Hamilton forced to ‘laugh’ at ‘hair-raising’ Verstappen battle

Lewis Hamilton has described his Hungarian Grand Prix battle with Max Verstappen as “hair-raising” as he admitted to ‘laughing’ at the pace advantage of the Red Bull.

On lap 63 of 70, Verstappen tried to divebomb Hamilton at Turn 1 for third place, but the frustrated Red Bull driver overcooked the move, locked up and collided with Hamilton, tipping the Red Bull into the air. 

Verstappen would go onto finish fifth behind Charles Leclerc as Hamilton bagged a 200th career podium with Oscar Piastri winning and Lando Norris second after their team order controversy.

He has been summoned by the stewards at 1750 local time for the incident, with a time penalty a possible outcome, which would drop him to sixth, with Carlos Sainz only 1.7s behind at the flag.

Reflecting on the race, Hamilton felt his W15 was not at the same level as the MCL38 or RB20, but felt the battle with old adversary Verstappen was too far. 

“Ultimately we didn’t have the pace of the McLarens or Red Bulls, but we were just able to hold on at the beginning of the race. 

“It was very, very tough to hold on and make those tyres last, and obviously the close battle we had was a bit hair-raising, but that is motor racing.

“I am really happy, I am grateful for the points, so a big thank you to the team. 

“It is not nerve-racking, I think when you see the pace at which they close the gap, in certain corners you just have to laugh to yourself because that is not something that I can do, particularly in the last sector. 

“He was very, very strong, the same as the McLarens.

“I saw him coming from a long way back and he was able to break a lot less than me, but he sent it up the inside. 

“I stayed still and he caught the wheel and went over, so it was a racing incident.”

Hamilton’s Piastri congratulations

Hamilton also offered his congratulations to Piastri, who became the first McLaren driver to win in Budapest since Hamilton himself in 2012. 

“Congratulations to Oscar, he has been doing a fantastic job eve since he got here to be honest, he has been so consistent,” Hamilton said.

“It was only a matter of time before he got the win, so this is a great day for him, he has had amazing pace from the get-go. 

“A huge congratulations to McLaren as well on the one-two, that is my old original family, so I am really happy to see the whole team back up front.”