Max Verstappen retained fifth place at the Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix after management decided to take no further action following his collision with Lewis Hamilton. Already disappointed with Red Bull’s strategy in the race, Verstappen still pushed for a podium position after dropping to fifth following his final pit stop.

He overtook the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, but when faced with Hamilton’s Mercedes, Verstappen was initially unable to pass.
On lap 63 out of 70, the world champion attempted to charge on the inside of turn 1, but miscalculated, locked up and collided with the right front of the W15. Hamilton continued unscathed, claiming a career-high 200th place behind Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, while Verstappen dropped to fifth behind Leclerc and quarreled with Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari.

Full manager’s verdict
“Approaching turn 1, both Car 44 [Hamilton] and Car 1 [Versatppen] passed Car 23 [Alex Albon]. Car 44 returned to the racing line before the braking area and began to turn into turn 1. “Car 1 approached the turn faster than in previous laps (due to DRS) and braked at the same point as before. “The driver of Vehicle 1 argued that Vehicle 44 was changing direction while braking. The driver of Car 44 claimed that he was just following his normal track (this was confirmed by examining video evidence and telemetry data of previous laps).

“It is clear that Vehicle 1 locked both front wheels when approaching turn 1 before the collision but failed to enter the normal cornering line of a normal overtaking maneuver. “Driver number 44 claimed that this was a racing accident, while driver number 1 argued that this was a case of changing direction while braking. “Management does not consider this to be a typical case of ‘swerving under braking’ even though we determined that the 44 driver could have done more to avoid the collision. “Accordingly, we determined that no driver was primarily responsible and decided to take no further action.”