“It’s not really a surprise” – Max Verstappen did not feel any particular satisfaction in lapping his former rival Lewis Hamilton

Samriddhi Jaiswal | 25/04/2022
"It’s not really a surprise" - Max Verstappen did not feel any particular satisfaction in lapping his former rival Lewis Hamilton

Max Verstappen took the pole in Imola and while he did so he also put his former championship rival Lewis Hamilton one lap down.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as Ferrari made a few mistakes with their title contender Charles Leclerc.

In doing so, Verstappen lapped several cars among which was also his former championship rival Lewis Hamilton. The Dutchman put Hamilton’s W13 one lap down as the Mercedes seemed to be struggling with pace.

However, talking about this specific moment, the Red Bull driver said that he was not surprised to find himself lapping Hamilton given how poor Mercedes has been performing this season.

“They’ve been slow all year so it’s not really a surprise,” he said. Verstappen further added that he didn’t feel any particular satisfaction in putting his former championship rival a lap down. “It is what it is.”

Also Read: F1 fans lash out at Lewis Hamilton for Toto Wolff apologizing to the seven-time World Champion

Max Verstappen feels sympathy for Charles Leclerc

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc did not have a good start to the race in Imola on Sunday as he could not make a move on Max Verstappen and got overtaken by Sergio Perez right after the lights out.

Throughout the race, Leclerc was P3 trying to take on Perez’s Red Bull for P2 when he lost control of the car and spun his car into the barriers.

The Monegasque damaged his front wing a little and had to pit again which dropped him down to P6.

Verstappen felt sympathetic for his rival for how the race turned out to be for him. He said, “Of course, he was pushing hard to try and fight Checo. It is painful but I think he knows that himself, he doesn’t need to hear that from anyone in here.”

“But it’s still such a long championship. You can still gain a lot of points,” he further added.

The dutchman increased his lead by a maximum of 34 points following his victory in the Sprint race combined with the fastest lap and pole in the main race.

He now lies second in the championship, 27 points behind Leclerc. Verstappen praised his team after an “incredible” performance.

Also Read: Nico Rosberg criticizes Lewis Hamilton for his disastrous outing at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Post Edited By: Samriddhi Jaiswal
ferrari Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen Mercedes Red Bull

About the author

Samriddhi Jaiswal

Samriddhi Jaiswal is an F1 editor and writer at The SportsRush. She started her career as a business journalist but soon found her calling in lights out here we go! Samriddhi has been a Ferrari fan even when her interaction with F1 was occasional. Her first real experience with the thrilling sport came when Charles Leclerc clinched his iconic victory in Spa and Monza and painted the track red. Now, a Tifosi, Samriddhi is a hardcore fan of the prancing horse and can relate to the chaos within the Italian camp and also admires Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. Off the track, she finds her home in books and musical instruments.

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