Wolff on title duel: technical issues ‘my biggest nightmare’

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff admits his “biggest nightmare” would be for technical issues to decide the 2016 Formula One title at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton kept his championship hopes alive by winning a rain-hit Brazilian GP ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg. The German will travel to the Yas Marina Circuit with a 12-point gap over his rival, which means a podium will be enough for him to seal the crown regardless of Hamilton’s result.

The triple world champion has been on the receiving end of Mercedes’ engine reliability problems this year, which included a costly failure while he was leading the Malaysian Grand Prix last month.

“We just have to give them two cars so they can fight it out on the track,” Wolff said when asked about the title fight going down to the wire in two weeks' time. “My biggest nightmare would be mechanical issues.”

Abu Dhabi already hosted a championship showdown between Rosberg and Hamilton two years ago, though the scenario was reversed as it was the Briton who only needed a top-three finish to wrap up the title.

Hamilton went on to win the race after beating pole sitter Rosberg off the line, while the latter eventually finished outside the points-paying positions with an ERS problem.

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