Formula 1 – Abu Dhabi GP: Verstappen vs Hamilton in title showdown in World Driver’s Championship – Follow LIVE Updates: The Formula One season is set for a grand finish as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen enter the final race exactly level on points. In what has been a neck to neck battle throughout the season., Verstappen and Hamilton will resume their rivalry for one final time this year at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, in what is a winner takes all race. A win for Hamilton would see him win an unprecedented eighth world championship, while Verstappen eyes for his maiden championship. Follow all Abu Dhabi GP Live updates on Insidesport.in
Formula 1 – Abu Dhabi GP: Verstappen vs Hamilton in title showdown in World Driver’s Championship – Follow LIVE Updates
Back in July, Max Verstappen had built up a cosy 32-point lead but the momentum is now back at Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton driving like a man with an unprecedented eighth world championship in his sights. The Briton’s against-all-odds win in Brazil, Qatar cruise and Sunday’s Saudi stunner means that for the first time since Emerson Fittipaldi and Clay Regazzoni in 1974 the title protagonists go into the closing race level on points.
Hamilton vs Verstappen: The 36-year-old Briton and his Dutch rival, who is 12 years younger, have for the large part treated each other with respect. But after 20 races, the equivalent of driving from New York to London, the pair head to Yas Marina with their relationship seemingly at its lowest point. Not for the first time in 2021 their cars touched on Sunday, with Hamilton accusing Verstappen of “brake-testing” him.
“That guy is crazy man…It was just dangerous driving, dude,” he snapped over the team radio, adding later: “He’s over the limit for sure”. Verstappen denied underhand tactics, saying he had been trying to give the lead back as directed after cutting across him illegally as the Briton tried to overtake. Hamilton has not got to where he is this week standing at the door of F1 history without a cool head on his shoulders.
Formula 1 – Abu Dhabi GP: Verstappen vs Hamilton in title showdown in World Driver’s Championship – Follow LIVE Updates
He noted: “I’ve avoided collision on so many occasions with the guy and I don’t always mind being the one that does that because you live to fight another day, which I obviously did.”
Hamilton vs Verstappen: Mindful of the high stakes at play his Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff expressed hope that the drivers’ crown would be decided by a clean fight on the track next Sunday. “You’ve seen incidents today that were pretty much Brazil at slower speeds. And we don’t want to have that in Abu Dhabi. “The quicker car with the quicker driver should win the championship, and not by taking each other off. And I don’t think that the championship has deserved a result which was influenced by a collision,” he added, evoking the notorious rivalry between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.
While title deciders are uncharted water for Verstappen, Hamilton has been here before, many times. In 2007 he lost out to Kimi Raikkonen by one point, before securing the first of his seven titles 12 months later in dramatic circumstances. Felipe Massa, trailing Hamilton by seven points, needed to win his home race and Hamilton to finish no higher than sixth.
Formula 1 – Abu Dhabi GP: Verstappen vs Hamilton in title showdown in World Driver’s Championship – Follow LIVE Updates
And that was the situation when Massa took the chequered flag. For a few seconds the crown was his, only for Hamilton to overtake Timo Glock on the final bend to cross the line in fifth and take the championship by a whisker. If he does manage to pull it off and draw clear of Michael Schumacher with eight F1 titles Hamilton believes it would be “the most significant” one of all.
The stage is set then with the crown awaiting either the man who has rewritten his sport’s record books or the fearless young Dutch pretender who has pushed the champion like no one before him.
“It’s all going down to the wire, that’s how the sport should be and we love it,” said Wolff.
For his counterpart at Red Bull, Christian Horner, “it’s a straight-out fight as it has been for the entire year. “For the fans it is fantastic, it keeps the championship dream alive and we have one shot and it’s time to take it.”
Formula 1 – Abu Dhabi GP: Verstappen vs Hamilton in title showdown in World Driver’s Championship – Follow LIVE Updates
Formula 1 – Abu Dhabi GP schedule
| 10 December | Practice 1 | 13:30 – 14:30 |
| 10 December | Practice 2 | 17:00 – 18:00 |
| 11 December | Practice 3 | 14:00 – 15:00 |
| 11 December | Qualifying | 17:00 – 18:00 |
| 12th December | Grand Prix | 17:00 – 19:00 |
Formula 1 – Abu Dhabi GP Live streaming
Star Sports are the official broadcasters of the Formula 1 season in India. One can also watch the live stream of the same on the Dinsey + Hotstar app. For LIEV updates, one can also keep tabs on Insidesport.in.
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