After the defeat of 2021, everyone expected Lewis Hamilton to bounce back and beat Max Verstappen. However, the rivalry peaked in 2021 and since then there have been little to no battles between the two. Red Bull is far in front whereas Mercedes struggles to get to the podium. As the Emilia Romagna GP Friday Practice comes to an end, let’s look at how Verstappen relived the 2021 nightmares with Lewis Hamilton.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull haven’t had the easiest last couple of weekends. We’re not talking about the off-track action where Adrian Newey announced his exit, but the on-track performance of the drivers in the RB20. Max Verstappen lost the race to Lando Norris in Miami on pure pace as the Brit was faster after the safety car restart whereas Verstappen struggled with grip. The struggles continued during the Imola GP practice sessions as well.

Max Verstappen was constantly on the radio complaining to his team about the RB20 not having a rear grip and having too much front end. The Dutchman wasn’t able to get a hold of the car, and ran wide on the gravel multiple times throughout the session, while Charles Leclerc topped the timing sheets. Adding to the misery was Deja Vu from the 2021 Emilia Romagna GP.

Do you recall how at the start of the 2021 race, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton almost collided as they went side by side into Turn 1, and the Brit took evasive actions and went off track? This time around in practice, Verstappen on a fast lap was impeded by the 7X champ, who was not told by the team that the Dutchman was behind him. As Hamilton turned towards Verstappen, it could’ve ended in a massive crash for the duo.

Ferrari seemed comfortable at their home race and led both the Friday sessions. Looks like the upgrades are working whereas Red Bull is falling down the ladder, not being able to set the car up properly. And now, Verstappen has come out to take shots at his team.

“Can hardly be worse than today”: Max Verstappen on the disappointing Friday at Imola

We saw Max Verstappen taking the pole in Miami despite describing his lap as a horror show. While many thought the Dutchman was inevitable, and would go on to win the race despite having car troubles, it ended up going in McLaren’s favor. Red Bull’s struggles with the setup were once again highlighted. The same happened to the Milton Keynes-based team in Australia where they went with an aggressive setup and paid the price. And now Imola might have a similar story as Verstappen rants about his poor practice sessions.

According to De Telegraaf reporter Erik van Haren, Max Verstappen put this on-track misery into words explaining how the RB20 was a nightmare to drive as the car was doing its own thing and wasn’t in balance. The Dutchman said, “There was no balance in the car, I did not feel comfortable. It was actually really bad, in the long run too. Do I think it will be better tomorrow? It can hardly be worse than today.”

Do you think another Ferrari win is incoming after looking at the data from the two practice sessions?