It sucks that it ended that way .

I was , as was everybody , impressed that Lewis shook Max's hand as it showed him as a sporting gentleman in the face of such a stupid ending to the championship .
I was again impressed when he was reported to have been on the side of dropping the appeal despite having endured that stupid ending .

But , sadly , upon hearing that both he and Toto snubbed the affair , I see it as petty , and I question how sincere any congratulations were .

Even more sadly , rather than be a sullen affair for Lewis to have attended , I think , with his originally very magnanimous gestures of congratulations , he might have been up for many accolades and likely ovations at the party .
I think it likely both he and Max would have been lauded almost equally .

It would have been a true display of the "stiff upper lip", worthy of a knight , to have shown up to see his rival take the trophy .
I think he may have had a whack of pats on the back just for that reason alone , let alone all the great driving that had brought him there .

And so , we have a second ending that sucks .