based Liberty Latin America, which provides cable services in 20 countries, and Sunrise Communications AG, which is Switzerland’s second-largest telecom provider.

Malone emphasized cash flow over profits and generated a tremendous amount of wealth for his investors, including himself, across decades. TCI shares had an annual compounded return of 30% between 1973 to 1998, while Liberty Media returned 24% a year on average between 2006 to 2018. Returns have slowed since then.

Malone’s long-term record has triggered comparisons to Warren Buffett, although Malone, who describes himself as having high-functioning autism, has preferred to keep a much lower profile. While he has long helped shape what is in the media spotlight, he has avoided stepping into it.

Liberty Media now primarily consists of two branches: Formula One Group, ticker FWONA, which has a market value of $23.6 billion and Liberty Live Group, ticker LLYVA, which has a value of $8.3 billion.

As of Aug. 31, the company said Malone had 49.5% voting control of the Formula One common stock and 48.9% of the Liberty Live common stock. Forbes estimates Malone has a net worth of $11.1 billion. He owns about 2.2 million acres of land, making him the country’s second largest private land owner, with holdings concentrated in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Florida and Maine.

Unlike his business holdings, his land holdings are more focused on conservation and preservation rather than extracting a financial return.

Last month, Malone released an autobiography, “Born to be Wired” that details his years spent transforming television, helping wire the country for the internet, and growing multiple companies under the Liberty Media umbrella.

The sight of Lewis Hamilton, his tires kicking up a tail of spray as he sped through the rain toward victory at the British Grand Prix in 2008, stayed with the 8-year-old Norris, who was watching on TV.

On Sunday, Norris got his own win in a thrilling wet British GP — also involving Hamilton — in front of the British crowd.

“I got that picture of him going around and seeing all the fans standing up, that picture of what the atmosphere at Silverstone is like, and dreamed of that for many, many years,” Norris said. “Today I got to live that feeling myself.”

Amid spins, crashes and controversy, Norris held on to win and cut the gap to his teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri.

Norris had said it was the race he’d give up all other victories for.

He started third on the grid, overtook Max Verstappen for second, lost the place again due to a slow pit stop, then saw Verstappen spin out ahead of him. He took the lead after Piastri had to serve a 10-second penalty for sharp braking behind the safety car earlier.

It was McLaren’s first win at Silverstone since that Hamilton victory in 2008. Hamilton went on to win his first title that year. On Sunday, Hamilton finished fourth.

“This is a dream, winning at home. It����ap beautiful,” Norris told the team over the radio. “Thanks for the memory. I’ll remember this more than anything.”

He climbed out of the car and celebrated with both arms raised to take in the moment, before hugs with his team and his mother. On the podium, Norris closed his eyes with a smile as the British anthem played.

McLaren ignores Piastri’s request to swap

Piastri finished second behind Norris after the penalty. He asked for the lead back.

The Australian thought the penalty was unfair, arguing it was for a legal move that he and others had done before to slow down the cars behind before speeding off at the restart.

Adding an element of controversy to what����ap been an unusually friendly title rivalry, Piastri even suggested that if McLaren thought the call was unfair, the team could ask him and Norris to swap places to cancel the effect of the penalty. The team declined to do so.

Piastri had been leading the pack before a restart from safety car conditions and slowed to back up the cars behind, but did it sharply enough that Max Verstappen behind had to swerve to avoid him.

Once it became clear Piastri would have to serve the penalty at his next pit stop, Norris made sure the Australian couldn’t build a lead to cancel it out. Norris just needed to stay with his teammate and hovered two seconds behind, waiting to inherit the lead.

Piastri now leads Norris by eight points overall, cut from 15. It����ap the halfway point of the season, with 12 of 24 races remaining.

History for Hülkenberg

In a race with plenty of crashes and spins, Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg was third from 19th on the grid for finish in his 239th race of an F1 career that began in 2010. His team hadn’t finished in the top three since 2012.

Verstappen started on pole but ended up fifth after spinning from second behind Piastri at a safety-car restart, briefly dropping to 10th. The Dutch driver stayed third in the standings but it was another heavy blow to his title defense, leaving him 69 points off Piastri.

