Body language expert Darren Stanton analysed the reactions of Max Verstappen, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Christian Horner during their appearance at the F1 75 LIVE event in London on Tuesday.
Stanton concluded that Verstappen was uncomfortable under the spotlight while Russell appeared to enjoy the attention while making some keen observations of other Formula 1 'royalty' during a spectacular evening at The O2 Arena for the sport.
Speaking to OLBG, Stanton compared Russell to the late James Hunt, the extroverted 1976 F1 world champion, while Verstappen was likened to Hunt’s great rival, the introverted Niki Lauda. Meanwhile, Christian Horner’s reaction to being booed suggested he was caught off guard and embarrassed.
Stanton observed Verstappen’s body language as comedian Jack Whitehall targeted him with jokes, concluding that the three-time F1 world champion was visibly unhappy despite smiling.
Stanton said: "Despite what you’d think about Formula 1, a lot of these drivers are quite introverted. They’re not all extroverts. You’d assume that to do what they do they would have to be loud, verbose and quite showy, but when attention was drawn to Max Verstappen, he hated it.
"Max gave the biggest fake smile I’ve seen in quite a while. There are no crow's feet. No laughter lines. The bottom half of his face is the only part that is engaged. He hated the attention of the whole room looking at him. He wasn’t happy. When Jack Whitehall told him to cheer up, Max’s face said it all," he explained.
Interesting dynamic between Russell and Verstappen
While Verstappen appeared uncomfortable, Russell displayed the opposite reaction, according to Stanton. He suggested that the Mercedes driver relished the moment, particularly enjoying Whitehall’s remarks about Verstappen.
Stanton continued: "With George Russell, he is more of an extrovert than Max, so he was actually enjoying the adulation. He was loving the fact that Whitehall was bigging him up, which Max again appeared to hate.
"The egos of these guys, even if a lot of them are introverts, must be massive to do what they have to do, and Max clearly has a huge ego. In terms of personality he is focused and doesn’t like attention outside of his racing.
"Russell’s facial expression suggested he was loving the attention on the other hand, and that Whitehall was dissing Max—George clearly enjoyed that in particular," observed the body language expert.
Stanton drew comparisons between Russell and Verstappen to the legendary rivalry between Hunt and Lauda, contrasting their personalities, saying: "We are seeing the differences in the drivers here. George is still a bit of an up-and-comer, enjoying the attention. A little bit leary, a little bit cocky.
"Max, on the other hand, is the deep-seated, serious one," he pointed out. "He reminds me of someone like Niki Lauda back in the day with their similar focus and personalities compared to the very outgoing personality of James Hunt, which we see with Russell. It’s an interesting dynamic."
Stanton: Hamilton is like the daddy of F1 in many ways
According to Stanton, Hamilton exhibited a genuine smile and appeared at ease, unlike his younger counterparts," he said: "When we come to Lewis Hamilton, he’s clearly a man who has nothing left to prove. He’s like the daddy of F1 in many ways.
"He has a genuine smile. There’s no real arrogance or contempt from Lewis. He is just enjoying the attention too. Lewis has done it all, won it all, and he is self-assured and so full of confidence."
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner - this time last year embroiled in the sexting scandal that brutalized the team - also faced scrutiny from Stanton after he was met with boos from the crowd upon taking the stage.
"His fake smile is what we call a classic masking expression," Stanton noted. "He begins to also verbally address the booing but stops himself and then tries to skate over it, which means he was perturbed and affected by it.
"We see that fake smile. He is clearly embarrassed. He is a little bit surprised and shocked but the overriding emotion is one of embarrassment because obviously he thinks he is the top dog despite the fact that people were loudly booing him.
A number of red flags during the 'Horner moment'
"He also puts his hand in his pocket which is a reassurance gesture," Stanton cotinued. "If people are confident, they will use both hands, hold the microphone with one hand and gesture with the other. But he put his left hand in his pocket. That’s what we tend to do when we need to reassure ourselves.
"We saw a number of red flags: a masking smile to cover his embarrassment, he began to address it verbally, and he put his hand in his pocket. That shows he wasn’t happy but got through it.
"We know it was a fake smile from Horner because when we see a genuine smile, we see three key components: laughter lines, crow’s feet, and the eyes are generally engaged along with the bottom half of the face.
"We see no crow’s feet at the side of the eyes by the temples, and that’s true of anyone regardless of any age. Here, we’ve only got the bottom half of the face. That leads me to believe it’s a fake smile," ventured Stanton.
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