Max Verstappen was left furious with Sir Lewis Hamilton after his Formula 1 rival impeded him during practice for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Hamilton attempted to apologise to the championship leader but the Dutchman was not in a diplomatic mood.

Having won four of the opening six races of 2024, Verstappen arrived at the Imola circuit in Italy as the favourite, but if Friday practice is anything to go by he’s in for a tough weekend.

He struggled to get to grips with his Red Bull, finishing the afternoon session as seventh quickest, around half-a-second slower than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen’s ‘bad day’ also included a heated exchange with Hamilton after the seven-time champion inadvertently blocked the 26-year-old at a narrow part of the circuit while he was on a fast lap.

Verstappen proceeded to cut in front of Hamilton’s Mercedes and waved his fists at him in disgust, with the 39-year-old apologising by holding both hands in the air.

‘I was on a cool-down lap, I thought I was well clear,’ Hamilton, who finished fourth fastest in the session, said later.

‘And all of a sudden, he was right on me, but ultimately it was my mistake. I tried to apologise but he was too frustrated already.’

While there was no harm done, Verstappen refused to accept Hamilton’s apology, with the three-time champion telling the media: ‘It’s just not the first time.

‘You try to of course always stay calm about it, but yes, it happened again at the other end also. I don’t want to really talk about it too much because that’s not our issue.’

But Verstappen wasn’t the only driver Hamilton got on the wrong side of in Imola, with his former teammate and rival Fernando Alonso left frustrated after he too was blocked.

‘Hamilton thinks that he is alone on the race track,’ the Aston Martin star said on the team radio.

‘It is the second lap he does it, turn 12 and now turn seven.’