Smart strategy could win big, like it did for Hulkenberg, or risk everything. George Russell asked the team for slick tires on a slippery track and span off through the gravel a lap later, finishing 10th.

Rookies off the road

It was a rough day for the rookies. Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar crashed into the wall after hitting the back of fellow rookie Kimi Antonelli, saying he couldn’t see the Mercedes driver in the rain.

Antonelli later retired and fellow rookies Gabriel Bortoleto, Liam Lawson and Franco Colapinto all failed to finish too. Oliver Bearman made it to the end for Haas in 11th but crashed into teammate Esteban Ocon along the way.

The Los Angeles resident and founder and CEO of , a popular online fashion retailer, had a specific one in mind: a limited edition , a plug-in hybrid featuring Formula One-derived technology. The luxury car manufacturer only made 275 of them, Mente alleged in a federal lawsuit filed last month.

The price? $5.4 million.

So in 2021, Mente was put in touch with a Colorado attorney named Scott Oliver, who, according to the complaint, claimed to represent an exotic car dealer from France named Jean-Pierre M.R. Clement.

Clement, Oliver told Mente, purchased a “build slot” from Mercedes-Benz for the hypercar once it was completed, the lawsuit alleges.

Months went by. Mente waited for the date when he’d be able to select custom features for the car. But that date never came, because Jean-Pierre M.R. Clement wasn’t real. And the $5.4 million car? He didn’t have that, either.

Instead, in June 2022, Mente learned from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that he had been allegedly defrauded by a Texas man named Traveon Rogers, a serial con artist posing as the French dealer.

Mente, who could not be reached for comment, outlined these allegations in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Colorado on Feb. 18 against Oliver and Rogers, accusing them of orchestrating a multimillion-dollar heist. The lawsuit seeks the return of the $5.4 million plus further damages.

Rogers, who also could not be reached, is now in a Texas prison stemming from a criminal conviction last year.

Oliver, in a brief phone interview, said he simply served as the transactional attorney on the deal and knew nothing of the scheme. He did not say how he came to be connected to Rogers.

“Rogers was quite a character,” said the Longmont attorney, who has no disciplinary record with the Colorado Supreme Court. “Clearly he was able to convince people and get them to pay money and defraud people out of a lot of money.”

A 2023 of Rogers went viral on TikTok after he claimed to be worth more than $1 billion by investing early in Snapchat.

“I can sell (expletive), literally, and people will buy it,” he said in the video.

Indeed, his touts two billion-dollar exits and six multimillion-dollar exits — referring to when an investor sells part or all of their ownership of a company. He claims to have been a board member of Blue Apron, the meal delivery company, and an investor in major companies such as TaskRabbit, AngelList and BitPay. Rogers also says he was briefly an “athlete” in the National Football League.

In reality, court records show Rogers has accrued numerous arrests and convictions for a variety of schemes.

In 2019, Houston prosecutors charged him with felony theft for perpetrating a similar luxury car venture. In that operation, he forged contracts and banking documents and impersonated representatives from Aston Martin and a Cleveland Car dealership, court documents show.

A Texas judge last year sentenced Rogers to seven years in prison for the offense.

In 2023, Rogers faced another lawsuit over the same Mercedes-Benz AMG One hypercar scheme — also using Oliver’s law firm in Longmont, though the attorney is not named as a defendant in that case. He then took some of the $3.19 million earned from the transaction to buy a house in Houston, the complaint alleges.

Over the years, Rogers has been accused of inventing a twin brother to police investigating a sexual assault case, insurance fraud, perjury and assaulting a pregnant woman, among a litany of other charges.

His schemes prompted multiple YouTube and long  delving into to the myriad cases.

The Department of Homeland Security would not comment on its investigation of Rogers.

F1 Arcade, which combines a bar and restaurant with dozens of racing simulators, plans to open at 2734 Walnut St. next fall.

It will be one of the first U.S. locations for the U.K.-born concept, which aims to capitalize on growing American interest in Formula One racing.

“I think RiNo has long been the neighborhood for the best restaurants, bars in the city, and we connect with that,” said Jon Gardner, U.S. president of F1 Arcade.

