Red Bull has received an official warning for the towel incident involving Max Verstappen during the second free practice in Hungary. Footage showed the Dutchman finding a towel in his RB21 during the second hour of practice at the Hungaroring and throwing it off the track. As the object could have become lodged between the pedals of the Red Bull car, the stewards ruled that the team had sent Verstappen onto the track in an ‘unsafe situation’. However, the FIA has only issued a warning to Red Bull.
It was a notable moment in FP2: Max Verstappen throwing a towel from his RB21 off the track. According to the Red Bull driver, the object had fallen off his lap. “To prevent it from getting between my feet and becoming dangerous, I drove off the ideal line and tried to throw the towel away as safely as possible,” the world champion explained after the session. The incident has already been dubbed ‘towelgate’ by fans on social media.
Warning
The incident was investigated by the stewards after the free practice. “According to the stewards, the towel had the potential to become lodged in the footwell and thus hinder the driver’s ability to fully control the car,” reads the official statement. “The car was therefore sent onto the track in an unsafe situation.” However, the stewards see the fact that the towel was a ‘soft’ object as a mitigating circumstance. As a result, Red Bull gets away with a warning.
