Seems unlikely. I'm a bit perplexed here, last year Verstappen was clearly the dirty driver, which was reflected in his numerous penalties. I mean, I've never ever seen him back out of any situation, he just goes for it no matter what, whether there's room or not, whether the other driver stays on the track or not. Hamilton's driving is more responsible, based probably on the fact that he is just a lot older. He knows when to back out and settle for second and 18 points, in a way that Verstappen doesn't. With Verstappen it's always 25 points or nothing. The weird thing is, the way he became champion in the end was because of Masi breaking the rules, not Max. But certainly with a more sensible attitude Max could have become champion before the final race, just by accepting second a few times rather than driving into people and crashing out.

I mean, take the aftermath of that final race as an example. Lewis congratulated Max. That must have taken a hell of an effort, but it's what he did. Now imagine it the other way around, Hamilton leading for most of the season, Max closing in over the last few races... final race he has the championship in the bag, then the officials f*ck it up and give the title to Lewis. Can you really imagine Max congratulating him? More likely Max would drive straight out of the course still in his F1 car and go on a mad rampage of destruction across the city.