The inaugural U.S. F1 Arcade opened in Boston in April. A Washington, D.C. location opened last month, and others are in the works in Las Vegas and Philadelphia.

In RiNo, F1 Arcade will lease a 15,700-square-foot building that Denver-based Magnetic Capital purchased for $5.25 million in the spring. Magnetic founder Dan Huml said he was approached by a broker representing F1 Arcade after going under contract to buy the property from Chicago-based Golub & Co.

Huml called F1 Arcade “an incredible concept” and said he did “pretty good” when he visited one and tried out racing for himself.

“The simulators really create this immersive experience where you are driving in a real F1 circuit,” he said.

This is the Magnetic’s fourth project in the neighborhood. He also developed the Federales restaurant building at 2901 Larimer St., the Sonder hotel at 3354 Larimer St. and the Brewdog building at 3950 Wynkoop St. The firm also has an office project underway in Cherry Creek.

Gardner said F1 Arcade is aiming for 30 U.S. locations in the next five years. The 69 simulators in RiNo will be full-motion, so guests will feel the turns of the track and hear the roar of engines in their ear.

F1 Arcade has a licensing deal with Formula One, which is owned by billionaire John Malone’s Douglas County-based Liberty Media Corp. Formula One and Liberty Media are investors in F1 Arcade, Gardner said.

While some might hear the word “arcade” and think skee-ball, Gardner said the company’s venues aim to “bring the glitz and glamour” associated with the racing circuit, which has pushed into the U.S. in recent years with races in Las Vegas.

The RiNo restaurant will serve cocktails in the $15 to $20 range and food ranging from a burger and flatbreads to a seafood tower.

No experience will be required to use the venue’s 69 simulators, which can be used by kids as young as seven. While families will be welcome during the day, the venue will be 21+ come 7 p.m. There will be a DJ on Thursday through Saturday.

Pricing depends on group size, but a group of three taking three simulators might pay $29 per person for three races, which could take around 30 minutes, Gardner said. A larger group of 10 might be assigned four simulators, so that people can bounce back and forth between racing, and eating and socializing.

Groups race against each other, Gardner said, while solo customers can race against Formula One legends.

“This is meant to be a shared experience — with friends, on a date, with colleagues,” Gardner said.

Liberty Media said Wednesday that Maffei would leave his role when his contract expires at the end of the year and become an adviser. The company’s 83-year-old chairman, John Malone, will be the interim CEO.

“While it����ap never easy to leave an organization as dynamic as Liberty, I am confident that this is the right time,” Maffei, 64, said in a statement.

He was a leading figure in the in 2017 from long-time rights holder Bernie Ecclestone. At the time, Maffei predicted “an enormous opportunity to grow the sport.”

The years since then have seen a boom in interest in F1, in part driven by the success of the Netflix series “Drive To Survive”. That����ap particularly true in the United States, which now hosts three races a year. The Las Vegas Grand Prix is next week.

Liberty Media that it was under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department over denying Andretti Global’s bid to become F1’s 11th team. Maffei said at the time that the company is open to new entrants applying, and potentially being approved, if certain requirements are met.

Liberty Media also expanded into motorcycle racing in April when it worth around $4.5 billion for the MotoGP series.

F1 team Alpine has secured a 200 million euro ($218 million) investment from a group of investors that includes the actors.

French automotive company Renault Group — Alpine’s parent company — said Monday that the group has acquired a 24% stake in the team. It includes Otro Capital, RedBird Capital Partners and Maximum Effort Investments, which is led by Reynolds.

“The transaction values Alpine Racing Ltd. around $900 million following this investment,” the team said in a statement. “It will accelerate Alpine’s growth plans and sporting ambitions in F1.”

Other investors include actor Michael B. Jordan.

Reynolds and McElhenney completed a $2.5 million takeover of Welsh soccer team Wrexham in November 2020. The club was thrust into the global spotlight because of its A-list owners and secured promotion to the fourth tier of English soccer this season.

With drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, Alpine stands fifth in the constructors’ championship. The team was fourth in the constructors’ standings last year and has been struggling in its goal to close the gap on Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes this season.

