Apologetic Lewis Hamilton reacts to being shrugged off by Max Verstappen for impeding incident in Imola

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton claimed that it was his mistake during the FP2 session on Friday when he accidentally blocked Max Verstappen at the Imola Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion had a pretty eventful day as he further faced the ire of longtime rival Fernando Alonso for coming in his way for a hot lap.

The 39-year-old unintentionally reacted a bit slow when Verstappen, who was on a fast lap, encountered him just after the Tambarello chicane. The Red Bull driver did not appreciate his rival's discretion and let his feelings known on the team radio as well as on the track.

The three-time world champion slowly swerved his RB20 in front of Hamilton's W15 to showcase his displeasure. Speaking after the session, Lewis Hamilton held up his hand accepting his mistake but recognized that Max Verstappen was 'too frustrated'. He said (via F1):

“I was on a cool-down lap. I thought I was well clear, would’ve been well clear, but all of a sudden he was right on me. Ultimately it was my mistake and I tried to apologize, but he was too frustrated.”

On the incident, Verstappen mentioned that he had nothing to add as he was more concerned about his lack of pace on an unusual Friday. He pointed out (via F1):

“It’s not the first time. You try to of course always stay calm about it, but it happened again. I also don’t really want to talk about it too much because that’s not our issue. Today we were just severely off pace, that we need to fix.”

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Lewis Hamilton analyzes his 'good start' to the Imola Grand Prix weekend

Lewis Hamilton stated that he had positive Friday practice sessions as he finished P7 and P4 in FP1 and FP2 respectively and was just a couple of tenths behind Charles Lelerc's fastest lap of the day.

Speaking to the media, Hamilton said:

"It’s been a good start to the weekend. We had a productive day and were able to run all three compounds. The balance of the car felt good, and I had a positive feeling out there. Several other teams look quick, in particular McLaren and Ferrari, but we’re a lot closer than we have been so far this season."

The Mercedes driver also expressed gratitude to the team at the factory for their hard work in bringing the upgrade package in the seventh race of the season, adding:

"We’re not getting ahead of ourselves though so let’s see how tomorrow goes. I am really grateful to everyone back at the factory for working so hard to bring these updates. We are seeing improvements in the car and our performance on track."

With a fully upgraded W15, Hamilton and Mercedes would hope that they could have a strong result in the qualifying session on Saturday that might provide further opportunities for the main race on Sunday.