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Lewis Hamilton says perhaps Max Verstappen feels “he has a lot to prove”, but he has “done well to avoid all of the incidents” with the Dutch driver so far.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have had wheel-to-wheel battles against each other in all four 2021 races so far.
While the young Dutchman seemed to be taking some risks in their duels, Hamilton has kept a level head and avoided any incidents.
Some observers, including McLaren team boss Zak Brown, have said that a crash between the two was inevitable, but Lewis is not sure that’s the case.
“I don’t know, I think I’ve done well to avoid all of the incidents so far,” Hamilton said at the Monaco Grand Prix Wednesday press conference.
“We’ve got 19 more to go, and we could connect. Hopefully not. I think the good thing is, I think there is a nice balanced amount of respect between us.
“I think perhaps, as you know, he feels perhaps he has a lot to prove. I’m not necessarily in the same boat there.
“And I’m more long-term, it’s a marathon, not a sprint, sort of mentality. Which is ultimately why I have the stats that I have.
“I’ll continue with that, and I’ll do everything to make sure that we avoid connecting.”
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The Briton explains how Mercedes’ perceived deficit to Red Bull at the beginning of the season didn’t impact his approach.
“I think every year, your goal is to extract absolutely everything.
“There’s never a year where you arrive, whether you have two-tenths, half a second, negative or to [you], you’re never like, ‘I’m going to give a little bit less’.
“Every year you give absolutely everything, and sometimes, things don’t go as planned. You can be distracted by certain things. You don’t capitalise on opportunities, you may not be always as complete as you like.
“This year, that’s not necessarily the case. It started out the way I wanted. I’ve adjusted to the whole disruption of the pandemic, how to maximise.
“I’m fitter than I’ve ever been, as I’ve had more time naturally to train and to work on the mental side and understanding the car.
“I think it’s just overall, I’ve raised the bar within myself, and that’s our goal as a team in order to do that.”
Taking everything into account, Lewis expects a tough fight with Red Bull this weekend.
“Red Bull were incredibly close two years ago. It’s a much different car, we have different tyres. Red Bull are going to be very, very hard to beat this weekend.
“This is a track that has always been strong for them, and given how close the gap is between us, you can imagine this weekend they could be ahead.
“But we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that’s not the case,” concluded the seven-time champion.