Renault said the investors have an expertise in the sports industry, having previously worked with the Dallas Cowboys, Fenway Sports Group, the NFL, French soccer club Toulouse and Wrexham.

Renault said Alpine Racing SAS, the entity manufacturing F1 engines in France, is not part of the transaction and will remain entirely owned by Renault Group.

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Sir Lewis Hamilton, whose 103 wins are first in F1 history and whose seven series championships are tied for the most, was announced Tuesday as a limited shareholder.

“He is a champion competitor who knows what it takes to lead a winning team and a fierce advocate for global equality, including in his own sport,” Rob Walton said in a statement. “With over 100 race wins, Lewis is considered the most successful F1 driver of all time. His resilient spirit and standard of excellence will be an asset to the ownership group and the Broncos organization.”

Hamilton, 37, is a limited shareholder along with Mellody Hobson and Condoleezza Rice. The group is headed by Walton, Greg Penner and Carrie Walton-Penner.

Via Twitter, Hamilton wrote, in part: “Excited to join an incredible group of owners and become a part of the Broncos story!! Honored to work with a world-class team and serve as an example of the value of more diverse leadership across all sports.”

Hobson, Rice and Hamilton are Black, giving the Broncos a diverse ownership group that was the desire of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Walton and Co. agreed to purchase the Broncos for a world-record sports franchise price of $4.65 billion on June 8. The group’s bid was approved by the NFL’s Finance Committee last week. The final step is gaining approval from at least 24 of the league’s 31 teams during a special meeting next week in Minneapolis.

Hamilton’s instant tie to the Broncos is through quarterback Russell Wilson, who saluted Hamilton on Twitter before Tuesday’s practice. In 2018, at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, Wilson was the passenger and Hamilton the driver in a street car around the circuit. And in May, Wilson and his wife, Ciara, were guests of the Mercedes race team for the Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo.

Hamilton grew up in Stevenage, England, about 35 miles north of London, where the Broncos will play the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 30. On that day, though, Hamilton will be driving in the Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton joined Formula One with the McLaren team in 2007 and won his first points title in ’08.

After six seasons with McLaren, Hamilton signed with Mercedes in 2014, with whom he has won six world titles (2014-15 and 2017-20). He is sixth in this year’s standings with no wins and six top-three finishes. He is the only Black driver to win an F1 race.

Hamilton’s seven championships are tied with Michael Schumacher for the most in F1 history and he is the record holder for pole positions (103) and podium (top three) finishes (188).

Last December, Hamilton was awarded the “Sir” title when he was knighted by the Prince of Wales during a ceremony at Windsor Castle. He became the fourth driver to be knighted, joining Sir Jack Brabham, Sir Stirling Moss and Sir Jackie Stewart, and the first to be awarded the honor while still an active driver.

Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett was informed before practice of Hamilton joining the ownership group.

“That����ap pretty awesome; I was shocked,” Hackett said. “He’s a legend. Anytime you can have a winner of that caliber, it����ap an honor to be a part of an organization that he is.”

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Sebastian Vettel considered retiring from Formula One for quite some time before finally announcing Thursday this season will be his last.

The German, who joined Instagram on Wednesday, used the platform one day later to announce he plans to spend more time with his family and work on causes close to his heart.

Vettel won his four F1 titles from 2010 to 2013 with Red Bull, but his last victory was with Ferrari in 2019. His best finish this season with Aston Martin is sixth.

“I feel that obviously this decision has been in my head for so long now, and has taken so much energy to be honest, and maybe even at times distracted me,” he said Thursday. “There was a lot of thought leading into this. I think it’s the right time for me to do other things.

“So much dedication means also a lot of time spent in your head, in your thoughts, but also physically away from home, from kids, family,” added the 35-year-old. “I’ve grown other things, other than the children who are growing, it’s other interests and views. I can’t ignore these voices.”

He has been increasingly outspoken on environmental issues.

“It’s one of the one of the factors that definitely played a role,” he added. “I understand that part of my passion, my job is coming with things that I’m not a fan of, obviously, travelling the world, racing cars, burning resources. Once you see these things, and once you’re aware, then I don’t think you can really unsee.”

