F1 News: Max Verstappen Guages Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes Ahead Of Azerbaijan GP

Max Verstappen isn’t being too confident heading into the next race as he expects Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes will not let him win again.

On Sunday, Red Bull and Mercedes will once again meet on the track for this year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.

Mercedes talisman Hamilton pulled off one of the most humiliating performances of his career at the Monaco Grand Prix and finished at seventh.

However, Verstappen knows that the seven-time world champion will try to redeem himself.

“[Monaco] was a very good weekend, and of course, I’ve never stood on the podium there before so it was very nice to get the win,” Verstappen told Formula One’s official website. “Taking the lead in the championship feels good but we need to be there at the end of the final race, that’s all that matters.”

“I do expect Mercedes to come back strong [in Baku],” he continued. “The track is okay but probably not a favorite of mine if I’m honest. I’ve never been on the podium there so it’s time to change that."

Verstappen dominant Monaco GP victory saw him taking the lead in this season’s Formula One title race.

In Baku, the Dutchman will be looking to extend his run by relying on the team’s competitiveness.

“Let’s see how competitive we are,” the Red Bull driver stressed. “Where we are now, [it] feels good, and of course, it shows that we had a decent start to the year. But we have to keep on pushing because we still need to improve and do better.”

Hamilton, on the other hand, admitted that “crappy days” such as the Monaco GP and the test drives prior are good for Mercedes.

According to the Brit, the team doesn’t fell apart after a defeat. Instead, they move forward and reflect on their mistakes.

“I’m often grateful for crappy days like this, as it is days [like these] when you learn the most,” Hamilton said after his defeat at the Monaco GP. "If you’re winning all the time, you learn less. There’s a lot to take from this weekend, and we don’t have all the answers, but it will force us to have to go and search for them.”

“There won’t be silence between now and the next race, we’ll have meetings, just so we’re clear on what happened and where we went and what things we might want to…the reasons we have all the championships we have is we made plenty of mistakes, but we always come back stronger. And we learn from them,” he continued.

“We don’t like to kick each other when we’re down. There’s no finger-pointing, so no one individual takes the blame. We win and we lose as a team. We have a very open and honest discussion and it’s not personal.”