Verstappen Reveals Incredible Mindset In Beating Hamilton

Defiant: Max Verstappen addresses a press conference at the Hungaroring on Thursday

Max Verstappen is always brimming with confidence whenever he talks about his ultimate nemesis Lewis Hamilton.

Despite being fueled by determination to bounce back, Verstappen still failed to dominate the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, having finished at ninth plance.

Making things worse for the Dutchman, his championship rival Hamilton managed to stay just behind the race winner Esteban Ocon at second, retaining his lead in the drivers’ standings.

Addressing the underwhelming result after the race, Verstappen insisted that he isn’t fading away into the shadows.

"I see it like this: I can still go faster than anyone in a car,” Verstappen told The Telegraph. “There's still something in there too. I'm absolutely sure I'm faster than Lewis [Hamilton]."

"For myself, it works very well to think like that. If I don't think that way, I'm indeed better off staying home."

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was a winner in Austria last year Photo: AFP / William WEST

Further assessing Mercedes’ overall performance throughout the weekend, Verstappen admitted that the Silver Arrows are once again “ahead” of them but suggested that it is primarily because the team has a better car than his Red Bull RB16B.

"I think earlier this year the cars were definitely equivalent, now Mercedes is a bit ahead again and we have to make sure we at least straighten it out,” the 23-year-old stressed. “Then I can make the difference.”

"And here in Hungary, for example, they introduced a new floor," he added. "It's maybe easier if you also look at the second driver. With Mercedes, Lewis and Valtteri are generally always quite close to each other during qualifying on Saturday. That means the car is working well. With us it's different. If the car goes well, Checo [Pérez] is there. But here in Hungary, we had a harder time. He qualified fourth but was more than six tenths slower. Then you really see how big the gap is."

It can be recalled that heading into the Hungarian GP, Hamilton and Verstappen were still having quite an intense exchange in statements.

Weighing in on the ongoing rivalry between the pair, former Ferrari engineer Ernest Knoors reckoned that Hamilton has been getting the better of the mind games.

“You can see from Lewis that especially the mental part is coming into play more and more,” Knoors told Motorsport. “Hamilton is very strong and skilled at that. Verstappen should not fall for that game, but rely on his own strength and that of his car.”