Formula 1 saw Max Verstappen leave Budapest with a result he couldn’t even explain. After finishing second in the Hungarian GP, the Red Bull Racing driver stated that he still doesn’t understand how he managed to get on the podium, given the difficulties faced throughout the weekend.
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According to the Dutchman, the performance exceeded the team’s expectations, especially because the problems presented by the RB22 remained the same as seen in the qualifying session. Verstappen even described the race as one of the most difficult of the season in terms of car behavior.
The four-time champion highlighted that he suffered from excessive oversteer and tire degradation during the race. Still, he considered the start to be decisive in keeping his initial strategy alive, before losing position in an ‘undercut’ and later regaining it by overtaking Lewis Hamilton.
“I still really don’t understand how we finished second. As a team, we had a strong performance. I see this as a performance above what we expected, considering how everything was behaving,” Verstappen stated.
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The driver also revealed that he found damage to his car after the race, although he did not explain the origin of the problem: “When I got out of the car, I noticed there was damage for some reason. That certainly didn’t make things easier for us,” he said.
Verstappen acknowledged that Red Bull’s strategy was crucial for the result. Initially suspicious of using soft tires in the final stint, he admitted that the gamble worked: “I thought it would be a very long sequence until the checkered flag, but we managed to make it work,” he added.
When asked if the car showed any evolution compared to Saturday, Verstappen was direct: “No, exactly the same thing. There was nothing that could be changed after the qualifying session. It was one of the toughest races of the year in terms of the feeling in the car and how I needed to manage the balance corner after corner. Being on the podium was an incredible result for us,” the Dutch driver concluded.
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