“There is a constant fight to really improve diversity and inclusion within the industry, but it seems there are certain individuals within the leadership of the FIA that every time we make a step forward they’re trying to pull us back and that has to change.”

“Thank you also to my team, because they never gave up this year. We started off with a sister basically of previous years’ car which was not good and not fun to drive for most of the year. But no-one gave up, everyone continued to show up every day and that was what was most inspiring and so I hope that we come back next year.”

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were both present at the FIA Prize Giving ceremony in Baku on Friday to collect their respective trophies, along with second-placed Sergio Perez

Lewis Hamilton showed his class as he used his speech at the FIA Prize Giving gala to heap praise upon rival Max Verstappen.

The Brit finished third in the championship after running Sergio Perez close for second place. But neither of them were anywhere near Verstappen who sealed his third Formula 1 crown in record-breaking fashion.

F1 awards were saved until the end of the gala in Baku on Friday as prizes were handed out to the top three drivers. So Hamilton was first up on stage to get the third-placed trophy and gave a respectful nod to his competitors in his speech.

“Good evening everyone, I just want to wish everyone a big, congratulations on this year,” he said. “For everyone, it has been a very, very long season and very much looking forward to the winter break. We’re working very, very hard on making sure we come back strong next year.

“I must say a big congratulations to Red Bull, Verstappen and Checo – they’ve done an incredible job this year. Max Verstappen was faultless. Max and all of his team really raised the bar and we have a lot of work to close that gap, but I truly do believe that we can close that gap.”

He went on to praise his Mercedes colleagues, adding: “Thank you also to my team, because they never gave up this year. We started off with a sister basically of previous years’ car which was not good and not fun to drive for most of the year. But no-one gave up, everyone continued to show up every day and that was what was most inspiring and so I hope that we come back next year.”

As gracious as Hamilton was to his rivals, he had little positive to say about the FIA despite being at the governing body’s big end-of-season event. Referring to the short-lived investigation into Toto and Susie Wolff which dominated the F1 news agenda this week, the seven-time world champion tore into his hosts in the pre-ceremony press conference.

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He said: “Disappointing to see the governing body questioning the integrity of one of the most incredible female leaders we’ve had in our sport, without questioning, without any evidence, then just saying sorry at the end, that’s just unacceptable.

“There is a constant fight to really improve diversity and inclusion within the industry, but it seems there are certain individuals within the leadership of the FIA that every time we make a step forward they’re trying to pull us back and that has to change.”

And he also questioned why the gala was held in Azerbaijan, adding: “Whilst I really like Baku – it’s really a beautiful place – [there are] questions in my mind of whether the FIA is really actually thinking about sustainability because so many people flew out here. The FIA is in Paris and it just would have been easier to stay there.”