Verstappen: ”I’m still waiting for a real fight with Hamilton”

Max Verstappen says he is still waiting for a real fight with Lewis Hamilton, after he was trying to overtake him during the entire race in Monaco, It is hoped that this season will be more frequent in the matches with the British and will call on its team to continue to show the rate of development like in past years.

Verstappen tirelessly followed Hamilton during a major part of GP of Monaco and was constantly within half a second behind the Mercedes driver. He tried to maximize the fact that the five-time champion had problems with the tires, but Monaco simply did not offer him enough real opportunity to attack.

The only real opportunity was in the 76th round when Verstappen attacked Hamilton at the tunnel exit and the chicanery but there was a contact between them. Verstappen hit his right front point in Hamilton’s left-hand side, but both continued the race without any consequences.

Verstappen entered second in finish, but due to an incident with Bottas and a penalty of 5 seconds, he finished fourth. Since his arrival, the Dutchman has periodically clash with Hamilton, from which he often emerged as a winner.

Тo the question of what kind of opponent is Hamilton on the track, given that Verstappen has more successes in direct duels with him than other drivers, Verstappen replied:

“I’m still waiting for a real fight with Lewis. Of course, I’m driving with Lewis for several years, but I never had the feeling that I fight with him all season, “ said Verstappen. “It’s hard to estimate at this time.”

“He was in the fight for the title, we had several races in which we fought and where it was easier to threaten because he meant the title. I hope that this year we will be more in this fight, where we can fight against each other throughout the season. “

Verstappen, according to many analysts and experts who evaluate drivers’ performance as the best driver in the current F1 season of 2019. He showed that he had received maturity that he missed in previous years, and is also very constant. In each of the first six races he finished in the first four and defeated at least one Ferrari driver, while on two occasions he ended up on the podium.

Although Red Bull could not threaten Mercedes and Ferrari in the battle for victory, Verstappen was pleased with the start of his season and the begin of a partnership between Red Bull and Honda:

“The start of the year was very positive, especially Australia, where we were immediately on podium with Honda. The start was good. In Bahrain, we made several mistakes in setting up the car, which we unfortunately found only after the weekend. On testing (the first intersubject testing in Bahrain) the car was already much better. “

“I hope that we will be close to them (Mercedes and Ferrari). Ferrari is very fast on routes, especially in qualifications. It will be difficult to defeat them in the qualifications, but I hope we can be in that fight, with a better balance of cars, some quick fixes and upgrades. “

Red Bull had been very close to Mercedes and Ferrari in the past few years due to the fantastic development of the car during the season, making them popular, and Verstappen hopes to continue this year in the same stamina

“We quickly bring upgrades to the car, which we have shown over the past years that we can make a lot of upgrades to the car and make bigger progress than others. I hope it will be the same this year. “.