In “Rowdy Arabia” the English “The Sun” renamed the race in Jeddah without further ado, the Spanish “Marca” spoke of a fight. The Formula 1 title fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, who go into the showdown with equal points, is getting dirtier and dirtier before the finale next Sunday (2 p.m. / live on ORF 1 and Sky). The chaotic Grand Prix premiere last Sunday in Saudi Arabia with two restarts, many safety car phases and, above all, two hot heads up front provided an ugly foretaste.
In Jeddah, the two exceptional pilots gave each other exceptional maneuvers – especially in terms of uncompromising behavior. Verstappen received a five-second penalty in the race for dangerous or illegal driving and then another ten seconds for an action that really upset Hamilton. “He’s definitely over the limit,” said the 36-year-old Englishman. “I’ve avoided so many collisions with him.”
In the said scene, the seven-time world champion Verstappen crashed into the rear. The Red Bull man had previously left the track without permission and should let the Briton pass again on the instructions of his team in order to avoid a penalty. Verstappen slowed down suddenly, Hamilton drove into his car during his “brake test”. With a damaged front wing, Hamilton managed to cross the finish line before his opponent.
“I wanted to let him pass, so I’m on the right side, but he didn’t want to overtake, and then we touched,” said Verstappen, describing the scene that made people go crazy. Mercedes motorsport director Toto Wolff threw his headset to the ground in anger. The Viennese does not fear a final crash on Sunday in Abu Dhabi – even if Verstappen would be world champion for the first time at the age of 24 in the event of a double failure due to the higher number of wins this season.
“It won’t escalate”
Before the grand finale at the Yas Marina Circuit, Wolff said: “I don’t think it will escalate. In Jeddah there were so many warning shots for everyone involved that it will and has to go off cleanly.” His Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner is also hoping for a “fair race”. “We want to win the title on the track, not with the race management or in the gravel.”
369.5: 369.5 is the score after 21 races between Verstappen and Hamilton. Both had already collided this year at Silverstone and Monza. “This is how these guys have driven their entire careers, and Lewis shares the same way. It’s very clever the way he does it at times,” says Horner. Cunning, tough, unfair: In the World Cup duel, the boundaries are almost fluid.
Source: Nachrichten
