Lewis Hamilton on the verge of sporting immortality – and a place in the nation’s hearts – Telegraph.co.uk

Lewis Hamilton said he felt relaxed and ready on Friday night as he stood on the brink of sporting immortality. The seven-time world champion, who enters the final weekend of one of the most thrilling seasons in Formula 1 history level on points with Red Bulls Max Verstappen, topped the timesheets in practice at Abu Dhabis Yas Marina circuit as he closes in on what would be a record eighth world title.

Hamilton finished six-tenths clear of Verstappen in second practice, and afterwards said he was feeling "great" in body and mind. "I feel good. I feel good," he said. "I feel great in my body, and I think we made some positive steps set-up wise, so well try and perfect it tonight and come back hard tomorrow."

An eighth world title, 13 years after his first for McLaren as a 23-year-old back in 2008, would seal the 36-year-olds place as the most successful driver of all time, eclipsing Michael Schumacher who won seven world titles between 1994 and 2005.

It would also, surely, seal Hamiltons place in the hearts and minds of a British public which has been unfathomably slow to embrace him.

That reticence has partly been due to a lack of opposition, which has made some of Hamiltons titles feel processional. There has been nothing processional about this season.

A season which has fluctuated wildly, with both contenders leading at different points, has seen Mercedes and Red Bull clash repeatedly on and off the track.

Toto Wolff and Christian Horner, the respective team principals, put their differences momentarily aside in Friday's final press conference before this afternoons crucial qualifying session, shaking hands and wishing the other luck.

Even then, the simmering tensions were only just beneath the surface with Horner repeating his claim that Verstappen has been unfairly treated by stewards and by the media.

"I think that allegations about his driving, about his driving style, about his driving standards have been theres been a narrative thats been pushed to put pressure on him," Horner said. "I think that hes driven fantastically well all year. Max drives in a manner that ignites passion, it has brought fans into the sport, its brought new fans into the sport this year and we do not want him to change."

Race director Michael Masi has explicitly warned both Hamilton and Verstappen that they risk points deductions should they exceed the bounds of sportsmanship this weekend and cause a collision that wins them the title.

With Verstappen knowing he will be crowned champion should neither driver reach the finish on Sunday, and with the Dutch driver now seemingly occupying the slower car, there has been speculation that he might employ dirty tactics to prevail as Schumacher was accused of doing in 1994, when he took out British driver Damon Hill on the final day, and in 1997, when he failed with an attempted swipe on Jacques Villeneuve. Verstappen was last week handed 15 seconds of time penalties and twice ordered to give back positions.

Horner said the warning was unnecessary, and that all Red Bull wanted from the stewards was "consistency" in the application of the rules, adding that race-ending collisions happened at Silverstone and Hungary without seeing points penalties.

"We want to see these two titans of drivers, who have gone wheel-to-wheel so often this year go at it again this weekend, thats what, as a team we want, as a driver Max wants," Horner said.

"There needs to be consistency and so I can see why Toto and Lewis, with the disadvantage of race wins, would be pushing for that but nobodys going into this race to say its going to end in a crash. Theres been great speculation about it but our focus is on trying to win this on track and do it at the chequered flag."

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Lewis Hamilton on the verge of sporting immortality - and a place in the nation's hearts - Telegraph.co.uk