"They deliberately chose to go on the softs" - Lewis Hamilton cries "conspiracy" as he claims Max Verstappen's turn 1 lock-up was planned

Lewis Hamilton has claimed that Red Bull has deliberately chosen to start both their drivers on the soft tires and that Max Verstappen’s big lock-up into Turn 1 in the second part of qualifying might have been misleading.

Speaking to Will Buxton post qualifying in the media pen, Hamilton said:

“It was interesting to see the lock-up into Turn 1 and all that kind of stuff. Conspiracy – no one locks up into turn one. And if you do, it’s not a big lock-up anyway. And so yeah, they obviously deliberately chose to go into the soft in my opinion. I might be wrong, but I hope we are on is the right one.”

Red Bull displayed strong long-run pace during Friday practice. They have also gone for an aggressive low-downforce setup for both drivers to claw back some of their straight-line speed deficits against Mercedes.

Lewis Hamilton said that Red Bull’s long-run pace might make it difficult for him to keep up with Verstappen during the initial stages of the Grand Prix. He said:

“Their long-run pace was very, very strong. So, keeping up with him will not be easy. But if they have the (tire) degradation that we think that the soft can have, then we might be in a good place.”

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Lewis Hamilton is preparing for the title decider using every tool available to him

Max Verstappen and Red Bull pulled off a stunning display of performance to snatch pole position away from Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes for the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

However, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton are optimistic about their chances of fighting for victory. Hamilton has said he will prepare for the Grand Prix using every tool available to him and arrive with the best strategy possible.

Speaking to Will Buxton in the media pen post-qualifying, Hamilton said:

“Tonight, I'll be here. I'll be studying. I'll be focusing on looking at past videos. And just preparing in the best way. So, when I come in tomorrow, I'm already clued up on all the strategy and everything that I need to do and then there's work to do tomorrow and I'll get a good night's sleep tonight.”

Lewis Hamilton is fighting for his eighth world title that will see him surpass Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world titles to become the statistically greatest driver in F1 history. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen is aiming to achieve his maiden world title and become the second-youngest world champion in history after Sebastian Vettel.