Max Verstappen faced scrutiny from race stewards during the Hungarian Grand Prix after a peculiar incident unfolded during the practice session. The current Formula 1 champion was investigated for allegedly exiting the garage in an unsafe manner during FP2 in Budapest.
Verstappen was seen discarding a Red Bull towel from his car onto the track while the session was ongoing, resembling a previous occurrence involving Lando Norris at the Miami Grand Prix earlier this year when tools and an LED torch were found in Norris’s cockpit.
Despite the similarities, McLaren and Norris escaped penalties on that occasion by promptly removing the items from the car. Verstappen and his team received a mere warning from F1 stewards for the incident in Hungary.
In a statement, it was clarified that Verstappen unintentionally left the towel in his cockpit, which prompted him to dispose of it as far away from the car and track as possible. The stewards noted that the towel posed a risk of interfering with Verstappen’s control of the car but considered the offense less severe than a situation involving a more hazardous object left in the cockpit.
Verstappen defended his actions, stating that he took precautions to discard the towel safely to prevent any potential danger. The stewards acknowledged his explanation and issued a warning to the team.
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