Tiff Needell makes ‘petulant child’ claim after Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton’s clash in Hungary

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Max Verstappen caused more controversy during the Hungarian Grand Prix after a move he made on Lewis Hamilton for the final podium position.

The Dutchman was recovering after falling behind Hamilton after the first round of pit stops and latterly Charles Leclerc following his second pit stop because Red Bull had decided to extend his stints.

The poor strategy led to a meltdown on team radio from Verstappen, who accused his Red Bull team of losing out the chance of a podium by failing to cover for the powerful undercut.

Hungary is known for being a race that can favour drivers that pit earlier than rivals, enabling them to gain significant time on new tyres while they stay out on older tyres. Coupled with the fact that it is a difficult track to overtake on, Verstappen was understandably irate with his team.

The Dutchman went into an expletive-ridden rant to engineer Giampiero Lambaise, culminating in a scrappy overtake on Hamilton for third. Discussing the radio messages on the Lovecars on the Grid podcast, former F1 driver Tiff Needell felt Verstappen had overstepped the mark.

Tiff Needell brands Max Verstappen a ‘petulant’ child

Verstappen’s overtake on Hamilton was investigated by the stewards after the race. The Dutchman made a move on the inside of Turn 1 and locked up both front tyres when he reached the apex.

As Hamilton took his regular line he caught the right rear tyre of Verstappen’s RB20 with his front left, pitching his Red Bull briefly into the air before it bounced into the run-off area.

Verstappen remarked that he felt Hamilton moved under braking to Lambiase, but his engineer hit back and told him it was not worth arguing with other teams to catch the FIA stewards’ attention.

The stewards later deemed no driver was at fault, but Needell feels Verstappen showed a ‘petulant’ side with the radio messages.

“Lewis called it a racing incident whereas Max was going mad about him moving under a braking zone. It was amazing both cars survived,” said Needell.

“He [Verstappen] acts like a petulant child. This is that arrogant child we have seen in the past. When the going gets tough, the little child returns.”

Max Verstappen’s previous meltdowns in F1 races

It is not the first time Verstappen has shown aggression towards his Red Bull team when things have got difficult for him.

At the 2022 Spanish GP he was highly critical of them for mechanical failures, repeatedly swearing at his engineer after his DRS failed to open and briefly prevented him from overtaking during the race he eventually went on to win.

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In Bahrain that year he also ignored the team’s request to be easy on the tyres while fighting Charles Leclerc for the victory.

Verstappen has previously defended his conduct over team radio, claiming that it is a sign that he “cares” about the results and performance of his team. He said that he only gets aggressive over team radio when the strategy is “badly executive” or has suffered a mechanical problem when speaking to Sky Sports in 2022.