Verstappen won't alter how he races Hamilton despite growing F1 points lead

The Red Bull F1 driver extended his advantage over Hamilton to 12 points with victory last time out in Austin. With 133 points still left up for grabs in the remaining five events, the title fight remains wide open heading into the Mexican Grand Prix. 

But Verstappen insists he won't hold back when racing Hamilton, even if he were to further strengthen his grip on the world title in Mexico City. 

“My approach will be the same as the whole year,” Verstappen said. 

“I always try to score the most available points out there and of course race hard, like Lewis does and like everybody else does. And of course I’ll always try to keep it clean.” 

In the build up to this weekend’s race, Hamilton’s Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff predicted that this year’s title could be decided by a last-race collision. 

Verstappen and Hamilton have already clashed twice on track this year but Hamilton says he is only interested in winning the world championship “in the right way”. 

“I don’t really think about previous historic fights between two drivers and what they have done,” Verstappen said. 

“It’s the past and I just focus on what I have to do on track and that’s to try and do the best I can, and that’s how at the end of the day you are going to win the championship. 

“Try to get the most available points out there and of course try to beat your rival.” 

Asked how he manages to remain so calm amid his first proper title fight, Verstappen replied: “I like what I’m doing so that takes the pressure off. It’s not the first time I’ve been in a championship fight. 

“Yes, the first time in Formula 1 but not in my life. So at the end of the day that doesn’t change because you need to win, and that’s what I’ve been doing in the past as well. So I just try to do the same here. 

“Like I’ve said in previous races, when the car is capable to win, I’ll win, and when the car is not capable of winning, I won’t win.” 

And Verstappen has urged his Red Bull team to “nail” a weekend it goes into widely regarded as favourites. 

“It’s all about details,” he said. “You can look good on paper but you still have to nail your set-up and all the combinations around it. 

"It might look good for us but we have to, again, be on it from FP1 onwards and make sure that we go in the right direction in the car.”