Sergio Perez has admitted that he never wanted to ‘hurt’ Lewis Hamilton in the shootout for the drivers’ championship after he played a crucial role in helping Max Verstappen win his first ever world title at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday. The Mexican was lauded as a ‘legend’ by his Red Bull team-mate after his superb defensive driving helped Verstappen get back in the race after Hamilton established an early lead. Perez said: ‘Hurting someone in a world championship is something you do not want to do, but at the end of the day I have done it for my team. Perez was wary that he didn’t want to risk a crash with Hamilton but putting his team’s wishes first was the only thing on his mind.

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