Curious incident
Towel threshold: Max Verstappen escapes punishment
01.08.2025 – 8:41 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Max Verstappen triggered a controversy in the training of Hungary. The reigning world champion escaped a tough punishment.
There was a curious incident on Friday in the 2nd free training session at the Grand Prix of Hungary in Formula 1. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen suddenly drove to the side of the Hungaroring-and threw a towel out of the cockpit.
The incident initially triggered confusion. On TV pictures you could see how the Dutch stopped while driving and promoted an object out of the car. A little later Verstappen said: “When I drove out, I had a towel with which you wiped your face in the car.” In order not to take any danger, he wanted to get rid of it: he was therefore left off the ideal line and removed the towel “on the most safest way” to prevent it from getting between his feet.
The campaign was not without consequences: The racing commissioners of the World Automobile Association Low Verstappen to survey. A little later they expressed a warning. Reason: Red Bull sent the car onto the route in an unsafe state. It was mitigating that it was not a hard and therefore more dangerous object.
It has also not been a sporty for Verstappen in Hungary. The 27-year-old struggled with the balance of his car and remained significantly behind the top. In the World Cup ranking, he is already 81 points behind McLaren driver Oscar Piatri. The deficit could continue to grow this weekend. “Overall, it wasn’t really great today,” said the four-time Formula 1 champions.