Horner offers Latifi ‘a lifetime supply of Red Bull’ for late F1 crash

Lewis Hamilton appeared to be on course to claim both the win and world championship in Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix until a late safety car turned the race on its head and opened the door for Verstappen to snatch the title. 

The safety car was deployed after Latifi crashed at Turn 14 with six laps to go. At that stage Verstappen had sat 12 seconds behind Hamilton, but Red Bull gambled to pit the Dutchman for fresh soft tyres while the race was neutralised. 

Verstappen used his faster rubber to pass Hamilton in a controversial last-lap sprint to the flag to prevent his rival from making F1 history by winning an unprecedented eighth world title. 

Speaking in an interview with Channel 4, Horner, who had admitted that Red Bull was in need of a ‘miracle’ to win the title in the closing stages of the race, quipped: "He'll be getting a lifetime supply of Red Bull for sure.” 

“We needed something from the racing gods in the last 10 laps,” Horner added to Sky Sports. 

"Thank you Nicholas Latifi for that safety car. I have to say with the stewards... they did great to get the race going again.” 

Latifi apologised for the crash and stressed it was never his intention to influence the outcome of the world championship. 

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

"We were just really struggling for grip through the next sequence of corners, and especially where I ended up going off.

“It's been a tricky corner all weekend for me, so dirty tyres, dirty air and I made a mistake.

"I wasn't aware of the situation of the race up until then. Obviously it was never my intention to inadvertently influence that, but I made a mistake and ruined my own race.”