The increasingly tense Formula One title fight between
defending champion Lewis Hamilton and his formidable challenger, Max
Verstappen, will head to the last race of the season with the fierce rivals
level on points.
Next weekend's Abu Dhabi showdown will see Hamilton crowned
for a record eighth time — or Verstappen win his first title.
Hamilton’s nail-biting win at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
on Sunday was his third straight to pull him level with Verstappen on 369.5
points. The British veteran is within touching distance of title No. 8 to move
one ahead of Michael Schumacher and stand alone among F1 greats
Verstappen still leads by a hair’s breadth, only because he
has more wins: 9-8.
"Of course it’s exciting," said Verstappen, who
won last year in Abu Dhabi. "We’re starting again like we started the
season."
Hamilton's win in the heat and humidity of Jeddah saw him
pass Verstappen with six laps remaining of a chaotic race, as the pair tangled
again this season following high-octane crashes at the British GP and the
Italian GP.
"It was clear that others around were willing to take
it to all sorts of levels to overtake," Hamilton said after the race, with
Verstappen sat right next to him. "We’ve seen multiple incidents this
year."
Hamilton is in no mood to back down with the finish in
sight, but Verstappen has drawn out the street fighter in him.
The race on the street circuit under the lights on the
30-kilometer (18.6-mile) coastal resort area in Jeddah will go down as one of
the more memorable events of the season — if not the last several years. It saw
three standing starts, a pair of restarts, multiple safety cars, and an intense
back-and-forth between the title contenders including a minor late collision.
Red Bull was allowed to negotiate a penalty for Verstappen,
Mercedes head Toto Wolff slammed his headset in rage, and Hamilton drove into
the back of his title rival before ultimately passing Verstappen for the win.
Verstappen was dejected and incredulous after finishing
second.
"What happened today is unbelievable," he said.
"I’m just trying to race. This sport is more about penalties than racing.
So for me this is not Formula One but at least the fans enjoyed it."
Verstappen is exasperated at some decisions that stewards
have made this season
"Not just this race (but) in general, lately, (it's)
the trend in F1," said Verstappen, whose father Jos was Schumacher's
teammate. "That’s not how I grew up watching Formula One."
Hamilton needed a few moments to recover after one of the
most draining of his record-extending 103 career wins in the heat and humidity
of the Middle East.
He sat on a chair next to his physical trainer, with his
face buried into a towel as he waited for the podium ceremony.
"That was incredibly tough," said Hamilton, who
will be 37 next season. "I tried to be as sensible and as tough as I could
be."
Verstappen was penalized for going off course on the second
restart, was later told to yield position to Hamilton, but Hamilton ran into
the back of his Red Bull to damage the front wing on his Mercedes. The two
differed on what happened, and Verstappen was summoned before the stewards
post-race.
"I didn’t understand why all of a sudden he hit the
brakes quite heavily then I moved into the back of him," said Hamilton,
who wasn't told by Mercedes that Verstappen was going to let him by for the
lead. "All of a sudden (Verstappen) slowed at a really rapid pace. I feel
really grateful that I didn’t take us both out."
During the race Hamilton used an expletive in describing
Verstappen as "crazy" and called his driving "dangerous."
"I definitely felt there were scenarios where that was
the case," Hamilton said after. "It’s not the first time I’ve had to
avoid collision."
Verstappen insisted it was Hamilton’s fault.
"I slowed down, I wanted to let him by," he said.
"He didn’t want to overtake and then we touched."
Wolff has overseen seven straight drivers' and constructors'
championships and is closing in on No. 8. Valtteri Bottas pushed Mercedes
closer by finishing third on the home stretch ahead of Esteban Ocon of Alpine
was fourth.
Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez were among five who failed
to finish because of the messy restarts and the blind turns on the
second-longest circuit on the calendar. It spans 6.2 kilometers (3.8 miles)
with 27 corners and was only completed days ahead of the F1 debut in the
country.
Once he passed Verstappen, Hamilton controlled the finish
and stayed competitive in his post-race news conference.
When asked about rules for going too wide off track,
Hamilton said "all the drivers understand it except one of us here,"
clearly aiming that comment at Verstappen.
The Dutchman bit back.
"I find it interesting that I’m the one who gets a
penalty when both of us run outside the white line," Verstappen said.
"We’re talking more about white lines and penalties than Formula One
racing and that’s a bit of a shame."
Next Sunday night, the time for talking will be over and one
of them will be celebrating.
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