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Entertainment

British royals’ Jamaica visit stirs demands for slavery reparations

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KINGSTON, March 22 (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate arrived in Jamaica on Tuesday as part of a week-long Caribbean tour, hours after activists protested to demand reparations for slavery amid growing scrutiny of the British Empire’s colonial legacy.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived in Belize on Saturday to start the tour that coincides with Queen Elizabeth’s 70th year on the throne, and will conclude it over the weekend with a visit to The Bahamas.

They were received by Jamaican foreign affairs minister Kamina Johnson-Smith and Defense Force Chief Antonette Wemyss Gorman at Kingston’s Norman Manley airport. They then left to meet Governor General Patrick Allen, who represents the British crown in Jamaica.

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Earlier, dozens of people gathered outside the British High Commission in Kingston, singing traditional Rastafarian songs and holding banners with the phrase “seh yuh sorry” – a local patois phrase that urged Britain to apologize.

“There are historical wrongs and they need to be addressed,” said Dr. Rosalea Hamilton, an economist and activist who helped organize the rally where demonstrators read out 60 reasons for reparations. Jamaica celebrates 60 years of independence in August.

“Part of the conversation is how we begin a new dispensation and (discussion) of actions for the new generation,” said Hamilton, dressed in a T-shirt printed with the phrase “seh yuh sorry.”

The royal visits to Caribbean nations are seen as an effort to convince other former British colonies – including Belize and The Bahamas – to stay on as “realms” of the British monarchy amid a rising regional movement towards republicanism.

‘WHAT ARE THEY DOING FOR JAMAICA?’

Dance hall singer Beenie Man in an interview with Good Morning Britain questioned the royal visit and expressed skepticism about the queen, saying “What are they doing for Jamaica? They’re not doing anything for us.”

Protesters gather outside an office of the British government to demand that the United Kingdom pay reparations for centuries of slavery, in advance of a visit by Prince William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, in Kingston, Jamaica March 22, 2022. The writing on the banner reads, “Say you (are) sorry.” REUTERS/Kate Chappell

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One Jamaican judge, Hugh Small, this month burned his ceremonial British judicial wigs in a symbolic protest of the fact that a London-based tribunal called Privy Council continues to be Jamaica’s highest court of appeals.

William and Kate are scheduled to participate in a “sports activity” and a “cultural activity” on Tuesday as part of the tour that wraps up on Thursday, according to a preliminary agenda seen by Reuters.

The couple had to change their itinerary in Belize following a protest by a few dozen indigenous villagers upset that the couple’s helicopter was given permission to land on a soccer field without prior consultation.

Marlene Malahoo Forte, who was Jamaica’s attorney general until January, in December told the local newspaper Jamaica Observer that she had received instructions from Prime Minister Andrew Holness to reform the constitution to become a republic.

That process would require a referendum, per Jamaica’s constitution, making it more complicated than in smaller Barbados – which was able to make the change via an act of parliament.

The government last year announced plans to ask Britain for compensation for forcibly transporting an estimated 600,000 Africans to work on sugar cane and banana plantations that created fortunes for British slave holders.

Jamaica lawmaker Mike Henry has proposed reparations package of 7.6 billion pounds ($10 billion).

He has said the figure is derived from a 20 million pound payment that Britain’s government made in 1837 to compensate slave owners in British colonies for the emancipation of enslaved people following the 1833 abolition of slavery.

(The story corrects typo in headline.)

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Reporting by Kate Chappell in Kingston and Brian Ellsworth in Miami; Editing by Aurora Ellis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Entertainment

British royal couple starts Caribbean tour dogged by protest in Belize

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BELIZE CITY, March 19 (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate arrived in Belize on Saturday for a weeklong Caribbean tour that was marred by a local protest before it even began amid growing scrutiny of the British Empire’s colonial ties to the region.

The arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge coincides with the celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s 70th year on the throne, and comes nearly four months after Barbados voted to become a republic, cutting ties with the monarchy but remaining part of the British-led Commonwealth of Nations.

