Lewis Hamilton sends Max Verstappen ominous message ahead of Abu Dhabi GP finale

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen analysed by Coulthard

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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton says he feels “a million times better” going into his 2021 title decider with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen than he did against former team-mate Nico Rosberg in 2016. Hamilton and Rosberg shared a fractious relationship during their time as team-mates at Mercedes, which came to blows at the end of 2016, with the championship going down to the wire in Abu Dhabi.

Rosberg eventually clinched the title and became the first driver to ever beat the seven-time world champion during the turbo-hybrid era at Mercedes.

Now, on the brink of history and tied on points with Verstappen heading into the title decider in the desert, tensions are high for Hamilton as the two start side by side on Sunday, with the Dutchman on pole.

Hamilton is no stranger to title pressure, but this season has been pushed to his limits by Verstappen, however admits that comparatively, he feels much stronger than he did in 2016.

The Briton enters his fourth F1 title decider at Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina in a winner-takes-all scenario against the 24-year-old as the thrilling season comes to an end.

But Hamilton admits it’s incomparable with the 2016 title fight.

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“I [feel] a million times different,” he responded. “It’s a much, much different scenario. Completely different and a million times better I feel now than I did then. I feel good.”

Hamilton added delving into the reasons behind why this was the case was “not something I particularly want to go into” but added that he is “just in a different place in life than in 2016”.

He continued: “[I’m] facing different resistance in life and this time I’m just in a different and much happier place.”

Hamilton was then asked if he believes he is a better driver now than he was in 2016, simply replying: “Yes. And team-mate.”

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Hamilton missed out on pole on Saturday and starts second on the grid on the medium tyre, behind Verstappen who starts on the softer compound of tyre.

Speaking after the session, the Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admitted Hamilton will be channeling his frustrations into the race on Sunday.

I think he’s going to be angry, and that’s good and motivated for tomorrow to just hunt him [Verstappen] down,” Wolff told Sky Sports.

“We on the back foot and sometimes you need to see the positive and that’s not too bad as a starting point, I’d much rather start on the medium from P2.

“We will have a slight disadvantage on the start and the first six, seven laps if he drives fast.

“If he manages, then that’s not a big advantage for him but we can go longer. We can go for an aggressive undercut also.

“I tried to control track positions so overnight they will be running lots of programmes and algorithms to see where it ends.”

The final race of the 2021 season gets underway at 1pm GMT on Sunday on Channel 4 alongside its usual home of Sky Sports F1, with the normal coverage on BBC 5 Live in the UK.

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