‘I was just struggling a lot’ – Verstappen admits Red Bull had ‘a tough week’ in Hungary

Max Verstappen experienced one of his more challenging race weekends with Red Bull as he lost ground to the frontrunners in Hungary and was forced to settle for crossing the line at the tail end of the top 10.

The Dutchman suffered his worst Qualifying performance of the season and was left mystified by the team’s lack of pace after he could only secure eighth position on the grid, losing out to both Aston Martins and rookie driver Gabriel Bortoleto.

He confirmed that throughout the sessions, he had endured a troubling lack of grip and balance in the car which Red Bull were unable to fix before the 70-lap race around the Hungaroring.

Electing to try the two-stop strategy, Verstappen spent a large amount of time stuck in traffic behind drivers like Fernando Alonso who were extending their initial stints, leaving him needing to pull off multiple overtakes to return to the top 10 after his first pit stop.

Speaking after the race, he said: “Like my whole weekend, there was just no grip and I was just struggling a lot.

“Not how we want to be, but I knew it was going to be a tough day.”

Verstappen ultimately crossed the line in P9 but his overtake on Lewis Hamilton faced a post-race investigation from the stewards – at Turn 4, the Red Bull driver surged past and the Ferrari took to the run-off area as a result.

Ultimately no further action was taken with the pair avoiding contact.

With Red Bull losing more points to their nearest rival Mercedes, Verstappen outlined the team's mindset going into the summer break: “It’s fine. It’s been a tough week but we’ll just keep trying, keep working, keep understanding our weaker spots and try to improve on them.”