Max Verstappen has rejected Lewis Hamilton’s suggestion that he could be feeling the pressure of their title fight. Hamilton said he “remembers what it was like battling for my first championship and “knows the pressure that comes with it”. Red Bull’s Verstappen leads Mercedes’ Hamilton by five points with an expected eight races to go. Hamilton said: “What’s important is we continue to race hard but fair. “Those comments just show you that he really doesn’t know me. I also don’t really need to know him, how he is fully. Hamilton said in Italy that he had been surprised that the Dutchman had walked away without checking he was OK. Verstappen said on Thursday: “There are a lot of hypocrites in the world, that’s for sure.”. Hamilton said: “I never expect a driver to back down. Verstappen has a three-place grid penalty in Russia this weekend after being judged “predominantly to blame” for his crash with Hamilton in Italy. Hamilton said he had not had any after-effects from the crash, in which he was hit on the head by Verstappen’s car.

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