F1 news LIVE: Bernie Ecclestone accuses Mercedes of ‘bullying’ Max Verstappen ahead of Abu Dhabi

Lewis Hamilton can be “very wily” in on-track battles with Max Verstappen says Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, amid criticism of the Dutchman’s driving in Saudi Arabia from various former drivers and pundits.

Verstappen received two penalties at Jeddah as his defence of the lead bordered on recklessness rather than racing, but Hamilton eventually came through to win despite taking damage from the collision caused when his title rival braked when trying to give the lead back.

“Lewis is very wily with the way he does it sometimes,” Horner explained. “These are two guys that are fighting over such fine margins, and pushing it to the boundary. And if you don’t want them to have the ability to run wide, then put a gravel trap over there.”

Horner also told the media in Saudi Arabia last weekend that “luck” is playing a significant part in Lewis Hamilton’s title battle resurgence.

The seven-time world champion has won the last three races in spectacular finish to level things up in the standings, but Horner believes skill and speed are not the only factors playing a role.

“It’s the first time since we were [in Abu Dhabi] in 2012, and 2010 with Sebastian, that rival teams have gone into the final race fighting for the drivers’ world championship,” he said. “But Lady Luck’s shining on Lewis at the moment. Ocon drove over his front wing at the start, he drove into the back of Max. You know, he’s ridden his luck.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says is hoping for a “clean and fair” conclusion to the Formula 1 season at Abu Dhabi.

The campaign has been marked by collisions between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton after several crucial junctures, with stewards’ decisions and rights to appeal hearings dominating the back end of the season as much as the on track racing.

“You want to win on the track,” he told the press. “Not in a stewards’ room, not in a gravel trap. You want to win it. It’s been a tough fight all the way through the year. There’s been some fantastic racing between these two drivers, and I hope that it’s a fair and clean race in Abu Dhabi.”

Max Verstappen’s former F1 driver dad Jos says he says “respects” Lewis Hamilton as a driver, but “the rest, nothing.”

The Dutchman droverhis own motorsport career before managing his son’s, earning two podiums in 106 race starts for teams including Benneton, Arrow and Minardi, and says he has no relationship whatsoever with Hamilton.

“I never speak to Lewis. He doesn’t need to speak to me. I’m nothing to him. I respect him as a driver, but the rest…nothing,” he told the Daily Mail. “Max and Lewis only speak on the podium, very little. When I see Max with other drivers, I think they get on very well. But with Lewis, nothing. Lewis is in his own world.”

The elder Verstappen has previously been given two suspended prison sentences, one for a 1998 assault which a left a man with a fractured skull, and another for threatening a woman over text message while breaching a restraining order in 2018.

Jos Verstappen was also arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of an ex-girlfriend after he allegedly drove a car into her, before charges were later withdrawn.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says the mutual respect between himself and Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner will return once the Formula 1 title battle has concluded this weekend.

The pair have exchanged barbs in public with increasing frequency as the intensity has picked up across the course of the season, but Wolff believes that is a natural consequence of the sporting circumstances.

“I think we will show respect after the championship is won, either direction,” the Austrian told the F1 Nation podcast. “I think it will calm down. It’s absolutely genuine because there is so much at stake,” he said. It’s ambitious people, ambitious teams that are really fighting tooth and nail for this championship.”

Horner also believes Mercedes has a performance advantage in the F1 title fight right now, which is Red Bull team will have to overcome to best Lewis Hamilton.

The Briton has won the last three races, at Interlagos, Losail and Jeddah, and Horner says the pace of the Mercedes car has been the problem.

“We’ve got to try and beat Lewis one more time this year,” he said before leaving Saudi Arabia. “The performance is with [Mercedes] at the moment, they’ve won three races on the bounce. They’re going to be very, very competitive in Abu Dhabi.”

F1’s technical director and former championship winning team boss Ross Brawn says the winner of this season’s drivers’ title “must” be decided on track rather than in the stewards’ room.

Both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have received penalties for causing collisions with one another this season, and with so much at stake in Abu Dhabi the possibility of further contact at the finale cannot be ruled out.

And Brawn wrote in his official F1 column: “It will be tough. Neither will give an inch but we want a sporting competition. We don’t want to step over the line. We don’t want this championship to be decided by stewards’ decisions and to end up in the appeal courts or elsewhere. It must end up on the track in Abu Dhabi with the best driver winning.”

It’s not just Hakkinen who has been perturbed by Verstappen’s method of fighting Hamilton at Jeddah, with former F1 driver turned commentator Christian Danner saying the 24-year-old has no interest in “fair competition.”

The ex-Zakspeed and Arrows driver told Motorsport-Magazin.com: “What I really can’t accept is the fact that Verstappen really did a brake test. So he braked, didn’t just somehow drive to the side and relinquish the place, but actually braked to make a mess of it.

“[Verstappen and Hamilton] managed to get along with each other to the extent that they finished the race, but there is already a clear tendency: The trick box juggler is not Hamilton.”

Double F1 world champion Mika Hakkinen has criticised Max Verstappen’s driving out front at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, after the Dutchman once again drove Lewis Hamilton off the road, before the two came together in a collision after the Red Bull driver was told to give the place back.

“When you have to let a car re-pass there is only one way to do it safely,” the former McLaren driver wrote in his Unibet column. “That’s to make a clear move to one side, come off the throttle slightly and allow the natural speed differential to enable your competitor to re-pass you. What happened in Jeddah was dangerous.

“It was not positive racing and the FIA were right to apply a penalty after the race. the message is clear. Dangerous driving will lead to a penalty and if the FIA see a repeat of that kind of driving in Abu Dhabi I believe the penalty will be severe and immediate.”

“Max is a kid compared to Lewis and the worst thing is Lewis has a massive publicity campaign working for him,” Bernie Ecclestone told AFP.

“They have been pushing down all the time on Max and then the race directors have been looking in because Toto goes to the race director.

“Max has more than a race to confront as he has them too on his back because they are bullying him and not playing fair. It is psychological game playing.”