Max Verstappen reflects on a ‘dramatic’ Hungarian Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver had already had a difficult qualifying session, but fell even further from the eighth starting position to P9. Verstappen is far from satisfied with Red Bull’s current form and is eagerly looking forward to the upcoming summer break. The possibility of being penalized for his overtaking move on Lewis Hamilton doesn’t bother him: “Ninth place or no points, I couldn’t care less.”
“I don’t want to say anything about this race,” a resigned Verstappen responded on Viaplay. “There’s nothing to make of it, it was just really terrible,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “But yeah, that’s how it’s been all weekend. So in that respect, this result isn’t even shocking.” The Dutchman repeatedly ended up in heavy traffic after his pit stops, which cost him a lot of time – although he didn’t necessarily blame Red Bull’s strategy for this.
“That’s just what happens when you’re in the midfield,” Verstappen sighed. “It was just dramatic; I can’t make much more of it.” There was hardly any improvement compared to the first two days at the Hungaroring, the four-time world champion admitted. “We had exactly the same problems as on Friday and Saturday,” he stated dryly.
‘I couldn’t care less’
Verstappen was called in relatively early for his first tire change, which may have cost him valuable seconds in the opening phase. “In hindsight, we might have been able to stop a bit later,” he admitted. “But I doubt it would have made much difference. We had little useful data on the tires anyway, because the whole weekend was so poor.”
The 27-year-old driver nevertheless had a number of impressive overtaking moves, including a daring maneuver on Lewis Hamilton. He has to report to the stewards after the race for that incident. “I don’t understand why I have to go there now,” he said visibly irritated. “I just put my nose next to his car, he got scared and went wide. I really couldn’t care less if I get another penalty for that. Whether I finish ninth or score zero points – I don’t care. I’m mainly looking forward to the holiday.”
