It was an ugly scene and now it can get even more so at the following race
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, next to McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain, celebrates after winning the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix race at the Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, June 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
The Hungarian Grand Prix has left a lot of things for the analysis, and it will surely last until the traffic light turns green again at the Belgian GP itself. There were many controversies that emerged in Hungarian lands and most of them between the members of the same team. Some did not correctly understood the instructions of their leaders and others did not want to understand them.
However, and without a doubt, the moment of the circuit was left by Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, in a friction they had on the asphalt that ended with the Dutchman literally flying through the air and returning to the track after a maneuver within the reach of very few.
The Dutch driver was very angry with the Red Bull bosses throughout the race because he did not understood the decisions they were transmitting to him on the radio. And as a result of that anger, he had to risk so much to try to reach a place on the podium that he almost ended up crashing. “You gave me a sh*tty strategy, okay? I’m trying to save what’s there,” he commented in one of the laps.
The altercate with Lewis Hamilton
When he got out of his car he said “Hamilton strangled me on the right. But we finished fifth because of the strategy that the team chose.” It couldn’t be louder and clearer.
Hamilton, for his part, responded in the same way, sending him a message with his characteristic parsimony. “Max is a tough driver and therefore has tough races. I think he braked too much and made a mistake.”
Although Max maintains his lead in the world championship with 74 points over Lando Norris, in Hungary he was seen unleashed, knowing that he is getting too close to him. And that’s why, when everyone criticized him for his behavior on the track, he exploded, “You can all go to hell,” he said.