Max Verstappen says Lewis Hamilton was ‘scared’ after the Formula 1 rivals nearly collided during the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman was under investigation for the incident but avoided a post-race penalty from the stewards.
Lando Norris held off McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in the closing stages of a tense race to claim victory at the Hungaroring on Sunday.
The Brit has closed the gap to his championship rival to just nine points as F1 heads on its summer break, returning at the end of August with the Dutch Grand Prix.
Further back, it was a race to forget for Verstappen who took the chequered flag in ninth place, embarrassingly finishing behind Liam Lawson in Red Bull’s junior team.
To make matters worse for the four-time champion, he was the subject of a post-race investigation for potentially forcing Hamilton off the track on lap 30.
The Red Bull attempted a bold overtake on the Ferrari down the inside of turn 4, narrowly avoiding contact, with Hamilton seemingly taking avoiding action by running wide at the corner, which in turn allowed Verstappen to get past.
Hamilton would go on to finish 12th, while the incident was noted by the stewards who, somewhat unusually, decided to settle the matter after the race.
Verstappen wasn’t impressed to discover the stewards were investigating, telling Viaplay: ‘I’m actually pretty disappointed I have to go to the stewards after the race. Just analyse it in the race.
‘I just set my nose next to him [Hamilton], he gets scared and goes off track.’
Max Verstappen avoids penalty for Lewis Hamilton near-miss
In the end, Verstappen avoided any punishment for the incident. Here is the stewards ruling in full:
‘The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 1 (Max Verstappen), team representatives and video and in-car video evidence. The driver of Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton) waived his right to attend the hearing.
‘The driver of Car 1 stated during the hearing that he had gained some momentum on Car 44 out of Turn 3 with fresher tyres and used this momentum to make a move on the inside into Turn 4.
‘He further elaborated that he was in full control of his car and could have stayed further to the inside to leave space for Car 44 on the exit. However he said, as Car 44 had gone off track, he elected to use all of the track on the exit.
‘The team representative of Car 44 confirmed that there was no contact between both cars and further stated that the driver of Car 44 chose not to attempt to remain on track.
‘Taking all this into account, the Stewards determine that there was no contact and that the incident does not qualify as forcing another car off track despite the ambitious nature of the overtaking attempt and take no further action.’
Earlier on the weekend, the Dutchman had been under investigation after throwing a towel out his car in a bizarre incident, with the stewards later issuing a formal warning to Red Bull.
Hamilton for his part didn’t seemed fussed about the matter on what was a terrible weekend for the seven-time champion, saying: ‘I don’t really remember to be honest.
‘I saw last minute he was quite close to my right wheel, so I tried to avoid a collision.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