Three miniature cannons fired a salute to the couple as their plane landed in Belize City before a military band played the national anthems of Belize and Britain at a welcoming ceremony that kept the media throng at a distance.

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William inspected a guard of honor as the band played local creole song “Ding Ding Wala,” then drove off with his wife to meet Prime Minister John Briceno.

Afterwards, Briceno told Reuters the duke and duchess were “excited to be here in Belize as we are delighted to have them,” adding: “We wish them a fruitful and memorable visit.”

The couple are due to stay in Belize, formerly British Honduras, until Tuesday morning. On the eve of their departure, an event planned for Sunday was scrapped when a few dozen villagers staged a protest.

Residents of Indian Creek, an indigenous Maya village in southern Belize, said they were upset that the royal couple’s helicopter had been granted permission to land on a local soccer field without prior consultation. read more

The village is in a land dispute with Fauna & Flora International (FFI), a conservation group supported by the royal family, stirring discontent over colonial-era territorial settlements still contested by indigenous groups.

A visit to a different site is being planned instead, Belize’s government said. In a statement, Kensington Palace confirmed the schedule would be changed because of “sensitive issues” involving the Indian Creek community.

In a statement, FFI said it had purchased land at the nearby Boden Creek from private owners in December 2021, and that it would conserve and protect the area’s wildlife while supporting the livelihoods and traditional rights of local people.

Without directly addressing the dispute, FFI said it bought the land to benefit the area’s ecological integrity, resident communities and Belize as a whole, and pledged to maintain “open and continuous dialogue” with the local community.

After Belize, the duke and duchess are due to visit Jamaica and the Bahamas. Meetings and a variety of events are scheduled with politicians and a range of civic leaders.

Dickie Arbiter, Queen Elizabeth’s press secretary from 1988 to 2000, described the tour as a goodwill visit that ought to give a temporary lift to the family’s popularity.

Today, many people in former colonies see the monarchy as an anachronism that should be let go, he said. But he expected that little would change while Elizabeth remained on the throne.

“The royal family is pragmatic,” he said. “It knows it can’t look at these countries as realm states forever and a day.”

POPULAR OPINION

Debates over colonial-era oppression, including possible reparations for the descendants of slaves in Jamaica, could push more countries to emulate Barbados’ recent move. read more

Carolyn Cooper, a professor emerita at the University of the West Indies, said the royal couple’s visit was unlikely to discourage Jamaica from opting for republic status.

“I think there is a groundswell of popular opinion against the monarchy,” she said.

Some in Belize, which gained independence from Britain only in 1981, speak warmly about remaining in the fold.

“I believe it’s a wonderful opportunity for them to appreciate the country’s multiculturalism, natural attractions, and to enjoy our culinary practices,” said Joseline Ramirez, a manager in the Cayo district of western Belize.

Others are less enthusiastic.

Alan Mckoy, a mechanic in Belize City, said he “couldn’t care less” about the royal family.

“They are no better than any of us,” he said.

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Reporting by Jose Sanchez in Belize City
Additional reporting by Dave Graham, Kate Chappell and Cassandra Garrison
Editing by David Alire Garcia, Edmund Klamann, Frances Kerry, Diane Craft and Jonathan Oatis

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US

Stuck at Mexico border, anti-war Russians sweat their futures as Ukrainians enter U.S.

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TIJUANA, Mexico, March 19 (Reuters) – Russians trying to enter the United States at the Mexican border are frustrated they are not getting in like Ukrainians are, despite leaving their homeland over the invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. officials have let dozens of Ukrainians through this week but Russians remain in limbo, prompting some to camp on the pavement alongside a barbed wire border fence, defying warnings from Mexican authorities to leave.

Irina Zolkina, a math teacher who left Moscow with her four children and her daughter’s boyfriend, burst into tears when a U.S. border agent on Thursday took one look at her stack of Russian passports and shook his head, saying they would have to wait – soon after officials ushered in six Ukrainian men.

