Hamilton endur𝓡ed awful weekend at Imola and could only finish 13th in Sunday’s grand prix. To add insult to injury, the seven-time world champion was lapped by race winner Verstappen, who also won the sprint to take maximum points fromᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ the weekend. 

Following an intense season-long title battle, Verstappen beat Hamilton to the 2021♒ world championship in controversial circumstances at the Abu Dhabi finale. 

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Writing in a post-race column on his son’s official website, Vꦰerstappen Sr admitted he took pleasure from seeing the reigning world champion put a lap between himself and Hamilton.

“Max had an excellent weekend in Imola,” wrote Verstappen Sr. “I found hi🦹m incredibly strong. He didn’t make a single mistake, was solid and completely in control. 

“Red Bull clearly made a step in the right direction. Of course, we knew the car would get an up🌞grade in Italy, but with the weather conditions it was hard to make a comparison. But we can de🌸finitely conclude that we’ve become stronger.

"Saturday during the sprint race, we saw the first glimpses of this. Max caught up with Charles. It meant Ferrari had to push harder, 🌊forcing them to use the tires more. 

“In Italy, Max and Red Bull put Ferrari under pressure, and when under pressure, it’s easy to make a mistake. If you are effortlessly leading, that chance is a lot smaller.ꦛ It turned out to be a perfect weekend for Max.” 

Verstappen later added: "Honestly, I did enjoy seeing Max lap Hamilton, after everything that happened la🃏st year. 

"Hamilton really had a tough time, whereas his teammate George Russell seemed to be more balanced. It’s not often you🐼 have the opportunity to lap a Mercedes.”

Verstappen himself was quick to downplay the fact he was able to lap his former title rival g🥀iven th💟e performance difference between the two teams this year. 

“I mean, they've been slow all year so it's not really a surprise or I feel happy lapping Lewis compared to anyone else, but it is what it is♍,” he said. 

Marko taunts Hamilton 

While Verstappen notched up his sec🌺ond victory of the season to reignite his championship hopes by cutting his deficit to early points leader Charles Leclerc, Hamilton’s woeful𝄹 start to the year with Mercedes continued in Italy.  

Hamilton has been beaten by Mercedes teammate Georgeಞ Russell in the last three races and currently sit🌼s a lowly seventh in the drivers’ championship. 

His nightmare start to 202🌊2 led Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko to quip that Hamilton should have retired from F1 at the end of last season. 

When asked what Hamilton must be thinking after Imola, Marko told Sky Spor꧅ts F1: “I mean he was lapped by us… so, maybe he should have stopped last year, he is thinking, mayဣbe.” 

Despite Merc🎶edes’ struggles this season and writing off his title chances, Hamilton, who has a contract running until the end of 2023, has insisted he has no plans to quit. 

“Just because we’ve hit a rough p💞atch, i💮t’s just not in my DNA to back out,” Hamilton said. 

“We are still world c♌hampions and we can fix this. It’s just going to take longer, it’s going to take a p🏅ainful year.

“I think✤, ultimately, tﷺhis is going to be a painful year that we’re going to have to ride out together with belief that we can rectify it at some point, maybe through the year or even the worst case scenario, at least for next year.”