Karun Chandhok: Max Verstappen is this F1 generation's Michael Schumacher

Tensions boiled over last weekend at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as several track infringements led to chaotic scenes between stewards, teams and drivers in real-time during the race before Verstappen braked to allow Hamilton to pass, only for Hamilton to smash into the tail end of his Red Bull.

• Watch the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1

The question around when courageous, brave battling on the track becomes sheer bad driving has boiled up all week in anticipation of the winner-takes-all final race, which both drivers enter with 396.5 points each.

Chandhok said: "It's a very good question. I've been trying to understand myself in terms of what the rules of engagement are, in terms of what do the stewards and the officials think. I spent a bit of time last night reading through the rulebook and there isn't anything there in terms of clear rules of engagement.

"Effectively, they've left it to the discretion of the stewards and the drivers and said: 'Look, you're not allowed to crowd another competitor, you need to give them racing room etc etc' but it's sort of a verbal gentleman's agreement. And it's quite clear that is not working.

"It's quite clear that Max is pushing that whole rules of engagement thing to a different level that Lewis is in a way that I suppose Michael Schumacher did, in a very aggressive, uncompromising way. Max is this generation's version of Michael. It's been interesting talking to people like Damon [Hill] and Johnny [Herbert] who were obviously competitors of Michael and they saw that up close. The first thing Damon said is that Max's style of racing reminds him of Michael in '94.

"He just doesn't back down at any point and therefore it ends up getting into these sort of situations like Brazil, where they both ended up wide off the track, like we had in Saudi at Turn 2.

"That's where Lewis is a bit of a cleaner racer, I think. With Lewis, there are situations where he thinks: 'Okay, we're better off both not colliding and coming out of it nice and cleanly' and that's the different styles we're seeing.

"What has become very clear, I think more so in Max's case, is that the gloves are well and truly off. He is prepared to throw the car down the inside into overtaking moves and put himself in situations which are a bit riskier than perhaps Lewis is. That's just his style of racing, you know, he's got a very uncompromising way of racing."

Despite his perceived ferocity on track in the Red Bull, Verstappen has impressed Chandhok with his calm temperament and mature head.

The Sky F1 expert said: "He's hugely impressive. He's 24 years old and it's hard for us to keep remembering that because he's 24, he's fighting for the world's biggest crown in his sporting field, and he is so mature beyond his years and so calm beyond his years.

"I go back to Zandvoort, the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix, that race is basically designed for him. I've never been to a race where 99 per cent of the crowd were for one driver. Zandvoort was basically a race designed for Max.

"The royal family is there queuing up to shake his hand, the papers have wall to wall coverage, but there were a couple of mornings where he and I ended up walking from the motor homes to the garages together and we could have been at the Chinese Grand Prix, he was just so calm.

"I'd say until qualifying in Saudi Arabia, he's been pretty error-free. He's not really made any mistakes."

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