Max Verstappen's struggles continue as he finishes in ninth place in Hungary
Max Verstappen capped off a disappointing weekend with a ninth-place finish in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday. The reigning champion continued his struggling form, with this now making it four races without a podium spot for him. The next race for Verstappen is the Dutch Grand Prix in three weeks. The race was won by Lando Norris in his McLaren car.
It was clear on Saturday that it was going to be a tough race for Verstappen and the Red Bull team. Verstappen finished eighth in qualifying, with Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari getting pole position.
It got worse for Verstappen when he lost another spot after the start of the race. Although Verstappen started his climb quickly, going past Liam Lawson in the Racing Bulls vehicle to climb up to eighth. The 27-year-old then took advantage of some lackadaisical driving from Lance Stroll in his Aston Martin to overtake him and rise to seventh place.
Verstappen was called in for his first pitstop on the 18th lap. He came out in 14th place, and although he quickly went past Nico Hulkenberg and his former Red Bull teammate Pierre Gasly, he voiced his displeasure to the team’s timing for the pitstop. “Really bad decision, guys. I have been stuck in so much traffic.”
This then proved to be true as he got stuck behind several cars for three laps. This was followed by another incident between Verstappen and his former arch-rival Lewis Hamilton, who has been struggling in his first season at Ferrari. Verstappen attempted to overtake Hamilton at a corner, with Hamilton then going off track to avoid a collision between the cars. This led to Verstappen driving on and taking 11th place. The driving association, FIA, decided to look into the incident after the race.
Verstappen was able to overtake Isack Hadjar before finishing ninth. “Yeah, I mean yeah, not much to say… just painful, for everyone,” Verstappen said after the race on the team radio. Red Bull’s team chief, Laurent Mekies, apologized to Verstappen after the race.
Verstappen’s teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, also struggled on the Hungaroring circuit, finishing 17th.
Red Bull now has three weeks to get their team back on track as Verstappen’s next race is in Zandvoort on August 31.
