Lewis Hamilton: "Not going to get into a war of words"

Five races into the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship and the battle is heating up at the front. With the race victory in Monaco, Max Verstappen took the Championship lead from Lewis Hamilton who insists that he is not playing mind games with this rival despite having plenty to say before the race this weekend.

"I'm not playing mind games," Hamilton said to BBC Sport. "They did a great job this weekend and that's that. There are 17 races to go. I'm not going to get into a war of words. It's childish."

Hamilton struggled to get his Mercedes to perform and had to settle for 7th place on the historic circuit.

"I don't feel any pain," Hamilton said, reflecting on the weekend. "It is not a great weekend but I am not dwelling on it. There is a lot we could have done better in terms of how we prepared. We've had some good conversations through the weekend but it's not good enough from all of us.