Lewis Hamilton believes the “undeniable” pace Max Verstappen had in the United States Grand Prix Sprint proves he will be “breathing down our necks” in Sunday’s race.
Having started third, Hamilton capitalised on Verstappen aggressively squeezing Charles Leclerc on the approach to Turn 1 to edge around the outside of the Ferrari on the exit.
The Mercedes driver was initially able to maintain pace with Verstappen to stay within the one-second of the Red Bull he needed to activate DRS beyond the end of Lap 2.
However, the Dutchman swiftly pulled away, eventually recording a dominant winning margin of 9.4s at the conclusion of 19 laps.
“That was a fun race,” Hamilton expressed. “Good start down to Turn 1 and [a] good battle with Charles.
“Then I was trying early on to get closer to Max. But their pace is just undeniable at the moment.
“I’m happy we’re a little bit closer. We’ve still got a long way to be able to eke the pace that he was doing throughout the race. But nonetheless, I’m really happy to be back on the podium.”
While Verstappen led every lap on his way to a third Sprint victory of the year, the Dutchman will only line up sixth for Sunday’s grand prix after his best lap time in qualifying was deleted for exceeding track limits.
But Hamilton, who will set off from third once again, concedes that Verstappen will soon charge through to become a contender for a fifth consecutive win on American soil.
“Ultimately, I think he will be breathing down our necks before too long, with the pace that he had today,” the Briton admitted. “But I think that will open up for a good fight with Charles and Lando.
“We’re all quite similar in pace. So hopefully, we get to have a good battle tomorrow.
“And if we can all keep Max behind. that’d be awesome. But if not, no worries.”
Meanwhile, Verstappen asserts that he was in control throughout proceedings, adding that his race became settled once he broke out of DRS range from Hamilton behind.
“It was always like eight, nine-tenths for a few laps, but that was all controllable into the braking zone,” Verstappen explained.
“The DRS, with such big wings here on this track, they’re quite powerful. But once I cleared the DRS, then, yeah, we all settled in our own rhythms.
“And I think the pace of the car was very good today,” he concluded.
