Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes Formula 1 risks seeing this year’s world championship being decided through a “messy” collision if lessons are not learned from Sunday’s Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton’s victory after an intense battle with Max Verstappen means both drivers head to the season finale in Abu Dhabi level on points.

The pair’s season-long duel for the drivers’ title has escalated into a bitter rivalry throughout the year, and the Jeddah race led to another series of major flashpoints.

Verstappen was handed two time penalties, one for gaining an advantage when defending from Hamilton at Turns 1 and 2, and the other for “erratic” braking when the Mercedes driver made contact with the rear of his car.

Hamilton too received a black-and-white flag from race control as a warning for pushing Verstappen wide at the final corner, with fresh concern that the title could be settled by a race-ending collision.

“I would hope that the race has enough repercussions that everybody’s going to learn from it and adapt for the final race in Abu Dhabi,” said Wolff, as quoted by The Race.

“I think that similar driving, if it were to be deemed by the stewards as being over the line, would then probably also be penalised in Abu Dhabi.

“That could well end in a messy situation for everybody and I don’t think that the championship deserves a result influenced by a collision.

“In that case I [put my] trust into the self-regulating system.”

Incidents between both drivers over the course of the season have resulted in contact and has also led to either time penalties or grid drops being assigned.

Hamilton was given a 10-second time penalty for his opening-lap crash with Verstappen at Silverstone, while Verstappen was handed a three-place grid drop for the collision at Monza that ended both of their races.

In Brazil, the stewards were criticised when Verstappen controversially escaped punishment for forcing Hamilton off-track, something Wolff fears could play a pivotal role in Abu Dhabi.

“I said in Brazil that we are setting a precedent if it’s not being investigated that could end up really ugly for the championship,” Wolff said.

“And we’ve seen incidents today that were pretty much Brazil at slower speeds and we don’t want to have that in Abu Dhabi.

“The quicker car with the quicker driver should win the championship and not by taking each other off.”

If Verstappen and Hamilton do collide, or neither driver scores points, based on count back for number of victories Verstappen will be crowned champion.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner was clear his team wants to win the championship “on the track” in Yas Marina, but had felt Verstappen wasn’t worthy of a penalty for the incidents in Saudi Arabia.

When asked to give his own view on Verstappen’s driving, Wolff said: “It was very hard. In a way I can understand that. He’s fighting for his first world championship.

“And there was so much confusion in the race and so many moments I would have judged as over the line.”