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“There are so many years of fear that we’re living in … it’s awful inside Russia too,” she told Reuters in the Mexican border city of Tijuana opposite San Diego, California.

Zolkina showed Reuters a BBC video of her arrest for attending an anti-war protest on Feb. 24, the day Russia invaded Ukraine in what the Kremlin calls a “special military operation” that Western allies have denounced.

She was released a few hours later and left Russia with her children the following week, she said, passing through Tashkent and Istanbul before reaching the Mexican beach resort of Cancun – a common jumping-off point for Russians heading to the U.S. border.

Over 3 million Ukrainians have become refugees, according to the United Nations, most of them in countries bordering Ukraine. Thousands of Russians have also left their country, according to media reports.

Some Ukrainians crossing in Tijuana have been granted permission to stay in the United States for a year. read more

When asked on Thursday about Ukrainians and Russians at the border, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the government was helping people fleeing Ukraine, and that other programs were being considered to expand humanitarian aid.

The U.S.-Mexico border has been closed to most asylum seekers under a coronavirus pandemic policy. read more

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, asked about current policy towards Russians, said the agency makes exceptions to the order on a case-by-case basis for “particularly vulnerable individuals.”

‘UNFAIR’

A couple of dozen other Russians have for several days wrapped themselves in thick blankets to sleep feet from the border wall, hoping U.S. officials will hear their pleas for protection.

A Russian couple embrace as they wait for a humanitarian visa at the San Ysidro Port of Entry of the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana, Mexico March 15, 2022. Picture taken March 15, 2022. REUTERS/Jorge Duenes/File Photo

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“It’s unfair that we can’t get in,” said Mark, 32, a restaurant manager who came from Moscow with his wife, flying to Mexico via Turkey and Germany in early March.

Both were arrested for three days last year after protesting in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, said Mark, who asked to withhold his last name. He said going back to Russia was not an option after new legislation that imposes up to 15 years in jail for actions found to discredit Russia’s army.

“This is our decision to be here and wait on the floor,” Mark said, seated on a blanket while watching hundreds of tourists and U.S. citizens enter San Diego. “If we leave this place, everyone will forget about this problem immediately.”

Between October 2021 and January, U.S. government data showed border officials encountered about 6,400 Russians, some of whom said they were dissidents and are now in the United States. read more The Russian Embassy said in a statement then that it had contacted U.S. authorities about those citizens.

In Tijuana last week, Mexican officials handed out flyers in Russian listing nearby migrant shelters and a letter saying Russians can request asylum but should not camp at the busy border.

Staying there ran “the risk of the United States deciding to close the crossing for internal security reasons,” said the letter signed by Tijuana migration director Enrique Lucero.

Mexico’s migration institute did not respond to a request for comment.

For now, the Russians are staying put.

Mikhail Shliachkov, 35, seated on a cot under a parasol to take cover from the glaring sun, said he resolved to go to Mexico with his wife the day after the invasion, fearing he would be called up to fight close relatives in Ukraine.

“I don’t want to kill my brothers, you know?” he said, showing a photo of his birth certificate that states his mother was born in Ukraine.

As the Russians wait, U.S. border officials have also turned away asylum seekers from Nigeria, Colombia, Honduras and Mexico, sparking complaints of unfair treatment.

“There’s an element of racism by U.S. authorities,” said Kevin Salgado, 19, a Mexican from the violent state of Michoacan, where he said his father and 16-year-old brother, both members of a community police, were killed.

“Why are they letting the Ukrainians pass? … Can someone explain to us?”

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Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; additional reporting by Dave Graham and Ted Hesson; editing by Grant McCool

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Health

U.S. poultry producers harden safety measures as bird flu spreads

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CHICAGO, Feb 11 (Reuters) – U.S. poultry producers are tightening safety measures for their flocks as disease experts warn that wild birds are likely spreading a highly lethal form of avian flu across the country.

