Anthony Davidson says Max Verstappen showed ‘rare’ weakness at Imola that Lewis Hamilton doesn’t possess

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have rarely gone head-to-head in recent times. The rivalry that exploded in the 2021 season has since cooled.

Red Bull were simply too fast in 2022 and 2023 for Hamilton to get close. And while they regressed last year, Mercedes were the slowest of the top-four teams.

When Hamilton joined Ferrari, he would have expected to renew his tussle with Verstappen. But six races into the season, they have very different objectives.

Verstappen is still eyeing the title, even though he’s the clear underdog in light of McLaren’s dominance. Hamilton, meanwhile, is simply striving for comfort in the Ferrari car, aware that the championship is already a write-off.

The Ferrari driver overtook Verstappen, who had front-wing damage, in the closing stages of the Miami Sprint. But he’s already 58 points behind him in the drivers’ standings.

Max Verstappen showed that his frustration occasionally gets the better of him at Imola

During FP1 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Verstappen was seen hitting his steering wheel in frustration. As has become customary on a Friday, he was wrestling with significant balance issues.

At the start of the second session, Hamilton experienced a snap of oversteer through the first chicane. He too experienced a tricky day, repeatedly lamenting the inconsistency of the brakes.

But speaking in commentary for Sky Sports, pundit Anthony Davidson noted their differing reactions. While Verstappen ‘lost his cool’, Hamilton kept his focus.

This is ‘a rare sight’ for the reigning champion, but something that occasionally creeps into his driving.

“Max, we applaud him that we can drive around a problematic Red Bull,” Davidson said. “That’s why he’s so much faster than many teammates that have stepped up to the challenge of trying to take it to Max.

“Time and time again, he finds lap time, he extrapolates it from the car. When it’s really not to his liking, he gets frustrated with the car, as we see with Hamilton losing the balance of the car through turn two.

“Hamilton’s just carrying on on this lap, he’s still pushing, whereas it came to a head for Max during FP1. It’s a rare sight. He lost his cool with the car, and he actually hit the steering wheel.”

Ferrari should be inspired by Lewis Hamilton’s wise words at Imola

Hamilton isn’t always composed. During the Miami GP, he told his Ferrari engineers to take a ‘tea break’ as they deliberated whether to swap the cars.

But the 40-year-old generally manages to control his emotions well inside the cockpit. His vast experience – only Fernando Alonso has started more races – no doubt helps in this regard.

While he has made some defeatist statements this year, Hamilton is calling for patience at Ferrari. He told his critics to judge him at the end of his tenure, rather than the 25% mark of his first season.

Hamilton is ‘really hopeful’ for the future, particularly with Ferrari stepping up their rate of development. Morale inside the team remains low, but they should be inspired by the comments of their superstar driver.