During the highly intense closing stage of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton crashed at the Hungaroring circuit in Budapest on Sunday, July 21. But after the race, Hamilton embraced with Verstappen at the parc ferme to the surprise of many, following which the Red Bull driver told him about speaking afterwards.
On the lap 63rd of 70, Max Verstappen tried to go up the inside of Turn 1 past Lewis Hamilton, but he misjudged the braking zone, locked up his car before it collided with the right-front wing of the Mercedes. While the big crash cost Verstappen a place in the Hungarian Grand Prix, finishing in fifth place, Hamilton ended up earning his 200th career podium behind the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
In a viral clip from the social media platform X, Lewis Hamilton can be seen embracing Verstappen after the big crash, following which he talked about it to the reporters. The Briton said, “I just broke the ice, rather than walk past him. I thought it was the respectful thing. I have no problems. I think it was a racing incident. He sent it down the inside. It didn’t work out. And we move on.”
Stewards take no further action after investigating Verstappen-Hamilton collision
The stewards at the Hungarian Grand Prix investigated the Verstappen-Hamilton collision before determining that they will take no further action in regard to it. The excerpts of the verdict from the stewards read, “The driver of Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton) stated that this was a racing incident, whilst the driver of Car 1 (Max Verstappen) argued that this was a case of changing direction under braking.”
“The Stewards do not consider this to be a typical case of ‘changing direction under braking’ although it is our determination that the driver of Car 44 could have done more to avoid the collision. Accordingly, we determine that no driver was predominantly to blame and decide to take no further action,” it further added.