Photo: Lukas Raich via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped. This adapted image is also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Vegan six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton signed off his season in style on Sunday, December 1, winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to finish on 413 points, a new record for a single Formula One season. It beats the 408 he scored last year, breaking his own record.
Hamilton started from pole at Yas Marina, led every one of the 55 laps and set the fastest lap, a new lap record, on lap 53. That makes it a "grand slam" weekend, the sixth of his career, according to the race record. Max Verstappen finished second for Red Bull and Charles Leclerc third for Ferrari.
It was Hamilton's 11th win of 2019 and the 84th of his career. He also finished and scored points in all 21 races, making him the first driver to do that in two different seasons, after 2017. Team-mate Valtteri Bottas finishes as runner-up in the final standings.
Hamilton went vegan in 2017, the year he won his fourth title, after giving up red meat, then most chicken, then fish. He credited the change for his best ever form, telling Motorsport.com, as quoted by The Drive:
I feel the best I have ever felt, physically and mentally. All year I have felt strong mentally, but physically I have taken a big step and that is with the decision I have taken to change my diet.
Two years and two more titles later, he is quicker than ever. Each season since going vegan he has added another title, and now he has the points record to go with them.
Last month we reported that the vegan F1 driver won his sixth world title and opened a plant-based burger chain. In July he won a record sixth British Grand Prix, and last year he set the previous record of 408 points.
413 points and not a steak in sight. No meat, no problem.