Abu Dhabi paddock has its say on Grand Prix title climax

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  • Best of enemies: Hamilton (l) and Rosberg are ready for one final battle in Abu Dhabi.

    The Hamilton-Rosberg rivalry will reach its climax this weekend at Yas Marina Circuit and the debate of which Mercedes driver would be a more deserving world champion has taken over the Abu Dhabi pad­dock.

    – Abu Dhabi F1 showdown: Five things to watch out for in season finale

    – Hamilton vs Rosberg: Formula One's final day showdowns

    Lewis Hamilton and Nico Ros­berg enter the season’s final race with the former leading the latter by 17 points.

    Each of the Mercedes pair has claimed a podium finish on 15 sep­arate occasions this year but it is Hamilton who has taken the lion’s share of race wins, with 10 victories compared to Rosberg’s five.

    While the rest of the grid are excluded from the battle for the championship this weekend, that hasn’t stopped some of the drivers from weighing in on who they feel deserves the title more.

    Would you go for the driver with more race wins, or the one with slightly better consistency? Would you go with the one that fights a clean fight or one that does what­ever it takes?

    Williams' Felipe Massa knows a thing or two about fighting Hamil­ton in a season decider.

    The Brazilian was in Rosberg’s position at the end of 2008, trail­ing Hamilton by seven points head­ing into the final race at Interlagos.

    Massa won the race in front of a roaring home crowd but Hamilton snuck away with the championship by finishing in fifth – a position he secured at the very last corner.

    Massa’s advice for Rosberg this weekend? “Win the race,” said the 33-year-old.

    “He can’t think about different things by not winning the race.

    "He needs to win the race. He needs to make sure that he’s in front and after that, the rest doesn’t depend on him.

    “I don’t think he can do anything by winning the race and doing something for Lewis not to be there.

    "I think the only thing he needs to think about is to win the race and be lucky that maybe something hap­pens to Lewis or maybe for whatev­er reason we (Williams) are there. Or another team are there.

    “I think Lewis deserves it a little bit more comparing the champion­ship he did to Nico’s.

    "He won more races, I think maybe he did a bet­ter championship. But ‘deserves’ sometimes is a little bit different in sport.

    "Things happen in a different way sometimes.”

    Massa’s team-mate Valtteri Bot­tas had a much simpler view on the matter.

    “It’s a double points race and unless bad luck or technical fail­ure is going to play a part of this race, whoever wins the title here deserves it. Simple!” said the Finn­ish driver.

    Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who lies in third place in the drivers’ standings behind Hamilton and Rosberg, is the only person outside the Mercedes duo to top a podium this season.

    The Aussie agrees with Massa’s verdict and feels Hamilton has had a more heroic season.

    “I think I’m probably not alone when I say this, that Lewis, by his number of wins you could say he deserves it.

    "I would say he’s prob­ably had a little bit less luck so for him to be in the leading position up until this race, I think he’s earned to be leading up until now.

    "Whatever happens in this race, whoever holds the trophy, no one can argue. But coming into the last race, I think Lewis deserves to be in the head position,” said Ricciardo.

    Fernando Alonso has some pain­ful memories from the last time he tried to clinch the championship at Yas Marina Circuit.

    In 2010, the Spaniard was leading the standings, eight points ahead of Mark Webber and 15 ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

    But Alonso was stuck behind Vitaly Petrov the entire race and his seventh-place finish was not good enough to hold off Vettel, who clinched the win and the championship.

    The circuit in the UAE capital is known to be difficult for over­taking.

    Asked whether he had any advice for the title contenders on how to overtake, Alonso said: “Not really. I didn’t succeed, so try not to repeat what we did in that race.”

    Still, Alonso has lots of experi­ence in handling the pressures of contesting a title decider.

    “I think every situation is dif­ferent. I’ve been five times in that situation. All five were different.

    "It depends on whether you are in front, behind, with who you are bat­tling, with which mood you arrive to the race,” said the outgoing Fer­rari star.

    “I think it’s a very unique thing in those moments and it will be an interesting weekend for Nico and Lewis.

    "Wishing them the best of luck because they deserve it after a super championship. Only one can win but let’s see a good race on Sun­day.”

    Vettel also lauded the guys of the silver Mercedes, adding: “Remem­bering races like Bahrain, I think they put on a great show for the fans and took it to the last race, so I think both of them deserve to win after such a great season.

    "But I’m sure if you ask either one of them, they will give you plenty of reasons why each one is deserving more than the other.” 

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