Verstappen corrects 'hyping up' interviewer after question about Hamilton
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Max Verstappen is less than impressed when people make a big thing out of the battle between him and Lewis Hamilton. In fact, according to Verstappen, there are other worthy opponents ahead of the sprint race in China.
Prior to the sprint race in China, F1TV's Lawrence Barretto asked the four-time world champion what it was like to be back fighting wheel to wheel with Lewis Hamilton, his 2021 rival, for the first time in a long time. According to the interviewer, it was a long time ago, but Verstappen did not agree with the TV presenter.
Hamilton versus Verstappen in China
''I don't think it's that long ago. I think we were 1 and 2 in Hungary 2023 maybe. It's not that long. You guys always want to hype it up, but it doesn't change anything. There are so many good drivers around us and good teams that it will be hard to battle with. We're a out of position I think, in a good way, but we'll try to hang in there.''
While Verstappen was happy with a place on the front row of the grid, he did bring a nuance to how happy it was now being asked. ''I was P3 in Australia, I'm P2 now. It's not like a lot has changed, but we'll do our best.''
This article was written in collaboration with Tim Kraaij.