Lewis Hamilton's season reaches new low as he is lapped by Verstappen after just 42 laps

The new era of Formula 1 has not been kind to Lewis Hamilton and the Mercedes F1 team.

The German outfit were on another level throughout the turbo-hybrid era, dominating the grid year after year and cruising to eight successive Constructors Championships.

But the new regulations seems to have caught the Silver Arrows team flat-footed, given the car that they have produced for this season has been so far off the pace as of yet.

Their lack of race pace can be attributed to numerous faults with car, mainly excessive amounts of porpoising that makes the car nearly undriveable at times, but what that means is that they can no longer compete at the sharp end of the grid.

Something that Hamilton is most certainly not accustomed to.

Last year he was engaged in a fierce and grueling title scrap with arch-rival Max Verstappen, that saw the Dutchman controversially clinch the championship at the final race in Abu Dhabi.

Tempers were high and the rivalry is intense to this day…

So, it would have been especially painful for Hamilton to be lapped by his nemesis Verstappen at the Imola Grand Prix this weekend.

On just lap 41, Verstappen cruised past Hamilton’s Mercedes whilst leading the race.