F1: Lewis Hamilton playing mind games with Max Verstappen? Dutchman hits back

Lewis Hamilton seems to have begun playing mind games with Max Verstappen well before either of them get on track for the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix that will be underway this weekend.

The Mercedes driver currently sits atop the Drivers' Championship standings but has faced stiff competition from the Red Bull Racing driver. Verstappen is just 15 points behind having come second in all three races Hamilton has won this season.

The two drivers have battled it out on track in each of the first four races, with Hamilton coming out on top on three occasions. The duo have kept it clean on most occasions, only making contact once when Verstappen aggressively overtook the Mercedes driver at the race in imola on the opening lap.

Hamilton commended himself for avoiding any incidents with his title rival thus far, and believes there is a good amount of respect between the two to keep the racing clean going forward. He also suggested that Verstappen may have something to prove, which means that the inevitable – the two colliding during their battles – could happen with 19 races still to go.

"I think I've done well to avoid all the incidents so far, but we've got 19 more [races] to go and we could connect, hopefully not," Hamilton said during his pre-race press conference, as quoted on the F1 website. "I think the good thing is that I think there is a nice balance and amount of respect between us."

"I think perhaps [Max] feels he has a lot to prove," Hamilton added. "I'm not necessarily in the same boat there and I'm more long-term, 'it's a marathon not a sprint' sort of mentality, which is ultimately why I have the stats that I have. So I'll continue with that and I'll do everything to make sure that we avoid connecting."

Verstappen was told about Hamilton's comments during his pre-race press conference and the Dutchman – like he is on track – is not one to take anything lying down. He was quick to respond to the British driver, stating that he has nothing to prove and that it takes two people to ensure there is no contact while racing each other hard.

"I have nothing to prove. And avoiding contact, I think it goes both ways. So we have done well, that's true. But we race hard, we've avoided contact both sides, so let's hope we can keep doing that and keep being on track and racing hard against each other," Verstappen said.