Lewis Hamilton was unable to secure a record-breaking eighth Formula 1 World Championship title this weekend.

Heading into the final laps at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday, the Mercedes superstar looked to be on course to surpass Michael Schumacher as the sport's most decorated driver of all time.

However, what looked to be unfolding as a routine win for Hamilton was completely side-swiped in the dying moments as Nicholas Latifi's crash forced a last-gap safety car.

Controversy in Abu Dhabi

It was a game-changing twist that left everyone in F1 on the edge of their seats to see if the race would even restart and if so, would Hamilton be able to keep Max Verstappen at bay?

Well, in a dramatic chain of events, the Red Bull driver was indeed able to take the victory after being allowed to bunch up with Hamilton at the restart as lapped cars were waved through.

It was a controversial allowance from the FIA and one that allowed Verstappen to leave Hamilton in his dust to snatch the World Championship having entered the race on identical points tallies.

Anger amongst Hamilton fans

All in all, it made for a truly jaw-dropping sporting moment with Mercedes visibly angered by proceedings to the extent that they filed two protests about the way that the Grand Prix concluded.

At the time of writing, the Silver Arrows' arguments have been rejected, though they are pending an appeal, so we can only assume for now that Verstappen is indeed the world champion.

And that, naturally, hasn't gone down well with everyone in Hamilton's camp and there has been no shortage of support and sympathy from various high-profile figures across social media.

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Nicolas Hamilton takes to Instagram

However, one of the most impassioned reactions to Hamilton's controversial defeat came from his parental half-brother, Nicolas, who is himself a racing car driver. 

Nicolas didn't pull any punches in his assessment of how the FIA handled the situation, declaring his brother Lewis as the 'true champion', while also remaining respectful to Verstappen's achievement.

In a post 'liked' by none other than Usain Bolt, Nicolas penned: "The FIA broke their own rules, which is a disgrace to our whole sport. Nevertheless, regardless of being mistreated today, the Hamilton’s were humble in defeat.

"My father, the guy who raised us, congratulating Max & his father Jos. People can say what they like, but my Father’s gesture proves all of the doubters & haters wrong & shows who we are as ‘The Hamilton’s’.

"Proving people wrong is in our DNA, which Lewis does on a daily basis. With utter professionalism & decency in defeat, even though we all know, that he was let down by the sport that he has given so much to.

"Congratulations to Max for such a fantastic season from him."

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Watch this space

To Nicolas' credit, the Hamilton family has undoubtedly acted with class in the face of a controversial finish to the championship that would have prompted many people to throw their toys out the pram.

Not only did Lewis conduct him in remarkably magnanimous fashion during his post-race interview, but his father's aforementioned show of respect to Verstappen was also fantastic to see.

However, as far as the FIA's handling of the Grand Prix is concerned, it's clear that not everyone in team Hamilton is happy with how things were conducted and that's not likely to end any time soon.

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ENTER GIVEAWAY

We haven't heard the last of this, that's for sure.