NICO ROSBERG has urged Lewis Hamilton to keep it clean in their Formula One world title showdown in Abu Dhabi tomorrow.

His plea came ahead of their end-of-season clash at the Yas Marina circuit being dubbed the 'Duel in the Desert'.

Ironically, his call for fair play comes in the wake of two controversial moves by the German in recent months.

During qualifying at Monaco, Rosberg made a mistake then reversed on to the circuit, thus securing pole position. This was deemed deliberate by seasoned observers.

Then, at the Belgian Grand Prix, he crashed into Mercede team-mate Hamilton, who later had to retire due to damage sustained in the shunt.

With the Brit 17 points ahead, he could decide to take matters into his own hands, as has been the way in F1 in the past.

But Rosberg claimed it will be down to Hamilton to play by the rules. He said: "Lewis can do something to keep it clean which is drive cleanly himself. It's not like he can't do anything."

When Hamilton was asked whether it would be a clean fight, the 2008 champ replied: "Yeah, I don't know what else to say. That's how it's been.

"You have to go into a weekend believing that is going to be the case."

Asked whether any conversations with Rosberg would be necessary ahead of the race, at first he replied tersely: "No."

Hamilton then added: "We don't need to. It has already been discussed at the start of the season and several times during the season, particularly after Belgium.

"There is no reason to revisit it. We're not children - we should know what is wrong and what is right."