Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton hold after 21 of 22 races this season at 369.5 points each – the starting position before the final Formula 1 Grand Prix on Sunday in Abu Dhabi (2 p.m., this time on ORF 2 because of winter sports) couldn’t be any closer being. While fans are excited about the most exciting World Cup decision in the recent past, the fear of a collision is going on behind the scenes.
Verstappen would benefit from this, namely if both cars fail to finish on Sunday, the higher number of race wins is the decisive factor in favor of the Dutchman (nine wins). And last but not least, his abrupt braking maneuver at the Saudi Arabia premiere last weekend, with which he provoked a rear-end collision with Hamilton, had indicated that the Red Bull driver is apparently willing to explore any limits for his first world title. Race director Michael Masi therefore reminded once again that unfair maneuvers can be punished with deductions of points.
That wouldn’t be new. Michael Schumacher was subsequently excluded from the World Championship in 1997 in Jerez with a similar constellation and also lost his runner-up title after trying to push Canadian Jacques Villeneuve off the track at the last race of the season.
Even days after the Jeddah incidents, the Dutchman remained unapologetic at the compulsory media rounds, in which the FIA sent the two World Cup opponents to a question-and-answer session for the first time this season. On the contrary, the hot spur even stepped up against the stewards. “Others do exactly the same thing, but get nothing,” said Verstappen, referring to a time penalty prior to contact with Jeddah. “It’s definitely not what it should be, and it’s not fair.”
Raikkonen’s farewell
Kimi Räikkönen, whose Formula 1 career began 20 years ago, will compete in his 350th and last Grand Prix. “I’m not thinking about the end,” said the 42-year-old “Iceman” in his typically narrow-lipped manner. His Alfa Romeo team is thinking about it very well, it had the words “Dear Kimi, now we’ll leave you alone” painted on its chassis. An allusion to his legendary radio message from 2012, when he replied audibly annoyed to his racing engineer at the time: “Just leave me alone, I know what I’m doing!”
Source: Nachrichten
