World champion furious

“Below the belt”: Rosberg reprimands Verstappen

Nico Rosberg (r.) criticizes the behaviour of Max Verstappen (l.).

(Bild: AP ( via APA) Austria Presse Agentur/ASSOCIATED PRESS, GEPA Pictures)

A satisfied Max Verstappen looks different. The Red Bull driver's marathon rant in Hungary caused plenty of criticism among the experts. "Internally, on the team radio and also in the race, messages came across that were almost below the belt," says Sky expert Nico Rosberg.

The much-anticipated update did not deliver what the Bulls had hoped for, and Verstappen also lost a place due to a flawed pit strategy, ultimately finishing fifth. A bad day for the Dutchman ...

Max Verstappen was furious.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

"Maybe I'll have to do it myself"
And his colleagues on the radio were particularly aware of this. "Everything sucks," was just one of many comments made by the three-time world champion over the course of 70 laps. Even after the race, Verstappen was sarcastic when asked about the strategy department: "I don't understand it. They have all the information there. Maybe I need to build that into my car, then I can do it myself."

Of course, the Hungarian GP was not exactly Red Bull's best performance, but the general consensus was that Verstappen's swearing was too much of a good thing. "The longer the weekend went on, the more annoyed Max became," said 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg. 

The championship leader himself, however, disagrees, saying that the squabbles between him and race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase were no worse than usual. "I was just angry about today. Maybe the team didn't realize what they were doing wrong or maybe they didn't think it was that bad, but you have different feelings in the car," Verstappen explained his anger after the race. The next Grand Prix will take place next week at Spa-Francorchamps. Let's hope the bulls can calm down again by then ...