Max Verstappen makes blunt admission after Red Bull Hungary podium surprise

Max Verstappen conceded he 'doesn't understand' how he managed to finish second in the Hungarian Grand Prix. 

The Dutchman had complained all weekend about various aspects of his Red Bull, with the gearbox once again drawing the majority of his ire. Early in the race, he also reported that the damping had failed.

Despite his apparent problems, Verstappen was able to cross the line in second place, gaining one place to Oscar Piastri when the McLaren driver retired, having already progressed back past Lewis Hamilton with a bold lunge into Turn 1 shortly after his first pit stop.  

"I was still struggling with the same things as yesterday, so the car was just extremely oversteery, just degging quite hard at one point as well," explained Verstappen. 

"But I do think that, you know, at the start, moving forward was, of course, making our first stint possible. 

"Then, of course, we got undercut, but then I made the move on Lewis, which I think made my second stint a little bit more straightforward. Then the team also put me onto the softs, which initially I was like, “that’s going to be a long run to the end,” but we made it work. 

"Overall, I still don’t really understand how we are second, but I think as a team we performed strongly. So, yeah, I see it as a bit of an overperformance compared to what we expected, so I guess that’s, of course, a good thing considering how everything felt. I also saw, when I jumped out of the car again, there was damage on the car for whatever reason. So, yeah, it was not made easy for us."

Asked if he had been happier with the car on Sunday, Verstappen added: "No. It was exactly the same. 

"There’s nothing that you can change anyway after qualifying, so I knew that it was going to be tough, and it was very tough. Honestly, I think it was one of the hardest races of this year in terms of how I felt in the car, how I had to manage the balance as well, corner to corner. So, to be on the podium, I think, was an incredible result for us."

On his stunning pass on Hamilton, Verstappen said: "I knew that that was my only opportunity as well, because they were not too bad in terms of pace. So, when I saw the opportunity arise, I went for it and, yeah, it was a good move."