Will Max Verstappen copy Lewis Hamilton 2016 tactic to win F1 title?

Max Verstappen has dismissed the suggestion he could resort to using a tactic Lewis Hamilton previously attempted to try and win the F1 world championship.

Verstappen beat his McLaren title rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to a vital pole position for Sunday’s three-way championship showdown in Abu Dhabi.

The Dutchman is 12 points behind Norris and would equal Michael Schumacher’s record of winning five consecutive drivers’ championship if he wins the race with Norris fourth or lower.

The title situation has led to suggestions that Verstappen could attempt to replicate Hamilton’s ultimately failed tactics from the 2016 world championship finale against his then Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.

What did Hamilton do in 2016?

Hamilton needed to win the race with Rosberg lower than third in order to clinch the world title.

After their final pit stops, Hamilton began backing Rosberg towards the chasing pack, but his tactic ultimately failed as Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Verstappen could not pass the Mercedes driver.

Hamilton crossed the line ahead of Rosberg, who was crowned champion before he shocked the world of F1 by retiring five days later.

Asked in the post-qualifying press conference whether he would deploy the same dark arts Hamilton used, Verstappen replied: “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. The cars are also completely different to back then.

“I feel like it was a lot easier back then to back it up because the tyres would also overheat a lot when you would get close.

“I remember also in 2016 even in some qualifying laps you couldn’t go flat out in sector one to keep the tyres alive in the last sector, so it’s very different times.

“I hope it’s not very straightforward, the race, but hopefully that’s not because of me!”

Verstappen has vowed to go all out in his bid to become a five-time world champion.

“All out, I have nothing to lose,” Verstappen insisted. “For me of course I’m going to try and win the race, I’m going to defend, if I need to attack I’ll attack because what can happen?

“You are either second or third, or you win. That would be fantastic.”