F1 rivals play down risk of collision as duel moves to Monaco

Max Verstappen pushed back on Wednesday against suggestions he and Lewis Hamilton were sure to collide at some point and that he had something to prove in the Formula One championship battle.

McLaren boss Zak Brown said last week the rivalry could create a chance for his team because "it is just a matter of time until both are determined to not let up into turn one and neither come out".

Red Bull's Verstappen and Mercedes' seven times world champion have gone wheel to wheel in all four races so far, with Hamilton winning three to the Dutch driver's sole success.

Hamilton told reporters ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix that he had done well to avoid incidents.

"We’ve got 19 more (races) to go and we could connect, hopefully not," said the Briton.

"I think there is a nice balanced amount of respect between us... he feels perhaps he has a lot to prove. I’m not necessarily in the same boat there and I'm more long term 'it's a marathon not a sprint' mentality.

"I'll continue with that and I'll do everything to make sure that we avoid connecting."

Verstappen said he had nothing to prove.

"Avoiding contact, I think it goes both ways. So we have done well, that's true," he added. "But yeah, we race hard, we avoided the contact both sides. Let’s hope we can keep doing that and keep being on track and race hard against each other."

He bristled when asked about what Brown had said.

"I honestly don’t know what to say any more about these things," he replied. "We never try to crash, do we? It’s just good to make a few interesting headlines like that.

"I guess it will have a bit more viewers when you say 'it’s a matter of time' instead of saying we had some great races so far."

Four times world champion Sebastian Vettel said those on the outside did not fully appreciate how fine the margins were, how easily things could go wrong and how well the top two were driving.

"Nobody wants to take the other car out or himself out, because the risk of getting it wrong is just so high," said the German.

"So far, they have done really well and I think it shows the class that they both have."

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