Max Verstappen throws Red Bull under the bus for sub-par strategy after losing “flat-out” fight with Lewis Hamilton at Hungary

Max Verstappen finished P5 on the road at the Hungarian GP.

Max Verstappen throws Red Bull under the bus for sub-par strategy after losing “flat-out” fight with Lewis Hamilton at Hungary

Helmut Marko and Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

Max Verstappen had high hopes from the Hungarian GP weekend as he wanted to extend his lead in the championship. The Dutchman had previously won the Hungarian GP on the last two occasions and wanted to add another win to his tally. However, after having a close call during the race start, he was left stuck behind Lewis Hamilton due to a lapse from the strategy department at Red Bull.

McLaren locked out the front row, but Max Verstappen had only qualified four-hundredths behind the papaya cars. Witnessing the seemingly insignificant difference, he set out to make a charge up the grid. However, he had to let Lando Norris back through after a dispute over overtaking the Brit off-track, this instance had already left him grumpy but he had more issues waiting for him.

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The reigning champion got stuck behind the W15 of Lewis Hamilton and spent several laps in his turbulent air. Subsequently, out of desperation, he made a lunge into turn one which resulted in the former championship rivals colliding.

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In a day you already know that you're not the quickest, we should've done a better job with the strategy. The first one, okay, to be undercut there, I'm not happy with it but it can happen, you get caught off guard. Then I was stuck for a very long time, I lost a lot of lap time trying to fight flat out with Lewis.
Max Verstappen said in the post-race interview.

The 26-year-old then fell down to P5 and was unable to climb up to his previous P3 spot as he claimed the RB20 to be stubborn and understeered out of the way. After the race, he threw Red Bull under the bus for their subpar strategy calls and letting him get stuck behind backmarkers.

Then again, they left me out again [not pitting], thinking we can extract our base but I was stuck with the back markers who were doing okay lap times, for me to close in on time them within 2 seconds with old tyres I lost a lot of grip. So even I stayed out and try to gain advantages, in the end I couldn't extract my full pace, that was again just a bad call.
Max Verstappen said
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On one hand, Verstappen remained furious at the team for botching multiple chances. On the other hand, Christian Horner soon followed suit to calm the situation down and agreed to the complaints made by the Dutchman.

Red Bull's Christian Horner and Max Verstappen
Christian Horner and Max Verstappen (Via: Imago)

The 50-year-old claimed that their gamble did not work out. 

It just didn't work out for us. We tried to give him the overlap, but it didn't work out. There is alot from us to look at. There was quite a bit of understeer in the car. There is a lot to take away, look at and come back a week later.
Chritsian Horner said in a post-race interview

Horner complied with Verstappen’s criticism and accepted that their overcut strategy was flawed. Moreover, due to the car having an understeer-ey nature, he was unable to extract the RB20’s potential and fell into the clutches of his rivals.

Apart from losing points in both the championships, the Austrian giant has found itself in huge trouble. Verstappen is currently under investigation by the stewards, which could relegate him to P6 or lower. Thus, the Hungarian GP weekend has been a total misery for Horner and Co.

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