Lewis Hamilton: Max Verstappen wants 'real battle' with F1 champion

Max Verstappen

Verstappen wants 'real battle' with Hamilton

We want to see it too!

Matthew Scott

Monday 3 June 2019 11:53 Updated: 12:36

Max Verstappen feels he is yet to engage Lewis Hamilton in a "real battle" during his Formula 1 career, and hopes to be able to take a sustained fight to the world champion this year. Verstappen is yet to feature prominently in a title battle during two full seasons with Red Bull.

Last year was Verstappen's best yet in F1, although he finished fourth in the drivers' standings as a result of a poor start to the year and Red Bull's struggles in the power stakes compared to Mercedes and Ferrari.

With Red Bull having swapped Renault power units for a Honda supply in 2019, the Dutchman has set sights on mixing it with the five-time world champion.

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The pair engaged in a tense battle last time out in Monaco, as Verstappen pushed Hamilton hard for more than 50 laps and the Red Bull man hopes it is a sign of things to come.

"To be honest, I'm still waiting for the real battle against Lewis," Verstappen told F1 Racing.

"Of course, I've been driving with Lewis for a few years now. But I never really felt like the whole season I was fighting against him, so it's a bit difficult to judge that at the moment.

"He was in a championship fight and then we had [only] a few good races.

"Sometimes it's easier to overtake him because he has to think about the championship.

"Hopefully this year we will be more in that fight throughout the whole season, every weekend, then we can compare each other."

Verstappen has taken a pair of podium finishes so far in 2019, losing second place in Monaco due to a time penalty, and credited the Honda partnership for breathing new life into Red Bull.

"In general to have this new engine partner in the team just gave a bit of a fresh start," he said.

"Everybody is just really looking forward to the challenge, I think.

"We just feel like there are more opportunities with Honda so at the moment there's a really good vibe in the team."