Warwick or Gap Year and reapply to Imperial

I applied to Warwick and Imperial for maths, and was rejected from Imperial and offered a place at Warwick. I'm aware Warwick is COWI and apparently a target uni for investment banking, but I was fairly set on studying at Imperial and I'm not really looking forward to studying at Warwick. Also, Imperial are partners with EPFL which is the Uni I'd want to do a year abroad with. I also want to work abroad in the future and outide of the UK the prestige of Imperial is much better than that of Warwick.
What does one advise I do, take a gap year? Or go to Warwick and see if I can transfer to Imperial? Or obviously go to Warwick and end up really enjoying it and staying there.
I should point out that I don't like the idea of taking a gap year, I feel I'll always be a year behind where I could be, but I am young for my year so the age difference won't be too much and I could get some work experience , learn to drive ect...

just go to warwick man, its a gud uni and defs a target for ib

I know, I'm just trying to convince myself I'll spend my time there not thinking about where I could be

You can always try applying for a postgrad at imperial and you'll get the same benefits. Its not worth risking another rejection

If I were to meet the offer for Imperial this year, would it still be risky reapplying next year?

If you do not have a solid plan for your gap year, I would not suggest that path. If I were you, I would consider if Imperial offers a foundation year that could lead to a guaranteed entry. If they do, perfect! Do that, you would still be spending an extra year before university, but with a guaranteed entry and you would still be learning some things.

However, if there aren't foundation years at Imperial, I would go to Warwick and try to transfer. You already got Warwick in the bag; it wouldn't hurt to try a transfer! If you like the first year and want to stay there, jolly good!

Also, as someone else said, it's not the end of the world, Warwick is still a good reputation school, and even if you go abroad, depending on the location, they would be more inclined to look at your skillset rather than your diploma, and even if they still do look at your university's name, Warwick is still good!