LEWIS HAMILTON wants a fair fight with Max Verstappen — even if it costs him his Formula One crown.
Red Bull’s Verstappen leads seven-time champ Hamilton by just 12 points ahead of Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix.
Triple world champ Jackie Stewart has branded the pair too “cocky” and says they are “overdoing” their battle on the track following two crashes — at Silverstone and Monza — this season.
And Hamilton does not want any further shunts which could wreck either man’s championship dreams.
His Mercedes boss Toto Wolff also hinted that if the title fight goes down to the last race in Abu Dhabi next month, both drivers would “absolutely be going to try to do the same as in the Senna-Prost years”.
That was a reference to when Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost collided on two occasions when fighting for the title in the final race, while Michael Schumacher denied Damon Hill a world crown in 1994 when they clashed on the track.
Hamilton declared: “We have never won a championship in that way. I have never won a championship in that way and I wouldn’t want to.
“I am here to win in the right way — and that is through sheer skill, determination and hard work.
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“You know how I have won my world championships in the past and I have always wanted to win it in the right way.
“And if you are going to lose it, you lose it in the right way also, with dignity, giving it your all and doing things the right way. If it doesn’t work out, you live to fight another day.”
Stewart claimed Verstappen “would have died” if the Silverstone smash had occurred in his era when F1 was less safe.
Hamilton added: “At the core of everything has to be respect. When I hear what comes out of drivers’ mouths, it is not good for the kids watching.
“I am just trying to keep calm and be respectful for the drivers I am fighting.
“I have been here a long time and Max has not won a championship for a long time. I know what it is like going for your first championship in F1.
“I know all the pressures that come with it — so it is nothing less than expected from him.
“I’m just trying to lead by example because I know I have a lot of youngsters looking at what I do and say.”
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabian GP bosses insist their new track will be ready in time for their inaugural F1 race on December 5 — despite it still resembling a building site.
Some sections of track are yet to be laid and the main grandstand looks like a shell of a structure.
But Saudi race chief Martin Whitaker, who only got the go-ahead 12 months ago, told : “Given that the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is being built in record time, it was always the case that timings would be tight.
“But construction remains on schedule and will be completed on time ahead.”
