Stewards announce Max Verstappen's fate as investigation into Lewis Hamilton incident concludes

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton had a near-miss incident on lap 29 of the Hungarian GP, which was reviewed by stewards after the race. The Dutchman was acquitted of any wrongdoing as Hamilton himself drove off the track without being forced by the Red Bull driver.

Both Verstappen and Hamilton started out of position for the Hungarian GP. While the Ferrari driver was understood to not cross paths with the reigning champion owing to their differences in their starting slots, Red Bull's gamble to put its star driver on an early stop resulted in him falling down the pack.

This gave Verstappen the target of moving through the field, and soon, he encountered Hamilton on track. The pair have a vast history of coming together in their on-track battles, and the 27-year-old's audacious move into turn four on lap 29 resulted in the incident being taken up to the FIA.

The four-time champion had lunged up the inside of turn four, and the pair came close to making contact, but Hamilton bailed out of the corner at the end. Despite the duo not making any contact, this incident was picked up by stewards to review after the race, as both drivers were called to meet the stewards post-race.

Though Max Verstappen gave his side of the story, Hamilton opted to sit out of the discussion. Understanding the Dutchman's perspective and reviewing the onboard footage, the stewards deemed to not take any further action.

This assures the Red Bull driver of his P9 finish at the Hungarian GP, adding two points to increase his tally to 187 in the championship standings.

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Max Verstappen was unhappy with having to go to the stewards due to his incident with Lewis Hamilton

Max Verstappen at the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary - Source: Getty

Max Verstappen's incident with Lewis Hamilton resulted in the Dutchman being proven not guilty. However, according to the former, this discussion in the stewards' room didn't need to happen in the first place.

Expressing his discontent after meeting with the stewards at the Hungaroring circuit, the 27-year-old told the media, including Sportskeeda:

"Well nothing! I went for a move up the inside, of course it’s a fast corner but with downforce you’re a bit more under control anyway. I think he realized very late that I was up the inside there, so then he turned out of it a little bit and then of course went off the track, and that was it. Yeah, we didn’t touch, nothing happened."

Meanwhile, Verstappen has a 15-point advantage over George Russell for the third spot in the drivers' standings heading into the summer break. The Red Bull driver has claimed two wins, five podiums, and a sprint race victory in the 14 rounds of racing held so far.

Edited by Tushar Bahl