Verstappen 'not at war' with Hamilton for F1 title

Max Verstappen has insisted he is not at "war" with Lewis Hamilton despite the hard-fought battle between the pair for this year's world championship title.

The Dutchman trails the Mercedes driver by 14 points after losing out in a strategic Spanish Grand Prix to go three-one down in race victories across the opening four races.

However, when asked if he was ready for war with Hamilton, Verstappen said: “Let’s not use the term ‘war’.

"Let’s just keep it competitive in a nice way but of course, we will fight hard but they will as well which is good for the sport but I like it too.”

In each of the first four races, Verstappen and Hamilton have come close to contact in side-by-side battles.

Commenting on the emotion of finally being in a competitive position against Mercedes, Verstappen added: “I think it’s exciting and I’m of course looking forward to every single battle out there.

"With the championship fight, we finally have a car that is capable of having decent results every single weekend.

"If that is fighting for first or third or second is going to depend on the track which is a bit difficult to project at the moment but it is really enjoyable and I think so far this year we have had some good results.

“Also from my side, I am happy but things can always go better on both sides, from the car and myself. It is never good enough, even if I would have won all the races so far.”

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