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Just how far below the belt the fists of this extraordinary world championship will descend, we will discover on Sunday here in the concluding of 22 rounds in Abu Dhabi.
There are more than a few imponderables that cause us to gulp in anticipation but the one that touches the rawest nerve is whether Max Verstappen will ram Lewis Hamilton off the road.
After Sunday’s toxic and chaotic race in Saudi Arabia, won by Hamilton with Verstappen in second place, the two best drivers in motor racing are level on points, though the Dutchman edges it 9-8 on race victories. If neither should finish the dusk-into-night race down the road in Yas Marina, Verstappen would win his first title on countback.
Rivals Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will go head-to-head in Abu Dhabi on Sunday
Red Bull ace Verstappen with his dad Jos in the paddock at the Qatar Grand Prix last month
Nobody in the Verstappen camp is naive enough to cough up the possible depths to which they would stretch to accomplish their dream but I still put the deciding week’s most nagging question to the young pretender’s father, Jos.
‘If it came down to it, would Max ram Lewis off the road?’ I asked.
‘I don’t think that will happen,’ said the 49-year-old, himself an exuberant driver in the Nineties and early 2000s.
Hamilton (back) crashed into the back of Verstappen (front) during Sunday's race
‘Max
