Hamilton bracing for 'incredibly difficult' title showdown

Lewis Hamilton expects his title fight against Red Bull's Max Verstappen to be "incredibly difficult" as the battle enters its final stages, but the Mercedes driver says he'll take things "one race at a time".

Verstappen lead Hamilton by just six points in the Drivers' standings with six races to go, including this weekend US Grand Prix in Austin.

While Red Bull's RB16B enjoyed an edge over Mercedes W12, the Brackley squad had the upper hand over its Milton Keynes-based rival in Russia and Turkey. But the bulls are expected to be on song at the Circuit of the Americas this weekend.

"It’s important to win every race, somehow maximising our points, that’s our goal over the next six races," said Hamilton. "It’s going to be incredibly difficult.

"There will be moments where perhaps we can edge them out and there may be places… I don’t like to assume that Mexico is not going to be strong but they’re usually very strong in Mexico.

"But a lot can happen in these six races so I think we’ll just take one race at a time, give it everything we’ve got."

• Read also - Horner: Hamilton 'the titan' has never faced a rival such as Max

Verstappen and Hamilton have suffered several flash points this season, and while a few strong words were exchanged in the aftermath of the incidents, Hamilton insists he has maintained a normal relationship with his adversary.

"Maybe some of the drivers hang more than others do," he said. "I wouldn’t say I particularly closely hang with anybody here.

"So like last year we would see each other at the track and we’ll say ‘hi’. We’ll do the same thing this year. It’s no different for me personally."

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