Vettel has won 53 races, the third-highest total in F1 behind Lewis Hamilton (103) and Michael Schumacher (91). He won an F1 record 13 races in 2013.

Vettel became the youngest world champion at 23 in 2010 and later became the third driver to win four consecutive championships after F1 greats Juan Miguel Fangio and Schumacher, his idol. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has since won four straight.

Vettel’s title bids with Ferrari were unsuccessful after promising starts were undone by driver errors. He led the standings at the midway point in 2017 and was in contention the following year, only to lose both championships to Hamilton. He crashed from pole at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2017 and swerved off track into the barriers when comfortably leading the rain-soaked German Grand Prix the following year.

He was stunned when Ferrari did not renew his contract after he struggled to compete alongside newcomer Charles Leclerc in 2019, and again in 2020.

“It’s sad. Obviously it’s going to be strange not to see Seb in the paddock,” Leclerc said. “I arrived the first year and I was probably very weird to him because I was just shy and didn’t know what to say. Now he’s a friend and he always texts me.”

Along with Hamilton, Vettel has also been increasingly vocal about human rights conditions in countries where F1 races.

“I am tolerant and feel we all have the same rights to love, no matter what we look like, where we come from and who we love,” he said.

His stance on protecting the environment has also escalated. At the Austrian GP in Spielberg three weeks ago, he wore a T-shirt with “Save the Bees” written on it. At the Canadian GP in June he had the message, “Stop mining tar sands. Canada’s climate crime,” written on his race helmet.

“I feel we live in very decisive times and how we all shape these next years will determine our lives. My passion comes with certain aspects that I have learned to dislike,” Vettel said. “They might be solved in the future but the will to apply that change has to grow much, much stronger and has to be leading to action.”

Vettel’s team is sponsored by Saudi state oil firm Aramco.

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez understood Vettel’s decision.

“It’s extremely personal. It’s how you feel and what you want to do,” the 32-year-old Mexican driver said. “You put other priorities in place and you are not willing to pay the price of being an F1 driver.”

Vettel’s former Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo said F1 will miss Vettel.

“You’re losing a bit of a legend of the sport,” Ricciardo said.

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jr. and George Russell of Mercedes praised Vettel’s endearing human side.

“Everyone in the paddock loves him and you will hear anything saying a bad word about Seb,” Sainz said. “I hope we will see him back helping the sport in some of the ways he’s been very vocal about.”

Russell called Vettel “such an inspiration” and will miss the meetings when Vettel spoke up for drivers.

“You do learn how much general knowledge he has, how much F1 knowledge,” Russell said. “It is quite inspiring to see. Above all he’s just a great bloke, a great human being.”

World champion Max Verstappen praised another of Vettel’s achievements: growing his new-look, floppy, surfer’s hairstyle.

“It grew back magically,” Verstappen said. “I wish I had that.”

___

AP Sports Writer James Ellingworth in Düsseldorf, Germany, contributed to this report.

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More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and 2https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Mercedes filed two protests after the race, which were dismissed more than four hours after the race and Verstappen’s first world championship was upheld.

Hamilton led 51 of the 58 laps and was only five trips around Yas Marina Circuit away from passing Michael Schumacher in the record books with an eighth championship Sunday. Then a crash gave Verstappen and Red Bull one final chance.

Whatever Hamilton said over his radio when Nicholas Latifi’s spin into the wall brought out the safety car was only replayed as one long bleep to cover the expletives.

F1 race director Michael Masi took his time figuring out how to conclude the race before controversially settling on one final lap of racing to decide the title. Verstappen started the final lap just behind Hamilton, chasing him through the first four turns.

Verstappen made his pass on the fifth turn and Hamilton had one last shot. He pulled his Mercedes even with the Red Bull in turn nine but couldn’t clear Verstappen, who surged ahead to become the first Dutch world champion.

Verstappen and Red Bull celebrated in a champagne soak, received hugs from his fellow competitors — including Hamilton and Hamilton’s father — and made his way to the DJ to jump wildly up and down to the music. The “Orange Army” of Dutch fans erupted in joy and fired off their traditional orange flares. The fans also chanted Latifi’s name as they exited the circuit.

