2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Yas Marina, Dec 10 - 12

[Jolle]

If he hits him mid race even getting a penalty at all is doubtful these days (for him). Certainly not a points deducting type one.

And if he hits him on the first lap nothing at all will happen.

Must suck to be Lewis right now. He has to avoid his desperate moves, because he needs to make points, as was the case in Saudia. I really wished he was ahead of him on the table going into the last race, because that would've somewhat prevented MV from trying a fully dirty move.

This is not Hamilton’s first dance and as we’ve seen, he knows Verstappen’s buttons and antics.

[El Scorchio]

The saving grace is those two long straights. If Hamilton has good speed out of the hairpin he should be able to make a pass on one of those before getting to the corner without having to put himself at too much risk. The start and first corner is by far the biggest worry for a potential collision. Luckily there is a lot of run off so having to take evasive action is possible.

I wish I weren’t talking about this like I feel it’s a certainty to happen.

[djones]

If it looks like Max will finish behind Lewis he has nothing to lose, so may as well risk it with the incredibly favourable stewards.

Reputation and all that stuff if he is disqualified.... naaa, neither he or Redbull will care. They would just cry the poor tale and act like it was Lewis at fault etc.

It's almost tempting to say Lewis should start on the soft (if he is on pole) just to try and get away. He has to spend the entire race doing whatever he can to not have to overtake Max or be close enough that max can 'send one'.

[west52keep64]

Yup I full expect Verstappen to "send it" if he's anywhere near the front of the grid at the start of the race. The only thing Mercedes could do to mitigate this is use Bottas as a shield, and instruct him to block Max, even if that trashes his own race. I personally can't see Bottas getting involved, he's been fairly passive in this battle this year. I think he's motivated to win the WCC for Mercedes, but he has no interest in getting involved in the WDC fight.

I think there's every chance Verstappen could put it on pole, his qualifying pace in Jeddah was mighty until he put it in the wall. Last year he started on pole and just disappeared in to the distance, and that was when the Mercedes had a much bigger performance advantage.

[Just_a_fan]

If he hits him mid race even getting a penalty at all is doubtful these days (for him). Certainly not a points deducting type one.

And if he hits him on the first lap nothing at all will happen.

Lewis would almost be better off following Max through the first corners and so not giving him the "first corner melee" excuse. Then do a nice clean attempt in clear conditions. If he's ahead and Max just sends one down at him in an obvious dive bomb, Max will struggle then to argue it was a racing incident. With the title balance as it is, everyone knows that Max wins with a Hamilton DNF and so everyone will be looking out for it.

In fact, if I were Hamilton / Mercedes, I'd be making a lot of noise about how Max wins if he takes out Lewis. Make sure that everyone is aware and is then watching. It puts all the pressure on Max to then drive very cleanly because any incident will result in an immediate "See? What did we say? He's done it on purpose!" from the team. And that will put pressure on the stewards / FIA to properly penalise Max with a DSQ from the season as they did with Michael.

Of course, we all hope that Perez doesn't do something "unfortunate"...

[El Scorchio]

If he hits him mid race even getting a penalty at all is doubtful these days (for him). Certainly not a points deducting type one.

And if he hits him on the first lap nothing at all will happen.

Lewis would almost be better off following Max through the first corners and so not giving him the "first corner melee" excuse. Then do a nice clean attempt in clear conditions. If he's ahead and Max just sends one down at him in an obvious dive bomb, Max will struggle then to argue it was a racing incident. With the title balance as it is, everyone knows that Max wins with a Hamilton DNF and so everyone will be looking out for it.

In fact, if I were Hamilton / Mercedes, I'd be making a lot of noise about how Max wins if he takes out Lewis. Make sure that everyone is aware and is then watching. It puts all the pressure on Max to then drive very cleanly because any incident will result in an immediate "See? What did we say? He's done it on purpose!" from the team. And that will put pressure on the stewards / FIA to properly penalise Max with a DSQ from the season as they did with Michael.

Of course, we all hope that Perez doesn't do something "unfortunate"...

I just can’t see Perez doing such a thing. He may not even get in a position to do anything anyway.

The FIA just need to state before the race that any shenanigans of the sort from Red Bull or Mercedes will result in an exceptional, WDC and WCC defining punishment for the team and both it’s drivers.

[Jolle]

What if…. Perez misjudges his braking and takes Verstappen out… almost happened last weekend.

[El Scorchio]

What if…. Perez misjudges his braking and takes Verstappen out… almost happened last weekend.

Then the internet will explode!

[Just_a_fan]

What if…. Perez misjudges his braking and takes Verstappen out… almost happened last weekend.

Then he'll be looking for a drive next year. Red Bull is all about the driver title as Horner stated on Sunday. Messing that up for the team would be like getting the boss's wife pregnant - career limiting!

[ringo]

Stewards will red flag the race if Hamilton pits first.
He has so much to lose sleep about. Max brake testing, Max running him off, Max tank slapping him during a pass. Max unsafe release from the pits to end both their races.

[zibby43]

Last year he started on pole and just disappeared in to the distance, and that was when the Mercedes had a much bigger performance advantage.

Last year Merc were deliberately running their PU detuned to test out cooling architecture for 2021, in addition to several other experimental bits.

Lewis was also coming back after having COVID. He’s admitted he didn’t fully physically recover until earlier this year.

Combine all that with the re-profiled corners, and I think it’s gonna be tight either way.

[rifrafs2kees]

What if…. Perez misjudges his braking and takes Verstappen out… almost happened last weekend.

Then the internet will explode!

[rifrafs2kees]

Which strategy is the usual here, 1 or 2 stop?

[Fulcrum]

Everything has been getting so spicy I can't help but think there will be a damp squib ending. E.g. an engine failure, or other reliability-related retirement.

[dans79]

In fact, if I were Hamilton / Mercedes, I'd be making a lot of noise about how Max wins if he takes out Lewis. Make sure that everyone is aware and is then watching. It puts all the pressure on Max to then drive very cleanly because any incident will result in an immediate "See? What did we say? He's done it on purpose!" from the team. And that will put pressure on the stewards / FIA to properly penalise Max with a DSQ from the season as they did with Michael.

That's exactly what Villeneuve did in 97, he even talked about it here!