Hamilton compares himself to 'inexperienced' Verstappen: 'I'm 36'

The seven-time world champion recognises many things about himself in Verstappen. "I'm 36, I've been doing this a long time, so it's not the first time I've been faced with a driver that's been good and bad in certain ways," he stated in the interview. "I think I'm in just a much better position to be able to handle that, to deal with that. Particularly in the limelight and the pressures of the sport."

Hamilton sees inexperience of Verstappen

Both drivers showed brilliant actions on track but also went off the track hard on a number of occasions. In Italy, for example, Verstappen even crashed into Hamilton's car, which was the subject of much dispute afterwards. Hamilton accepts these situations, he stressed.

"I know that he's a super-fast guy, and he's going to get stronger and stronger as he matures over time: which he will no doubt do. Look at me when I was 24 or 25. Jeez, the mistakes I was making back then. I had the speed, but I was going through a lot of different experiences outside the car and also being in the limelight, the pressures of being at the front."