Indiana on Wednesday reported highly pathogenic bird flu on a commercial turkey farm, leading China, South Korea and Mexico to ban poultry imports from the state. The outbreakput the U.S. industry on edge at a time that labor shortages are fueling food inflation. read more

The disease is already widespread in Europe and affecting Africa, Asia and Canada, but the outbreak in Indiana, which is on a migratory bird pathway, particularly rattled U.S. producers. A devastating U.S. bird-flu outbreak in 2015 killed nearly 50 million birds, mostly turkeys and egg-laying chickens in the Midwest.

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The United States is the world’s largest producer and second-largest exporter of poultry meat, according to the U.S. government.

“Everyone is just sitting on edge because we know what can happen and we don’t want a repeat of that,” said Denise Heard, vice president of research for the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, an industry group.

Poultry company Perdue Farms suspended in-person visits to farms to avoid spreading the disease, spokeswoman Diana Souder said.

Iowa’s Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig said a confirmed case in the country meant heightened risk for all.

“It’s time to move to a higher alert for our livestock producers,” Naig said.

Disease experts said a wild bird likely spread the H5N1 virus, which can be transmitted to humans, to Indiana from the East Coast, where officials have confirmed that wild ducks were infected with the strain. read more

The U.S. Agriculture Department called the disease low risk to people. read more

HEIGHTENED SECURITY

Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N) heightened biosecurity measures in its East Coast facilities after the wild bird infections, the company said on an earnings call on Monday. It said it reduced the number of trips to farms and started taking more time to clean vehicles.

Wild birds from the East Coast may have mixed with those that fly through a migratory path called the Mississippi Flyway that includes Indiana and major poultry-producing states, such as Mississippi and Alabama, experts said.

To better track the disease, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday it will expand monitoring of wild birds to the Mississippi Flyway and another migratory pathway, the Central Flyway, that includes Texas and Nebraska.

“It’s very likely that it can be all over the states – from the East Coast to the West Coast,” Heard said.

Other commercial poultry flocks may become infected as wild birds traverse flyways, though producers have improved safety measures since 2015, said Carol Cardona, an avian health professor at the University of Minnesota.

In one key change, farms often require people who enter poultry barns to change their boots and clothing so they do not bring in contaminated materials like feces or feathers.

“We recognize that the virus could be right outside the door,” Cardona said.

There have been more than 700 outbreaks of bird flu in Europe, with more than 20 countries affected since October 2021. Tens of millions of birds have been culled.

Britain’s government reported that the country was suffering its worst-ever bird flu season, while Italy has the highest number of outbreaks at more than 300. Hungary, Poland and France have also recorded significant numbers of cases.

The disease hit the United States at a time when poultry supplies are down due to strong demand and labor shortages at meat plants during to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Government data showed U.S. frozen chicken supplies were down 14% from a year ago at the end of December while turkey inventories were down 23%.

In Indiana, officials are testing poultry farms in a 10-kilometer control area around the infected farm in Dubois County. The state said on Thursday that all tests were negative but that testing will continue on a weekly basis.

Those negative tests have not relaxed James Watson, the state veterinarian in Mississippi, the fifth-biggest chicken-meat-producing state. He said wild ducks will likely continue to spread the virus until warmer weather sends them to northern breeding grounds.

“Even if they resolve this with no other issues, we’re still going to be on high alert,” Watson said.

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Additional reporting by Nigel Hunt in London; Editing by Caroline Stauffer, Mark Porter and Tomasz Janowski

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Business

Ford to suspend or cut output at 8 of its factories due to chip shortage

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SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Ford Motor (F.N) plans to suspend or cut production at eight of its factories in the United States, Mexico and Canada throughout next week because of chip supply constraints, a spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday.

The changes come a day after the Detroit automaker warned a chip shortage would lead to a decline to vehicle volume in the current quarter.

Production at factories in Michigan, Chicago and in Cuautitlan, Mexico will be suspended. In Kansas City, production of its F-150 pickup trucks will be idled while one shift will run for production of its Transit vans.

