Lewis Hamilton has described his Hungarian Grand Prix battle with Max Verstappen as “frightening” as he admitted to “laughing” at Red Bull’s speed advantage. On the 63rd lap out of 70, Verstappen tried to pass Hamilton at Turn 1 for third place, but the frustrated Red Bull driver overspeeded, locked his wheels and collided with Hamilton, causing the Red Bull to flip into the air.
Verstappen finished fifth behind Charles Leclerc as Hamilton claimed his 200th career podium with Oscar Piastri the winner and Lando Norris second after controversy over the team order.
He was summoned by the judges at 5:50 p.m. local time to deal with the incident, with the possibility of a time penalty, which dropped him to sixth place, with Carlos Sainz only 1.7 seconds slower at the flag. departure signal.
Looking back at the race, Hamilton felt that his W15 was not on the same level as the MCL38 or RB20, but felt that the battle with old rival Verstappen had gone too far. “In the end, we didn’t have the speed of the McLarens or the Red Bulls, but we were still able to chase at the beginning of the race. “It’s really difficult to keep those tires and preserve them for a long time, and obviously this intense battle is a bit scary, but that’s racing. “I’m really happy, I’m grateful for the scores I achieved, so I would like to sincerely thank the whole team.
“I think it’s not scary at all when you see the speed at which they close the gap, in certain corners, you can only chuckle because that’s not something I can do, especially at final area. “He’s very, very strong, like the McLaren brothers. “I saw him coming from a long way away and he could clear the ball a lot less than me, but he threw it in. “I stood still and he caught the handlebars and fell, so it was a racing accident.”
Congratulations Hamilton Piastri
Hamilton also congratulated Piastri, who became the first McLaren driver to win in Budapest since Hamilton did so in 2012.
“Congratulations to Oscar, to be honest he’s done a fantastic job from the moment he got here, he’s been very consistent,” Hamilton said. “It was only a matter of time before he won, so it was a great day for him, he had incredible pace from the start. “Congratulations to McLaren for this win, it’s my old family, so I’m really happy to see the whole team back at the front.”
