Tensions between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen ratcheted up again on Thursday before the Formula One season decider at this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The pair go into the season finale tied on points with their increasingly fractious relationship exacerbated by repeated incidents on track. With the possibility of the title being decided by a crash, Verstappen was unequivocal that his feelings toward the world champion had fundamentally deteriorated.
Incidents between the pair and their Mercedes and Red Bull teams – including two major crashes at Silverstone and Monza and most recently further untoward duelling at the last round in Saudi Arabia – have punctuated the season. Last weekend Verstappen was given two time penalties for driving infringements, including having been adjudged to have braked erratically in front of Hamilton causing him to hit the back of the Dutch driver’s Red Bull car.
The pair sat for their final press conference of this 22-race season just feet apart, separated only by the world championship trophy they are vying for but the gulf between them is increasingly a chasm.
What had begun as a friendly season of mutual respect between the two has slowly, inexorably fallen apart. When asked if his opinion of Hamilton and Mercedes had changed over the course of their battle, Verstappen was blunt. “Yes, very much so,” he said. “And not in a positive way.”
He continued with a sense of grievance, expressing his belief that he was being unfairly singled out by the stewards in Saudi Arabia.
“Clearly only I was wrong somehow, other people do exactly the same thing and get nothing,” he added. “Both of us were off the track into turn one and somehow they judged that it was my fault, that I don’t agree with. It’s not how it should be, it’s not fair because it seems like other drivers can do different things, and it seems like only I get a penalty.”
Hamilton pointedly remarked that he was hoping for a clean fight. “I do believe that everyone here racing comes to win,” he said. “I like to believe everyone wants to do it the right way.”
The world champion insisted he would not focus on whether he could expect to trust Verstappen to keep it clean. “I don’t give it any energy, I am here to do the best job I can,” he said. “We go full steam ahead with that and don’t waste energy on things that are out of our control.”
Both drivers said they felt no need to sit down pre-race to clear the air but Hamilton gave a barbed assessment of the incidents. “I would like to think we have learned from these things and we have moved forward,” he noted.
That the atmosphere between the pair and how it affects their approach to racing is important was made all the more clear in the buildup to the Abu Dhabi race. With the two tied on points, the grand prix is a winner-takes-all finale but one that will also be decided if neither finish the race. If that were to be the case, should they take each other out in an incident, Verstappen would be champion based on his nine race wins this season to Hamilton’s eight.
However, the FIA race director, Michael Masi, has issued a stark warning that driving unfairly or deliberate attempts to influence the title fight could be punished by a points deduction, changing the championship result.
Masi clearly felt the need to remind both drivers that offences would not be tolerated. He quoted the international sporting code noting the right to punish “any infringement of the principles of fairness in competition, behaviour in an unsportsmanlike manner or attempt to influence the result of a competition in a way that is contrary to sporting ethics”.
Given the importance of this weekend’s event he pointedly reminded the teams that punishments could include “withdrawal of points”. The rule is in place all season but that Masi chose this weekend to highlight it spoke volumes and raised the spectre of the title being in limbo while stewards pore over a potential infringement.
The season decider will be shown live on Channel 4 after it concluded a deal to share coverage with Sky, which has exclusive rights to all live F1 races.
