Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have scoffed at Toto Wolff’s claim they will do “absolutely” anything, even crash, to win the title.
This year’s championship is proving to be a nail-biter and it is anyone’s guess which way it will go.
Verstappen holds the lead in the championship, 12 points up on Hamilton, the Red Bull driver have taken eight wins to his Mercedes rival’s five.
There have also been two big crashes in the mix, Silverstone and Monza, and Wolff is not ruling out a third – even a deliberate third.
“If it was to come to the scenario of the last race in Abu Dhabi and they were to be racing each other for the title, whoever is in front is absolutely going to try to do the same as in the Senna-Prost years,” the Mercedes motorsport boss recently said in an interview with the Daily Mail.
Hamilton though, is adamant he has never won a title through dirty tactics and he’s not about to start now.
“Firstly, I have not read what Toto said but I highly doubt that he would insinuate that,” he told the media ahead of this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix.
“We have never won a championship in that way; I have never won a championship in that way and would never want to. That’s from my perspective and my point of view.
“I’m here to win in the right way and that’s through sheer skill, determination and hard work.
Lewis is expecting to have a fight on his hands this weekend ?#MexicoGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/4MzUnUYeCt
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 4, 2021
“You know how I’ve won my championships in the past and I always want to win it the right way.
“If you’re going to lose it, you lose it the right way also, with dignity and knowing that you’re giving it you’re all and you’ve done things the right way and you’ve worked as hard as you could.
“All you can do, is give it your all and work as hard as you can with the team. If it doesn’t work out, you live to fight another day.”
As for Verstappen, he says he hasn’t given any thought to engaging in a Alain Prost-Ayrton Senna rivalry with Hamilton.
“I don’t really think about previous historic fights between two drivers, what they have done – that’s the past,” he said.
“I just focus on what I have to do on track and that’s to try and do the best I can, and that’s how at the end of the day you’re going to win the championship: you have to try and get the most available points out there and of course try to beat your rival.”
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