The pair have goꦍne wheel-to-wheel at each of the opening four races this year but so 🎃far, despite their tight battle for the world championship, have managed to keep things clean.

Both Hamilton and Verstappen believe they can avoid a coming together due to the respect they have for one ano꧒ther, while McLaren boss Zak Brown said he thinks it is only a matter of time before they clash on track.

Hamജilton and Verstappen made light contact at the start at Imola and nearly came to blows at Turn 1 in Spain, but on both occasions Hamilton backed out to avoid a bigger collision.

“I’ve done well to avoid all the incidents so far but w🅠e’ve got 19 more [races] to go,” Hamilton said ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. “We could connওect, hopefully not.

“I think the good thing is there is a nice balanced ꦍamount of respect between us. Perhaps, as you know, he feels that he has a lot to prove but I am not necessarily in the same boat there.

“I am more long term𝔉, ‘it’s a marathon not a sprint’, sort of mentality, wh💮ich is ultimately why I have the stats that I have.

“So I will continue with t💖hat and I will do everything to🍸 make sure that we avoid connecting.”

Hamilton won the last race in Monaco after successfully fending off Verstappen’s relentless🎃 attacks in 2019, but the seven-time world champion reckons Red Bull could hold the u🥂pper hand this time around.

“We don’t know what to expect,” he explained. “Red Bull were incredibly close tw🌟ꦇo years ago.

“It’s a much different carꦯ, we have different tyres. Red Bull are going to be very, very hard to beat this weekend. This is a track that has always been 🌊strong for them and, given how close the gap is between us, you can imagine this weekend they could be ahead.

“But we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that’s not the case.🃏”