Wolff thinks Hamilton and Verstappen could have Senna/Prost title decider

Toto Wolff believes that an Ayrton Senna/Alain Prost style title decider could potentially play out between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton if the battle goes down to the wire.

With Verstappen currently leading the standings by 12 points with five races remaining, the fight for the World Championship remains close, and the possibility exists that it may not be decided until the final event of the season in Abu Dhabi.

Whilst others have dismissed suggestions that the rivalry between Verstappen and Hamilton has shades of the famous Senna vs Prost years – including Verstappen himself – Wolff admits he could see a similar situation unfolding between this year's title contenders, especially given that they have already collided on two occasions during the 2021 season.

"If it was to come to the scenario of the last race in Abu Dhabi and they were to be racing each other for the title, whoever is in front is absolutely going to try to do the same as in the Senna-Prost years," Wolff told the Daily Mail.

"What happened in Monza? Verstappen took Lewis out because he was about to overtake and he was quicker. And that is totally understandable.

"If you are racing for the championship and you see it fading away because the other guy is overtaking you, what tool have you got other than the one that makes sure he can't overtake? We've seen it with [Michael] Schumacher and [Jacques] Villeneuve, we saw it with Senna and Prost twice."

However, this is not something that the Mercedes Team Principal would encourage.

"I would never give the instruction to crash into anyone else," Wolff added. "But if they go to that last race and whoever is in front wins the championship, they will be racing each other, hard."

The championship battle will continue at the next race of the season in Mexico on 5-7 November.