Max Verstappen and Ted Kravitz.
Sky F1 pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz claimed “racing incident” is the term Red Bull go to when Max Verstappen caused a crash, after his Lewis Hamilton shunt in Hungary.
Mercedes undercut Verstappen with Hamilton after the first round of pit-stops in Hungary, much to Verstappen’s frustration, an irritation which only grew when he was unable to make his way back past Hamilton until the seven-time World Champion peeled into the pit-lane for his second stop.
Ted Kravitz’s Red Bull dig after Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton crash
Verstappen, who was still trailing behind Hamilton in the last stretch, made another attempt at overtaking. However, this time it resulted in a collision as Verstappen tried to pass Hamilton on the inside at Turn 1. He braked too late, causing his car to make contact with the front-right wheel of Hamilton’s Mercedes. This impact briefly lifted Hamilton’s car off the ground. Verstappen ultimately finished in fifth place.
Upon investigation, the stewards concluded that the collision, labeled as a “racing incident” by Hamilton, did not warrant any additional action.
Christian Horner, the team principal of Red Bull, also used that phrase in his assessment.
Horner told Kravitz that, to be completely honest, he would categorize it as a racing incident.
“I would feel let down if any consequences were to arise from that situation.”
However, Kravitz firmly believed that Verstappen was responsible for the crash and accused Red Bull of using the term “racing incident” as a way to divert blame from their driver.
Kravitz commented on his show, ‘Ted’s Notebook,’ stating, “To begin with, they’re labeling it as a racing incident, which is Red Bull’s way of assigning blame to Max Verstappen.”
However, the general consensus is that Max Verstappen is to blame, specifically for outbraking himself and only avoiding going straight on because Lewis turned in.
Lewis did not turn in; in fact, he was present, but Max went over his wheel.
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Verstappen placed the blame on Hamilton for their collision, thus completing the circle of accusations.
He informed Sky F1 that he made a fully committed move.
However, while I was already fully dedicated to executing the maneuver in the middle of the braking zone, he unexpectedly veered to the right, and had I not adeptly steered while braking in a straight line, a collision with him would have been unavoidable.
Yeah, naturally, I eventually freeze up because he continuously keeps turning to the right.
“People obviously made a lot about what happened in Austria, which is not correct, blah, blah, blah, but that’s on the initial move and then you just brake straight. You hold your wheel quite straight. And I felt like now it was not on the initial movement, afterwards, during the braking zone, he keeps turning right.
“When someone has committed to the inside, it is not possible for you to take that action. That is precisely why I had to lock up, as any other course of action would have resulted in a collision since he was determined to cut me off.”
“I believe my actions were justified. I executed a fully committed maneuver and do not believe I applied the brakes too late.”
Hamilton achieved his 200th Formula 1 career podium by finishing on the podium in Hungary.
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