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The Detroit automaker will also run a single shift or a reduced schedule at its factories in Dearborn, Kentucky and Louisville, while removing overtime at its Oakville factory in Canada.

All changes will be in place for the week beginning Feb. 7.

Ford shares slumped on Friday, after the automaker posted smaller-than-expected quarterly income and forecast a slower recovery in 2022 vehicle production than rival General Motors (GM.N) read more

However, the company said it expected vehicle volume to improve significantly in the second half.

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Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Ben Klayman; editing by Jane Wardell

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World

Thirteen people die in Mexico highway accident

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MEXICO CITY, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Thirteen people were killed when their van overturned and flipped into a ditch on a highway in central Mexico, leaving another 10 people injured, officials said on Saturday.

Seven of the victims who died were initially trapped inside the car, the emergency services agency from Jalisco state said on Twitter.

The accident occurred near the city of Lagos de Moreno, on a highway that links the central states of Guanajuato and Jalisco, during a season in which Catholic pilgrims often visit a shrine in the nearby town of San Juan de los Lagos.

Photos from the emergency services agency show a large black van toppled onto its side in a deep rut along the highway, with what appears to be a shattered windshield.

The agency said 12 people lost their lives at the scene of the accident, including two children, and another person later died in hospital.

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Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Diane Craft and Daniel Wallis

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World

Mexican reporter killed, had told president she feared for her life

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MEXICO CITY, Jan 23 (Reuters) – A Mexican reporter who told the president three years ago that she feared for her life was shot dead on Sunday, the second journalist killed in the same area in a week and underscoring the country’s status as one of the deadliest for journalists outside a war zone.

Lourdes Maldonado, a local journalist with decades of experience, was shot dead in her car in the Santa Fe neighborhood of the bustling border city of Tijuana, just south of San Diego, California, the attorney general’s office of Baja California state said in a statement.

Asked at his regular morning news conference about the latest journalist slaying, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pledged a full investigation.

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“What happened is very regrettable,” said Lopez Obrador, adding that investigators still had to determine a motive and evaluate any possible links to a labor dispute Maldonado was involved in.

Maldonado appeared at Lopez Obrador’s morning news conference in 2019, pleading for help because she feared for her life.

A source with knowledge of the case said Maldonado had been registered in the state’s protection program for journalists, which included some police surveillance of her home.

From 2000 to 2021, human rights group Article 19 has registered 145 killings of journalists in Mexico, with seven deaths last year.

The killing of Maldonado occurred less than a week after officials reported that Mexican photojournalist Margarito Martinez, 49, died after being shot in the head outside his home in Tijuana. Maldonado was the third journalist killed this year in Mexico.

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Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Writing by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Howard Goller

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Business

Citi to exit Mexican consumer business as part of strategy revamp

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A Citibank sign is seen outside of a bank outlet in New York March 4, 2009. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

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NEW YORK, Jan 11 (Reuters) – Citigroup Inc (C.N) will exit its Citibanamex consumer banking business in Mexico, the bank said on Tuesday ending its 20-year retail presence in the country that was the last of its overseas consumer businesses.

Citigroup’s decision to sell or spin off Citibanamex, Mexico’s third biggest bank by assets as of June, is part of chief executive Jane Fraser’s strategy to bring Citigroup’s profitability and share price performance in line with its peers.

After taking up the top job last year, Fraser pledged to simplify Citigroup by exiting non-core businesses, including consumer franchises in 13 markets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. While Citigroup’s Mexican exit was not part of the announced plan it is consistent with that “strategy refresh,” Fraser said on Tuesday.

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Citigroup will retain its institutional client business in Mexico, as it has in other overseas markets. It will focus its consumer banking business on a targeted U.S. retail presence, global wealth management, and payments and lending, it said.

The bank’s acquisition of Banamex for $12.5 billion in 2001 was the largest ever in Mexico at the time and came amid a wave of foreign purchases after an economic crisis devastated the country’s banking sector in the mid-1990s.

Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who is ranked as the country’s third-richest man with a family fortune estimated in excess of $15 billion by Forbes, said he was analyzing if it was possible to acquire Citibanamex.

Other possible buyers for Citibanamex could come from Canada, where the big six banks have excess cash to spend on deals. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) already has a sizable Mexico business. read more

The local arms of Banco Santander (SAN.MC) and BBVA (BBVA.MC) would also have the cash, while Mexican institutions Banorte and Inbursa could use an acquisition of Citi’s operations to challenge this duo.

An industry laggard hobbled by creaky technology and poor risk-management controls, Citigroup’s seeming inability to fix its operational issues and boost its share price has frustrated shareholders. “Investor exhaustion” plagues the bank, Odeon Capital analyst Dick Bove said last month.

Fraser’s revamp amounts to the biggest overhaul for Citigroup since it was forced to unload assets following the 2007-2009 financial crisis. To date the bank has taken $2 billion in charges exiting Asian markets. read more

Before becoming CEO, Fraser was responsible for the Mexico business and for Citigroup’s global consumer bank. In that role she worked to build on investments the bank made to refurbish the Mexico consumer business which had been known as Banamex.

By disposing of the Mexico consumer businesses, “we’ll be able to direct our resources to opportunities aligned with our core strengths and competitive advantages,” Fraser said in a statement, adding Mexico remains “a priority market” for Citigroup’s institutional businesses.

“We expect Mexico to be a major recipient of global investment and trade flows in the years ahead, and we are confident about the country’s trajectory,” she said.

MERGER BINGE

Citigroup’s acquisition of Banamex was one of several led by Sandy Weill, CEO from 1998-2003, who built the bank into a U.S. giant and, some analysts believe, set it up for its problems.

Institutional investors and analysts, such as Mike Mayo of Wells Fargo, have long called for Citigroup to give up Citibanamex which they saw as drag on its investment returns.

Fraser’s predecessor as CEO, Mike Corbat, had invested more in Citibanamex even after it suffered loan losses in a massive fraud involving a supplier to Mexico’s state oil company.

Citigroup shares rose as much as 1% in after-market trading.

The bank did not estimate the cost of exiting the business or what it might receive in a sale. The business currently uses about $4 billion of tangible common equity.

The Mexico consumer businesses provided about $3.5 billion in revenue in the first three quarters of 2021 and $1.2 billion in pre-tax earnings, Citigroup said. They include $44 billion of Citigroup’s $2.36 trillion of total assets.

Citigroup said the timing of the exit is subject to regulatory approvals in the United States and Mexico.

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Additional reporting by David French and Noel Randewich; Editing by Howard Goller, Aurora Ellis and Muralikumar Anantharaman

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World

Statue of Mexico president in opposition stronghold toppled after two days

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MEXICO CITY, Jan 1 (Reuters) – A statue of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that had been erected in an important opposition stronghold lasted just two days, the state prosecutor said, after photographs of the apparent vandalism were shared on social media.

The statue had been unveiled on Thursday by outgoing Mayor Roberto Tellez Monroy in the municipality of Atlacomulco in the central State of Mexico, the hometown of Lopez Obrador’s predecessor, Enrique Pena Nieto.

The National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party Lopez Obrador heads had governed the municipality until recently before it fell back to the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, that has long ruled it.

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“The statue was demolished,” a spokesman at the state prosecutor’s office said. “It was an apparent act of vandalism.”

In order to start an investigation, the prosecutor’s office needs a complaint he said has so far not been presented.

Photographs shared on social media showed the headless statue lying on the ground.

Lopez Obrador remains popular in Mexico, with his approval rating at 64.3%, according to the latest Mitofsky poll on Saturday.

Atlacomulco city council did not immediately respond to requests for information on the incident.

In the past, Lopez Obrador has said that he does not agree with the erection of images of his person.

