Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says his team could prove to be Lewis Hamilton's best friend this weekend, if the Briton plays it smart and backs up championship leader and team-mate Nico Rosberg into Horner's drivers.
Hamilton heads into the final race 12 points adrift of Rosberg and therefore has an outside chance of taking a fourth title. However it would require him to win and Rosberg to finish fourth or lower.
That means two cars need to be between them and with Red Bull likely to be their cloesest challenger in Abu Dhabi, Horner suggested Hamilton would be "smart" to hold Rosberg up and give Red Bull's drivers a shot at racing the German.
"First of all to my drivers I'd say just go for it because it's not our championship battle," Horner told the media on Wednesday.
"We could be Lewis's best friend on Sunday if we manage to get both cars ahead of Nico.
"There's no point Lewis being ahead by half a lap – if he's smart he's going to back the cars up so there is racing behind him because that's the only way the result will fall his way."
Horner believes Hamilton may have an easier time than Rosberg as not only has he experience of title battles – three of which he's won – but there is less pressure on him compared to his team-mate.
"Nico has got everything to lose," he added. "In reality a top three finish is a straightforward result for a Mercedes driver but he's probably going to be watching his mirrors harder than everybody else in the field. He's got everything at stake.
"Lewis's job in some ways is easier as Nico is the one with the pressure on him to close out the championship."
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