Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will arrive at Yas Marina level on championship points after a scandalous race in Jeddah that saw several incidents between the two F1 title contenders.
The Englishman and Dutchman battled wheel-to-wheel on several occasions, ending up touching when Verstappen slowed down to hand over the lead to Hamilton on the orders of Race Direction .
The incident ended in a 10-second penalty for Verstappen, after an earlier five-second penalty for gaining an advantage by going off the track during his fight with Hamilton.
The 10-second penalty had no bearing on Verstappen’s final position, who finished second in the race standings ahead of Valtteri Bottas.
Hamilton said after finishing that Verstappen was “over the limit” with his aggressive moves, but the Red Bull man criticized the decisions: “I’m just trying to race and this sport these days is more about penalties than racing.”
The incidents have raised questions about a possible showdown between Hamilton and Verstappen in the title fight, recalling the notorious fights between Senna and Prost .
Before Verstappen’s 10-second penalty was announced, Mercedes team boss Wolff hoped the Jeddah race would have “enough repercussion that everyone learns from it, and applies to the final race in Abu”. Dhabi”.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes
“I think similar driving, if it was deemed by the stewards to be excessive, would probably also be penalized in Abu Dhabi, and that could end up in a difficult situation for everyone,” continued Wolff.
“And I don’t think the championship deserves a result influenced by an accident. In that case, I trust the self-regulation system very much.”
Verstappen faced an investigation for his defense against Hamilton in Brazil last month, but the stewards ultimately took no action despite pressure from Mercedes to have the case reopened.
Wolff warned at the time that the decision would muddy the waters in defining fairness and defense in racing, noting that there had been similar incidents in Saudi Arabia.
“You know I said that, [in] Brazil, we were setting a precedent, if not investigated, that could end up very ugly for the championship,” Wolff said.
“Today you have seen incidents that were like the ones in Brazil at slower speeds. And we don’t want to have that in Abu Dhabi.”
“The fastest car with the fastest driver should win the championship, and not take out the other.”