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Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz;
Editing by Sandra Maler

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Sports

Verstappen wins first F1 title in last lap drama

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  • Verstappen takes F1 title with last-lap overtake
  • First Dutch world champion
  • Hamilton misses out on record eighth crown
  • Mercedes are constructors’ champions
  • Sainz third for Ferrari

Dec 12 (Reuters) – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Formula One championship, denying Lewis Hamilton a record eighth, with a last-lap overtake to win a season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday amid controversy and high drama.

Hamilton’s Mercedes team took the constructors’ title for an unprecedented eighth year in a row but their run of double dominance was ended by the 24-year-old Dutch driver, his country’s first champion.

Two post-race protests, which might have overturned the outcome, were dismissed but Mercedes refused to drop the matter and said they had filed notice of intention to appeal.

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“It’s insane,” said Verstappen of a race that started with fans on the edge of their seats and ended in uproar, with lawyers looming.

Verstappen’s hopes had soared when he qualified on pole position, sunk when he lost the lead at the start and rose again as the safety car came out and race director Michael Masi decisively pushed the boundaries late in the race.

“This is unbelievable guys! Can we do this for another 10-15 years together?” he had said over the radio after the most emotional lap of his life.

“We needed a bit of luck and we got it,” said team boss Christian Horner, who had said earlier in the race that it would take a miracle to win and hailed the victory as Red Bull’s greatest achievement.

NO COLLISION

The floodlit race at Yas Marina avoided the collision many had feared, with Verstappen sure to be champion if Hamilton failed to score, but instead left arguments raging long after the finish.

As Verstappen and Red Bull bosses shed tears of joy, Mercedes’s management turned on race director Masi.

“Michael, this isn’t right,” Mercedes principal Toto Wolff had said over the radio to Masi after the Australian’s handling of the ending of the safety car period left some feeling Hamilton was robbed.

The safety car had been deployed after Canadian Nicholas Latifi crashed his Williams with five laps to go and Masi then decided not to demand all lapped cars pass it before resuming racing.

That allowed Verstappen — on fresher, faster tyres after strategic stops — to close and go wheel-to-wheel with Hamilton for the lead.

Just when it seemed the race would be finishing behind the safety car, which would have handed Hamilton the title, it turned into a sprint finish.

“We were screaming at the end to let them race,” said Horner, whose partners Honda are now departing the sport. “It is unheard of to leave the cars unlapped. They wanted to get the race going again. They absolutely made the right call.”

Hamilton, who had been heading for a fourth successive race win, congratulated the new champion.

“I think we did an amazing job this year, with my team. Everyone back at the factory, all the men and women we have, and here, worked so hard this whole year,” he said.

“It’s been the most difficult of seasons and I’m so proud of them, so grateful to be a part of the journey with them. We gave it everything this last part of the season and never gave up, that’s the most important thing.”

MORE POLES

Verstappen ended the season with 10 wins to Hamilton’s eight, having also led more laps and taken more poles and podiums.

After 22 races, Verstappen had 395.5 points to Hamilton’s 387.5. Mercedes scored 613.5 to Red Bull’s 585.5.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished the race in third place, with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda fourth and team mate Pierre Gasly fifth.

Hamilton’s team mate Valtteri Bottas was sixth in his last race for the team, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took the final point with the Italian team ending the season third overall.

Verstappen’s Mexican team mate Sergio Perez, hailed as a “legend” by the Dutch driver for slowing Hamilton significantly while leading earlier in the race, was retired in the pits.

The race hit immediate controversy on the opening lap when the title rivals almost collided after the Briton had taken the lead.

Hamilton was pushed wide, cutting a corner as he came back still in front of Verstappen who had made a lunge on the inside and seemed to be ahead at the turn, and stewards decided no investigation was needed.

Horner told Sky Sports television from the pitwall that there was “a total lack of consistency” in the stewards’ decision and his team now had to “do it the hard way”.

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Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Ed Osmond, Clare Fallon and Toby Davis

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