Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is worried about the possibility of Max Verstappen clinching the Drivers’ Championship title ahead of Lewis Hamilton by forcing the stewards into action once again at this weekend’s season finale in Abu Dhabi. The two drivers are perfectly balanced on the same number of points going into the final Grand Prix of the year after their bizarre and highly eventful battle in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
Hamilton emerged as the winner after a gruelling contest that saw the Brit come to blows with Verstappen on a number of occasions.
The pair forced each other wide at different stages of the race before tangling when the Red Bull man slowed to let his rival through under orders.
However, he did not pull over all the way to the right-hand side of the track and was braking erratically, leaving his Mercedes counterpart unaware of his intentions.
In his confusion, Hamilton went on to drive into the back of Verstappen in an unexpected and dramatic twist to this year’s battle for glory.
The latter was handed a 10-second penalty for causing a collision after the race but kept his second-placed finish to set up the most exciting season finale in recent memory.
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Emotions ran high between Mercedes and Red Bull throughout the entirety of the contest and may threaten to boil over in Abu Dhabi, where this season’s Drivers’ Championship winner will be crowned.
Speaking after Sunday’s race on the streets of Jeddah, Wolff expressed his fears over the title being decided by another unsavoury on-track incident between Hamilton and Verstappen.
“I would hope that race [in Saudi Arabia] has enough repercussions that everybody’s going to learn from it and adapt for the final race,” the Mercedes boss told reporters.
“Similar driving, if it were to be deemed by the stewards as over the line, would then probably also be penalised in Abu Dhabi, and that could well end in a messy situation for everybody.
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“I don’t think that the championship has deserved a result which was influenced by a collision.”
The Drivers’ Championship title has been decided by a last-gasp collision on a handful of previous occasions.
Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill famously tangled to hand the German legend the honours in controversial fashion back in 1994.
Fellow all-time greats Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were also caught up in last-gasp incidents in 1989 and 1990.
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Wolff went on to admit that tensions between Mercedes and Red Bull have intensified ahead of this weekend’s last dance in Saudi Arabia, once again suggesting that a collision may threaten to overshadow the action.
“The emotions are running very, very high,” he added. “As long as we have a clean race fighting for the drivers’ world championship in Abu Dhabi, it was a great season.
“We’re supposed to do our racing on track in between the white lines and the rules haven’t been clear from the stewards.
“From my understanding, I know that I can’t overtake someone and go off track and then keep the position.
“That’s well known between all us drivers but it doesn’t apply to one of us, I guess.”
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