Max Verstappen criticises Red Bull for one mistake they kept repeating during Hungarian GP

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Max Verstappen has criticised his Red Bull team after a series of strategic errors led to him finishing in fifth place at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman had a good start off the line and was alongside Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at the first corner in a three-wide move, but took to the escape road to avoid a collision.

Verstappen was ahead of Norris in second when he rejoined, but was later told by Red Bull engineer Gianpiero Lambiase that he must give the position back to to avoid a penalty.

After obliging, Verstappen dropped back to third and endured a moody afternoon behind the wheel of his RB20. The team decided to leave him out longer in the first stint, causing him to drop behind Lewis Hamilton.

He was then undercut for a second time in the final stint, causing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to emerge ahead and Verstappen to drop to fifth. The Dutchman made his feelings known over team radio in a series of expletive-ridden messages to Lambiase.

Verstappen then criticised the team’s decisions in an interview with Viaplay after the race, which potentially cost him a podium place in Hungary.

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Max Verstappen criticises Red Bull after Hungarian Grand Prix

Verstappen was close to finishing on the podium after passing Leclerc and battling with Hamilton, but the pair made contact in the closing stages.

This caused him to drop back to fifth again, sealing his first non-podium since the Monaco Grand Prix. Red Bull’s Helmut Marko laid the blame on Hamilton for the collision, while the stewards deemed no driver was at fault following an investigation after the race.

The Dutchman meanwhile, was irate over the strategic decisions being made and felt it was what put him in the position that led to the collision with Hamilton.

“It was just a bad race. Everything went wrong, and the strategy was bad. We know it’s very difficult to overtake here and that’s all I was doing; fighting. And we lost so much time,” said Verstappen.

“If you get the overcut one time that’s not great, but for the second time when I’m stuck behind him [Hamilton] again, then they keep me out and I’m stuck behind, then I’m driving in traffic with people that are behind again. I genuinely didn’t get it at all.”

Red Bull under pressure after Hungary

The defending world champions are facing pressure to deliver after McLaren achieved a one-two with Piastri and Norris.

While it brought updates to the RB20 in Hungary aimed at helping their speed at high downforce circuits, Verstappen could be heard speaking to Daniel Ricciardo about how unhappy he is with the characteristics of the car.

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Verstappen also got into a series of arguments with Lambiase over team radio with their strategy, with his engineer branding him “childish” after he complained about Hamilton’s overtake.

Throughout the race, he could also be heard complaining about the balance of his RB20 with Lambiase having to coach him through various settings to improve the handling. Verstappen finished in fifth place and 21 seconds off race winner Piastri.