Max Verstappen justifies decision to avoid 'dangerous' scenario

Max Verstappen has explained why he threw a towel left in the cockpit of his Red Bull onto the side of the circuit during FP2 at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Dutch driver was seen ridding himself of the white Red Bull-branded cloth shortly after going through Turn 3 at the Hungaroring.

After pulling to one side, the four-time F1 drivers' champion attempted to launch the towel away from the track, but it remained off-line on the tarmac for the remainder of the second free practice hour.

It was quickly noted by the stewards in Budapest before being upgraded to a post-session investigation. It transpired that Verstappen had been using the towel, which slipped to his side.

Having forgotten about it, his crew members were unaware it was still inside the car when he was sent back out onto the circuit.

The officials opted against punishing the driver or the team for releasing his RB21 in an unsafe condition, handing them a warning because it was not a hard object.

After that verdict was handed down, Verstappen detailed what had happened in his Friday media duties.

"It's just a towel that you normally wipe your face with when you come back in," the 27-year-old explained. "It was still in the car when I went out."

He went on to detail how not removing the cloth would have been more "dangerous" and that he sought to act in the "safest way possible" when he realised the initial mistake.

"So, instead of it, of course, maybe potentially flying in between my feet, which is the dangerous part, I drove off line, and I got rid of it in the safest way possible, Verstappen said. "So I think this story is understandable."