Max Verstappen confidante reveals the subtle thing he used to do in the cooldown room to annoy Lewis Hamilton

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Max Verstappen showed no sign of being daunted by Lewis Hamilton when they went head-to-head for the title in 2021. That was admirable given the gulf in experience and success.

Hamilton entered the year as a seven-time world champion with 105 race wins and well over 250 starts. Verstappen, meanwhile, had only reached double figures for victories at the end of the previous season.

Critics may argue that Verstappen displayed immaturity when colliding with Hamilton in Italy and Saudi Arabia – both incidents resulted in a penalty. But this speaks more to the intensity of the title battle, with Hamilton also penalised for the high-speed tangle at Silverstone.

Ultimately, Verstappen handled the pressure like a worthy champion, and that was a crucial factor in his eventual success, however controversial it proved. His performance in the United States GP, where he held off a charging Hamilton on older tyres, was the best example.

Max Verstappen deliberately took his time getting ready to ruffle Lewis Hamilton

Verstappen’s ex-performance coach, Bradley Scanes, has been reflecting on that 2021 campaign on the High Performance Podcast. He revealed the subtle way that the youngster tried to get at his opponent.

According to Scanes, Hamilton would ‘take a long time to get ready’ in the gap between the end of a session and the press conference. This used to rankle an impatient Verstappen.

Therefore, he decided he’d start ‘changing every part of the kit’ himself, this time making Hamilton wait for him. Scanes regarded it as a highly symbolic power play.

This is an insight, perhaps, into the subtle mind-games that go on between elite drivers in high-stakes situations.

“One of the funniest things would be the time it would take to get ready,” he said. “So when I first started working with Max, the top three go into the cool-down room after the race, or after qualifying there is a little area where you go.

“And Lewis would always take a long time to get ready. He’d want to change fully out of his kit and get his hair done, put his own clothes on, whereas Max would just change his suit or go as he is to the press conference.

“As it progressed, we started changing every part of the kit, and you could just see Max taking his time. We started changing the full kit and the flip was Max really started to take his time, so Lewis had to wait for him.

“It was just a power trip thing to say ‘We’re not waiting for you anymore, the baton has been passed and we’re taking over from here’.”

How Max Verstappen enraged Angela Cullen during 2021 F1 title fight

Scanes’ counterpart Angela Cullen was livid with Verstappen after the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP. Hamilton had accused the Dutchman of brake testing him after receiving an instruction to hand over the race lead.

Hamilton hit the back of Verstappen’s car, though he was able to win in spite of the resulting front-wing damage. Still, Cullen told him after the session that he’d ‘get someone killed’ if he continued driving in that manner.

• READ MORE: Toto Wolff shares what Lewis Hamilton ‘decided’ before Silverstone crash with Max Verstappen in 2021

The weekend is also remembered for the pole lap that never was from Verstappen. He strung together two phenomenal sectors before finding the barrier at the final corner.

Scanes has revealed that Verstappen effectively built his own simulation of the circuit with the help of ‘someone online’. Red Bull didn’t have their usual model because the track was so new, but their superstar driver wouldn’t let that stop him.