Zero sportsmanship in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah circuit

Max Verstappen is pushing all limits in his quest to win the World Championship. The Jeddah International Street Circuit witnessed a series of illegal manoeuvres that detracted from the excitement of two drivers going into the final races tied on 369.5 points.

The mismanagement of the stewards turned a great spectacle into a continuous nonsense of Safety Car and continuous exits that most of the drivers have criticised. Starting with Fernando Alonso who commented that there were very dangerous situations as there were pieces of cars in the middle of the track and against this, a red flag was given for a barrier that did not represent a major danger.

Nor do we understand the "auction of penalties" that the stewards commented on through the microphones. There is a regulation and whoever breaks it must be punished without offers and without bargaining.

This season the rivalry between Verstappen and Hamilton could be compared to the one between Senna and Prost.

But this instead of translating into an exciting championship has turned into a dirty game and a "I want to win at all costs", including forgetting about safety and above all fair play.

It wasn't just in the Arabian race that there were unsporting situations, the most serious came at Monza when an indomitable Verstappen parked his RB16B on top of Hamilton's Mercedes.
 

The English driver, race after race, is closing the gap and the Dutchman does not hesitate to break the rules. In his own team an engineer shortly before the end of the race criticised his manoeuvres, but at the end of the Grand Prix the team manager made some very unfortunate statements. This raises the question of whether the team is willing to use forbidden manoeuvres to win the championship.

Meanwhile, Hamilton commented on the radio that "this guy is crazy" and the stewards acted late and badly.

Let's hope that no misfortune happens for everyone's sake, but the truth is that neither the stewards nor the Red Bull officials are acting in a sportsmanlike manner.

Next Sunday will be the last race, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and the World Championship will be decided.
 

Verstappen won in Imola, Monaco, France, Styria, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, USA and Mexico.

Hamilton won in Bahrain, Portugal, Spain, Great Britain, Russia, Brazil, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

At Yas Marina in 2020, the Red Bull driver won. Several corners have been modified to make it faster and with several areas where overtaking is possible. All the conditions are in place for a great spectacle as long as the drivers behave in a sporting manner.

There are many possibilities for incidents and the stewards will be the ones to decide the champion.

A very important fact: if there is an accident and a double retirement, Max Verstappen wins.

Given what happened in Jeddah Corniche, it seems very likely that there will be contact between the two great drivers.

Two great drivers, but one more sporty than the other. Someone has to talk to them in order not to harm Formula 1. Too much desire, even using dirty manoeuvres like the ones on Sunday, can end in tragedy.

Let's remember that three hundred kilometres per hour is exceeded. The stewards must stop their lukewarmness, be firm, apply the rules, because this sport can be very damaged and some drivers can have disastrous consequences.