Reigning Formula One world champion Max Verstappen spikily asked his team whether it was acceptable to “just drive people off the track” after being forced to let McLaren’s Lando Norris past him following an incident at the start of the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2024.
Red Bull’s Verstappen was investigated by stewards for leaving the track and gaining an advantage before being told to allow Norris to supplant him in second or face potential greater punishment.
“I got forced off,” Verstappen told his team immediately after the overtake on Turn One. “I was ahead at the apex and he just opened the wheel, so I got forced off.”
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Verstappen ran off at Turn 1, Norris wants the place back 📻#F1 #HungarianGP PIC.TWITTER.COM/2DZUSTXLRN
— Formula 1 (@F1) JULY 21, 2024
Hungarian Grand Prix live: Piastri leads
Norris made an uncertain start, losing first position to team-mate Oscar Piastri but complaining that he had been pushed off the track by Verstappen, who moved wide, and insisting that his rival would have to cede his position to him.
“So you can just drive people off the track, then?” responded Verstappen when he was guided to grant Norris his wish at Turn Two. “You can tell [F1 organisers] the FIA that’s how we’re going to race the whole race.”
Australian Piastri had established a three-second lead by the 11th lap at the Hungaroring, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton chasing Verstappen.
Piastri has never finished higher than second in a race but claimed his first win in any format when he won the Sprint in Qatar in 2023.
Max lets Lando past, and he is NOT happy 😡 PIC.TWITTER.COM/JGME0G53E1
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) JULY 21, 2024
F1: Verstappen, Norris ‘upset’
Former F1 mechanic Marc Priestley told BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra that Verstappen had been “forced off to some extent”.
“But it was almost inevitable going wide like that,” Priestley added. “There are going to be arguments from both sides.
“I wouldn’t say that any one of those three cars necessarily do anything wrong. It’s just a consequence of having everyone bubbling in the first corner. I can understand why Max is upset but I can understand why Norris is upset.”
F1 standings
Verstappen’s seven victories made him the only driver with more than one win this season at the start of the race.
The 26-year-old holds an 84-point lead at the top of the standings over Norris, who is 19 ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
