Max Verstappen reveals unexpected damage after Hungarian GP struggle

Max Verstappen has revealed he was carrying damage during the Hungarian Grand Prix en route to his second-place finish.

Throughout the race weekend in Budapest, Verstappen has struggled with the balance of his car and was heard voicing various complaints over the team radio.

The grievances continued during the race, despite his run to the runner-up spot.

In the early stage of the race, Verstappen was locked in a battle with Lewis Hamilton and managed to get back ahead of the Ferrari driver after slipping behind in the pit stop phase.

“I was still struggling with the same things as yesterday, so the car was just extremely oversteery, just degging quite hard at one point as well,” Verstappen told media including RacingNews365.

“But at the start, moving forward was, of course, making our first stint possible.

“We got undercut, but then I made the move on Lewis, which I think made my second stint a little bit more straightforward.”

For the final stint of the race, Verstappen was placed on soft tyres and looked to be on course for a third-place finish.

However, he was promoted to second when Hamilton pitted under a virtual safety car, allowing him to secure back-to-back podiums.

“Then the team also put me onto the softs, which initially I was like, 'that’s going to be a long run to the end,' but we made it work,” he said.

“I still don’t really understand how we are second, but I think as a team we performed strongly. 

“I see it as a bit of an overperformance compared to what we expected, so I guess that’s a good thing considering how everything felt.

“I also saw, when I jumped out of the car again, there was damage on the car for whatever reason. It was not made easy for us.”