Max Verstappen Gives Brutal Response To Lapping Lewis Hamilton

Max Verstappen has brutally dismissed his lapping of Lewis Hamilton at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as a minor detail to his race win.

Hamilton suffered one of his worst race weekends in a long time, as he couldn't get her Mercedes car to click around the Imola track.

It wasn't the first time he's struggled so far this season but it was his worst all round performance, especially with George Russell finishing fourth.

So bad was his race that team principal Toto Wolff got on the radio when it was over to apologise for the state of the car. Probably the worst visual for the seven time drivers' champion would have been rival Verstappen lapping him.

The Red Bull racing driver was allowed to go past the Mercedes man as the race stewards waved blue flags for Hamilton to move over.

Whilst most people thought it was the ultimate embarrassment for the British driver, Verstappen was typically stoic about the whole thing, and his lack of passion made it sound like a brutal takedown.

"Mercedes has been slow all year, so for me it's not anything exciting, it just happens," the reigning world champion said after the race.

Verstappen had come top of qualifying on Friday and then finished first in Saturday's sprint race, picking up eight points in the title race, after overtaking championship leader Charles Leclerc with two laps to go.

The Dutch driver finished off a perfect weekend by leading the race from start to finish, to pick up his second win of the season, to go along with a pair of races where he retired.

To make things even better, Leclerc only picked up eight points, after crashing towards the end of the race as he made a push for second place, and handed Red Bull their first 1-2 finish since 2016, with Sergio Perez finishing second.

Whilst Verstappen was cool on his rivals position, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko stuck the boot in by suggesting that the 37-year-old should have retired after last year.

"I mean, he was lapped by us, so maybe he should have stopped last year," Marko joked on Sky Sports.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner on the other hand, having had a heated rivalry with his opponents last year, was far more understanding of their issues, saying, "He’s obviously had a horrible weekend, but he’s still a seven-time world champion.

"He hasn’t forgotten how to drive in the last four races, so at some point, they’ll sort their issues out and he’ll become a factor, I’ve got no doubt."

With 18 races still to go of the season there's still plenty of time for Mercedes and Hamilton to turn things around but he can't really afford to have too many weekends as bad as this one.

The next race sees the drivers head to Miami for the first of two races in the US this year, and they'll be joined by a third in Las Vegas from next year.