Verstappen warns "no guarantees" Imola win sparks season-long F1 battle with Hamilton
Verstappen warns "no guarantees" Imola win sparks season-long F1 battle with Hamilton
Max Verstappen has warned his victory at Imola serves as no guarantee of a season-long F1 title battle with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen enjoyed a comprehensive 22-second triumph over Hamilton in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix to close the gap at the top of the drivers' standings to one point after the opening two races.
Yet Verstappen did not have it all his own way across the weekend in Italy, especially with Hamilton securing the 99th pole position of his career.
With a win apiece, it has set up what F1's managing director motorsports Ross Brawn has described as a potential "golden year" for the sport.
Verstappen has tempered such high expectation. He said: "It’s a very long season.
"We just have to keep on working very hard. I’m very happy with the result, of course, but we have to keep on improving because there’s still a lot of work to be able to keep doing this the whole season."
As for the fact the battle is with Hamilton, Verstappen added: "Of course. If I would be driving P10, it’s not enjoyable.
"It’s great to be fighting against Lewis, Mercedes who, I think, as a team, they have been so dominant and they’re very difficult to beat.
"So to be able to say, after two races in a row, we were very, very competitive, that’s very promising but no guarantees."
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F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
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