Verstappen says he's got the mental strength to beat Hamilton
May 25 - Max Verstappen says he won't be playing Lewis Hamilton's "games" at forthcoming Formula 1 races.
Before struggling all weekend at Monaco and losing his world championship lead to his Dutch rival, Mercedes' Hamilton insisted he was worried about the chances of an on-track clash.
Verstappen, after lifting the trophy aloft, then hit back by saying "actions speak louder than words".
When asked about that statement, Hamilton responded that he didn't want to be drawn into a "childish" argument with his 23-year-old Red Bull foe.
"I'm not playing mind games," said the Briton. "Red Bull did a great job and that's that. There are 17 races to go.
"I'm not going to get into a war of words. It's childish," he insisted.
Some are questioning the reasons for Hamilton's Monaco struggle, especially as his teammate Valtteri Bottas was more competitive across the weekend.
Dr Helmut Marko also wondered why the 36-year-old appeared surprisingly meek when driving behind Pierre Gasly's AlphaTauri.
"Hamilton seemed sad, confused, bored, a little weak in Monaco," observed well-known Italian journalist Giogio Terruzzi.
"He didn't seem like a driver going for a world championship."
Italy's La Repubblica newspaper agreed: "Hamilton was a shadow of himself. Anyone who still had doubts about whether Verstappen was ready for the duel with Hamilton got their answer in Monaco."
Former F1 driver Mark Webber, however, warned Verstappen not to become complacent.
"Max has found the right balance, but he needs to be careful. A defeated Hamilton is a very dangerous opponent," the Australian told the Dutch source NOS.
Another former driver, Christijan Albers, agrees with Webber that Verstappen now appears to be finding a good balance - both on and off the track.
"You can see peace and focus," he told De Telegraaf. "You can really see him getting stronger and more mature.
"Maybe it's because he now has a nice girlfriend who really creates a good foundation for him," Albers added, referring to Nelson Piquet's daughter Kelly, who has a child with Daniil Kvyat.
Red Bull's Marko agrees: "This is the most mature Max we have ever had."
And so, Verstappen told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he has the ability to shut out any of his championship rival's mind games.
"I'm not afraid of Hamilton's games," said the Dutchman. "I have the mental strength to beat him.
"In Monaco, we had to prove that we were really fighting for the title, and that's what we did."
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Blah, blah, blah. Ham didn't pass Gasly b/c its Monaco, Gasly is fast and MB hsd already screwed him up with the under/over cut. Plus it was for 6th and he would mever be able to pass more cars to get to podium at Monaco. The risk/rewatd to push Gasly was too high.
HAM has had a few weekends like this in the past. He has always come back stronger. VER had best not get too complacent. This should be interesting.
I Agree LH will probably win the championship again , but a few more off races like this performance and it could as you say be very interesting and make the season great, ive been scanning the F1 forums and pretty much on everyone LH has had a bashing from F1 fans, 2 weeks till next gp , mmm either good to reset, or time for it to fester in his head?
fester in his head hopefully.
If not for Hamilton's wisdom & maturity, Madd Maxx would have wiped them out TWICE. So all of the bubble headed detractors can miss me with their rank ignorance. This "mind game" narrative is only applicable to Nico Rosberg, because he had to go into therapy to beat Sir Lewis Hamilton.
The only wisdom Lulu is showing at the moment is how to make an arse of himself, straight from the book of "Toto the Bull...t Konig"
LH is an english gentleman who can do no wrong.he was knighted for driving the fastest car in the field for a few years.no one is as good as him max is dutch ,nico german and michaael german can never get close jenny and george are nt close either.gotta treat him with the respect he deserves
Max, Max, Max. You are lots more worried about what Hamilton is thinking about you that Hamilton actually thinks about you. Hamilton has gone through this before. He is occupying space in Maxs head. head.
what max needs is a large 33 painted on the rear of the car.ha ha s will have nightmares about 33 staring at it for lap after lap after lap . if he can get close enough
yes max go you can get it. Red bull proving merc is not as good as you this year esp those terrible pit stops
Merc have history with screwing pitstops , they even put bottases wheels on GR car to slow him up , and then the wheelnut affair.....very dodgy from an outsiders point of view.