Nico Rosberg shares what Max Verstappen did in Hungary that left him ‘disappointed’

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The Hungarian Grand Prix might end up being the turning point in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship.

McLaren have threatened to overtake Red Bull as the fastest team in the paddock for some time and the result at the Hungaroring showcased that.

Lando Norris took pole position from Oscar Piastri to secure the first all-McLaren front row since 2012.

Max Verstappen finished third in qualifying and wasn’t particularly impressed with the pace of his car.

He had the opportunity to set one last fastest lap in Q3 after Yuki Tsunoda’s big crash but jumped out of the car and believed he had already done everything he could with the RB20.

Speaking on Sky Sports F1 (1:15 pm, 21/7), former world champion Nico Rosberg was speaking about Verstappen.

Heading into the race, he admitted that he wasn’t particularly impressed with Verstappen’s preparations for the race.

In stark contrast, the former Mercedes driver compared how Verstappen prepared for the race compared to pole sitter Lando Norris.

Their respective build-ups to the race were very different and they ended up having very different conclusions to their races.

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Nico Rosberg left ‘disappointed’ by Max Verstappen at the Hungarian Grand Prix

Recalling ahead of the race a conversation he had with the driver on pole position, Rosberg said: “Look I spoke to Lando last night and I was impressed. He has learned how to become a more professional athlete.

“Like when he started in F1, especially against Daniel Ricciardo, he wasn’t really trying to be perfect and yet now this weekend for example, last night his bedtime was 11:05, not 11:00, but 11:05, wake up was 8:05, breakfast was already set, like exactly what to eat.

“So, hyper-professional which was nice to know.

“And at the same time, in contrast, you had Verstappen who until 3 am last night was sim racing.

“That’s a bit disappointing, isn’t it? It shows that he’s too used to his ease of domination.”

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Max Verstappen left very frustrated during the Hungarian Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton contact

Only Max Verstappen will know how much of an impact his late-night stint on the sim had on his performance during the race.

His radio messages throughout the Grand Prix were prickly with his race engineer but the car didn’t look particularly easy to drive either.

Max Verstappen hates an understeering car but no matter what changes he made on his steering wheel, he couldn’t solve the problem.

He was also on the rough end of a strategy that made his life very difficult.

It became clear as soon as Nico Hulkenberg pitted on the third lap and began to run faster than those around him that new tyres were so valuable at the Hungaroring.

However, Red Bull allowed Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to undercut Verstappen twice in the race, something he made clear on the team radio that he was extremely unhappy about.

Verstappen’s gap at the top of the Drivers’ Championship was cut although he still has a considerable lead over Lando Norris in the standings.

His frustration boiled over in the last few races after diving down the inside of Hamilton and ended up locking up his front tyre and being sent into the air by their tyres making contact.

It means Verstappen lost a place to Leclerc and was then investigated for causing a collision, piling further misery on his day.