Hamilton and Verstappen to deliver the finale "this epic championship deserves"
Hamilton and Verstappen to deliver the finale "this epic championship deserves"
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is 'confident' Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will keep things "clean" and provide the F1 season with a finale it "deserves".
Verstappen will line up on pole position for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with title rival Lewis Hamilton second.
The two enter the final battle of the season tied on points with Verstappen ahead only on the countback of wins with the Dutchman's nine trumping Hamilton's eight.
Should neither driver finish the race or score points, Verstappen would be crowned champion by this merit, but ahead of the weekend FIA race director Michael Masi reminded drivers through his event notes that points deductions or higher sanctions can be implemented in extreme cases of foul play.
After Verstappen's penalty for 'brake testing' Hamilton in Saudi Arabia, Wolff revealed he had not spoken to the seven-time champion on how to engage Verstappen in battle, believing Masi's warning will have been received loud and clear.
“I haven’t spoken with Lewis about that because I think the race director sensitised the drivers about the possible consequences," explained Wolff.
“I have no doubt that the drivers will race hard because this is about the Formula 1 world championship but I have confidence that it will be clean, very hard but clean, not pushing anybody off or hitting anybody.
"This is what this epic championship deserves as a final."
Abu Dhabi two-stop "definitely on"
Red Bull and Mercedes will start the race on opposing tyre strategies with Mercedes on the harder medium compound and Red Bull with both cars on the soft.
Due to changes made to the Yas Marina layout since F1 last visited, tyre wear is far higher than before with Wolff confirming the once comfortable one-stop venue could now favour a two-stop strategy.
“The two stop is always a viable variant," added Wolff. "If you think that you can attack and go on a two-stop or you can manage and attempt to make a one-stop which could be tricky at the end.
“I think we need to see. We saw quite some degradation on the soft in the long runs, less so on the medium which makes it exciting in terms of the strategies but definitely also for us.
“A one-stop looks good and a two-stop is definitely on also as a variant.”
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F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
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