By Alan Baldwin
ABU DHABI, Dec 6 (Reuters) – McLaren shrugged off talk of Red Bull team trickery in Sunday’s title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after Max Verstappen said he had nothing to lose and would go all out to win.
The four times world champion will start from pole position at Yas Marina with his two McLaren title rivals, championship leader Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri behind in second and third respectively as they chase first crowns.
Norris is 12 points clear of Verstappen with Piastri a further four behind.
“All out. I have nothing to lose. So for me, of course, I’m going to try to win the race. I’m going to defend. If I need to attack, I’ll attack, because what can happen? You’re either second or third – or you win. That would be fantastic,” said Verstappen.
MEMORIES OF 2016 TITLE SHOWDOWN
The situation revived memories of past deciders at the floodlit circuit, particularly 2016 when Lewis Hamilton tried in vain to back up then-Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in the hope the German might be caught by others and passed.
Then, as now, Rosberg went to Abu Dhabi with a 12-point lead over Hamilton but it was the Briton who qualified on pole with his teammate second.
The positions stayed that way to the end and Rosberg won by five points, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel less than a second behind in third and Verstappen fourth and 1.6 off the pace.
“Honestly, I’m not too worried,” said McLaren principal Andrea Stella when asked about Verstappen potentially using “every trick” to influence the field behind.
“I think we will see some interesting racing but I’m sure all this will happen within the boundaries of sportsmanship and fairness.”
Stella said he would not be surprised if Red Bull played a team game, and there was nothing unfair or wrong in doing so.
Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who qualified 10th, provided a useful aerodynamic tow in qualifying and could potentially also play a strategic role.
The reigning champion sidestepped a question about 2016 and whether he might try similar tactics to those used by Hamilton then.
“It was also a different layout. I feel like now you get towed around a lot more around the lap, so it’s probably not as easy to do something like that,” he said.
“Cars also are completely different to back then. I felt like it was a lot easier back then to back it up because the tyres would overheat a lot when you would get close.
“I hope it’s not straightforward, the race — but hopefully that’s not because of me.”
(Reporting by Alan BaldwinEditing by Toby Davis)
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