Lewis Hamilton comes out swinging after F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix - 'Proved them wrong'

Hamilton finished seventh with team-mate George Russell in eighth, with the Stevenage-born racer also smacking a bollard during the event in Sin City.

It was Max Verstappen who secured glory, however, with the Red Bull star beating Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez to secure a 18th triumph of the campaign.

Many have criticised the race in Vegas, saying organisers were more concerned with putting on a show than the sport itself.

But that's something Hamilton doesn't agree with.

The 38-year-old has spoken after the race and hit out at critics, insisting they've been proved wrong.

"[There were] lots of great overtaking opportunities and I think for all those who were so negative about the weekend, saying it was all about show blah blah blah, I think Vegas proved them wrong," he said.

Hamilton is yet to win a race this season, while he was also winless during the previous campaign.

Yet he's happy with the way he performed in Sin City, while also admitting it was 'challenging' for him.

"A really challenging race," he added.

"I started on the hard tyre which was tricky at the beginning.

"I got a big hit from someone behind, I think it was Carlos [Sainz], and tried to not hit the cars that had spun around. I fell back five or six places.

"Then after that just making my way back. I was feeling great, the tyres were feeling good, the pace was strong.

"I went up the inside of Piastri, I don't really know exactly what happened, I obviously got the hit from behind. I think it was a racing incident."

While Hamilton struggled again, Verstappen reigned supreme.

The Red Bull driver looks unstoppable and was able to pip Charles Leclerc to the top of the podium.

Verstappen has now shed light on his win, while also praising for the Vegas crowd for roaring him on to victory.

"It was a tough one. I tried to go for it at the start," said the three-time World Champion.

"We (himself and Leclerc) both braked quite late and I just ran out of grip, so we ended up a bit wide.

"The stewards gave me a penalty for that and it put us on the back foot.

"I had to pass quite a few cars and there was the Safety Car, so at that point there was a lot going on.

"Then we went flat out. I had to pass a few cars to get into the battle with them.

"The DRS around here was very powerful. Even when you would take the lead, if the guy behind stays in the DRS, he would still have the opportunity to come back to you, so it created a lot of good racing today.

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"Definitely a lot of fun."

On the crowd, he added: "Great crowd. I hope everyone enjoyed it.

"We definitely did, so already excited to come back here next year and hopefully try to do something similar."