“It����ap just insane, I mean, my goal when I was little was to become a Formula One driver and to go for wins, to be on the podium,” said Verstappen. “When they play the national anthem, you want it to be yours and when you stand here and they tell you that you are the world champion, it����ap something incredible and special.”

Verstappen, the only F1 winner to compete under the Dutch flag, was congratulated on Twitter by Prime Minister Mark Rutte. He said the win was a “A historic day for Dutch sport.”

It was a fitting end to a season that saw the two contenders go wheel-to-wheel over 22 races spanning four continents and arrive in Abu Dhabi tied in the championship standings. It marked the first time the contenders were equal at the season finale since 1974.

The two combined for 18 of the victories, with Verstappen winning 10 times — equaling the number of wins scored over his first six seasons in F1. Verstappen led an F1-high 652 of the 1,211 laps this year and scored 18 podium finishes.

But he’s been criticized this year over his aggressive driving with Hamilton himself saying Verstappen was over the edge. The two crashed three times this season and Verstappen was sent to the hospital for evaluation following one incident at Silverstone.

Verstappen had complained all weekend that he’s been treated unfairly by the race stewards, who he believed held him to a higher standard than other drivers. He repeated that he wanted race control to play no role in the finale, but when Masi did, it went in Verstappen’s favor with the final one lap of racing to decide the title.

“I think (the track) was clear, so why would you run it out behind the safety car?” Verstappen said. “When everything is clear, you have to release the track, so I think that����ap a fair point from the race director. Of course, now it works for me. But it also works against me, I know that.”

Hamilton did not participate in the post-race news conference with Verstappen and third-place finisher Carlos Sainz. He did one interview before the victory podium and congratulated Verstappen and Red Bull.

Hamilton, who turns 37 next month, won three consecutive races coming into the finale to knock all 19 points off Verstappen’s lead in the standings. But his eight wins this season are the fewest for Hamilton since 2013, when he only won once and finished fourth in the standings.

He praised the effort of Mercedes.

“It����ap been the most difficult of seasons. I’m so proud of them, so grateful to be on the journey with them. We gave it absolutely everything, we never gave up and that����ap the most important thing,” Hamilton said. “I’ve been feeling great in the car this past couple of months, particularly at the end. But if I’m honest, we’re still in the pandemic and I just wish everyone to stay safe and have a good Christmas with their families, and we’ll see about next year.”

The bitter rivalry between Mercedes and Red Bull got the ending it deserved — one that left the victor almost speechless.

“Oh my God!” Verstappen screamed over his radio as he crossed the finish line.

“You are the world champion! The world champion!” screamed back Red Bull boss Christian Horner.

“Let����ap do this for another 10 or 15 years!” Verstappen replied.

Red Bull won its first F1 title since 2013; Mercedes had won every championship since.

The mood was far different in the Mercedes camp, where Hamilton sat motionless in his car for several moments as other drivers made their way to congratulate Verstappen. The defeat ended his reign of four consecutive titles and denied Hamilton a chance to pass Schumacher as best all-time in F1.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was incredulous on the radio, demanding “the last lap be reinstated.”

“Toto, it����ap called a motor race,” Masi tersely replied. “We want car racing.”

Hamilton received a long hug from his father, who then went to the Red Bull garage and hugged both Verstappen and Verstappen’s father. Jos Verstappen was himself a former F1 driver and raised his 24-year-old son to become a world champion.

It took Verstappen seven seasons to make it to the top — he was the youngest driver in series history when he debuted at age 17, and the youngest winner when he won the next season at 18 — and he savored it with “Jos The Boss.” His father had not even made it to congratulate his son before he’d pulled on a championship sweatshirt.

Jos Verstappen, a one-time teammate of Schumacher, was winless in 107 races over eight season.

“With my dad, traveling through all of Europe, for that one goal to be in the Formula One, to hope that you can win a race and hear your national anthem, and then of course the ultimate goal is the world championship, which is very hard to achieve,” said Verstappen.

Mission accomplished and Red Bull celebrated by playing “We are the Champions” in its garage.