For Verstappen, it would mark a maiden world title and a changing 🅠of the guard moment in F1 on the eve of a major regulation change following years of supremacy at the top for Hamilton and his Mercedes team. 

൲Victory for Hamilton would see hiജm move out on his own as the most successful driver ever to race in the sport with an unprecedented eighth world championship to add to the achievements he already holds for most grand prix wins and pole positions. A fifth successive title would see Hamilton surpass the record he currently shares with the great Michael Schumacher. 

Verstappen and Hamilton are locked together on 369.5 ꦍpoints going into the winner-takes-all showdown. The mathematics are simple; whoever finishes ahead will be crowned world champion. 

Regardless of whichever way destiny swings, both ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚdrivers know 2021 will go down as being one o🃏f the greatest-ever conclusions to an F1 world championship following an extraordinary season that will be talked about for decades to come. 

"Lewis has won already so many championships," Verstappen said. "But this year w🥀e have been pushing each other, certainly in s♛ome races, to the limit.

"Wꦐe have been trying to get everything out of ﷽cars to the last lap, to the last corner and that's very exciting, especially when it is between two different teams.

"It has been really enjoyable, for most of the time. But that'sꩵ normal in a championship. Of course, in 10-20 years' time people will look back at it, even myself, and remember this year for💎 sure."

“Well said,” Hamilton responded. “I agree fully. It’s been an incredible year, an amazing battle and I’m grateful that I’ve had such a close bꦅattle with Max and hiꦰs team. 

“I think they’ve done an exceptional job and shown true strength a🥀nd so it’s pushed us to the limit in ways that we needed and we, I think, have grown stronger as a team in ways we didn’t know that we could grow. 

“Yeah, it’s been amazing. I hope that we have many mܫore seasons like this.” 

Ten♎sions have boiled over between the championship protagonists on track at times this year but the mutual respect appears to remain 🌌intact, at least in this shared cordial moment in the press conference after Verstappen had beaten Hamilton to a crucial pole position with one of the laps of the season. 

Whether that will continue in the race remains to be seen after several collisions throughout t💛he year, including multiple cla💞shes in last weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that led to Verstappen receiving two penalties. 

Hamilton must beat Verst𝓀appen on track in order to win the title, while the Red Bull driv🐈er knows that a race-ending crash for the pair would ensure he triumphs on count back by virtue of having nine wins to Hamilton’s eight. 

Both were reminded by FIA race director Michael Masi ahead of the weekend that any unsporting behaviour could b🧜e met with a possible points deduction. 

Such a situat🔯ion would be a sour way for the season to end and t🉐arnish an otherwise classic campaign that has seen these two titans of the sport push each other to reach new levels of performance.

Wiᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚth Verstappen and Hamilton starting on different tyre compounds having opted for alternative strategies, Sunday’s title decider is perfectly poised to be a fascinating and dramat🐼ic finale.

“It's 1-0 for [Red Bull],” conceded Mercedes boss Toto Wolff after qualif💫ying. “They got the tyres in the perfect window in the last run. The tow [that Sergio Perez gave Verstappen] functioned flawlessly and that's why they're on pole.

“From P2, I'd much 🌠rather be starting on the medium,” he added. “We will have a slight disadvantage on the start I guess, and the first six, s🌺even laps, if he [Verstappen] drives fast.

“If he manages🌃 [his pace] then that's not a big advantage for [Red Bull], but we can go longer; we can g🃏o for an aggressive undercut also and try to control track position. So overnight we will be running lots of programmes and algorithms.”

After everything that has happened over the last ✤nine months, it all comes down to 58-laps to settle the score between two drivers who are both so deserving of the biggest prize in motorsport. May the best man win.