Lewis Hamilton accused of exploiting ‘grey area’ against Max Verstappen in Hungary shunt

While Max Verstappen was the “main cause” behind his Hungarian GP collision with Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen was “compromised” by Hamilton exploiting a “grey area” regarding movement in the braking zone.

That is the opinion of Sky F1 analyst Anthony Davidson, who cast his verdict on the incident which saw Verstappen launch a move down the inside of Hamilton for P3 at the Hungaroring, only to lock up and tag the front-right wheel on Hamilton’s Mercedes, sending Verstappen briefly airborne.

Did Lewis Hamilton use Max Verstappen’s ‘grey area’ trick from Austria?

Hamilton went on to claim the final podium spot, while Verstappen finished P5, with the stewards investigating the incident after the race. Hamilton deemed it a racing incident, Verstappen pointed the finger firmly at Hamilton, but the stewards decided no further action was needed.

Verstappen post-race brought up the criticism he faced after his Austria collision with Lando Norris, for which Verstappen received a 10-second penalty, with Davidson arguing that Hamilton exploited the same “grey area” which Verstappen did then with his turn in at the first corner of the Hungaroring, which made things “uncomfortable” for Verstappen.

“Now yes, I was on Max’s case in Austria, about the moving under the braking and then ultimately the cause of collision. Moving to the left-hand side after moving right into Turn 3 and causing the collision,” Davidson began.

“So two things, we’ve got to look at why the lock-up [in Hungary] happened and who was at fault for the collision.

“So as you go down the straight, he’s behind Lewis, they both overtake the Williams, Lewis ducks back towards the racing line, which you would expect, and then I think Lewis takes a slightly shallow approach to the corner. I do think there’s a slightly early turn in, which catches Max out slightly.

“He’s going for the gap here, thinking it’s going to be straight and Lewis goes in. At some point, you have to turn into the corner. That’s this grey area that all these drivers play around with. Max was doing it in Austria. Lewis is doing it here. You’re making it uncomfortable for the driver trying to overtake you.

“And now, they’re going onto the marbles, it’s very hard to slow down at this point.

“What happens after this though, because sure, you’ve still got loads of room, there’s plenty, way more than a car’s width to your right-hand side, so you can still go down the inside, but you’re carrying such speed now that you’re going to probably lock up and that’s exactly what happens.

“And it’s not just one lock-up, it’s both front wheels a lock-up. That makes the car go straight. And because the car goes straight, that’s the cause of collision.

Catch-up on the key headlines after a dramatic Hungarian GP

👉 Explained: Why did Max Verstappen escape penalty for Lewis Hamilton collision?

👉 Petulant, emotional, and brilliant: We need to talk about ‘Mad Max’ Verstappen

“And we’ve got a much better shot of it, this overhead shot, this one tells I think a better story. So Lewis goes to turn in, but then when it locks up for Max, it’s almost as if the car goes left. It doesn’t. It’s an optical illusion. It’s when you get a double front lock-up, you have no steering, lo and behold, so therefore, that’s what ultimately caught Lewis out.

“That’s why he didn’t turn out the corner, because you’re not expecting the car on the inside to suddenly just go absolutely dead straight like he did there. And when you see the amount of lock-up and how far the car was about to go wide, you have to say the main cause of collision…it was a racing incident, I think, but the main cause of collision was because of Max, but, he was a little bit compromised going into the corner.

“It’s that grey area, like I say, whether it’s a jink to your opponent when they move out to overtake you, they move out and then you counteract. That’s quite different to a subtle turn in. But it is in the braking zone. But so is the entry to the corner on the braking zone of course…”

Norris, who finished P2 in Hungary as part of a McLaren one-two, trimmed Verstappen’s Drivers’ Championship lead to 76 points going into the final race before the summer break, the Belgian Grand Prix.

Read next – Verdict: Who will win the F1 2024 Constructors’ Championship?