Max Verstappen outburst caused by Lando Norris as wild radio moment explained
Max Verstappen did not have things his own way at the front of the field before the summer break.
Guenther Steiner believes that Max Verstappen’s outburst at the Hungarian Grand Prix was triggered by the pressure that Lando Norris and McLaren are putting on. The three-time world champion attracted plenty of unwanted attention for his radio communications, which were criticised by many.
Verstappen was disconsolate on the radio during the race at the Hungaroring as he lost sight of the two McLaren drivers before two poorly judged strategy calls allowed him to be undercut by both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
As his race unravelled, Verstappen embarked on multiple X-rated rants at his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase and made a handful of harsh remarks about the strategy that the team handed him.
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According to Steiner, this happened because he is now under growing pressure. I would have tried to calm him because he now feels the pressure,” the former Haas boss said on the RacingNews365 podcast. “You always need to think that going aggressive against him would have upset him even more.
"He now needs to know that he has to live the rest of the season [while] not having the dominant car anymore. He needs to deal with that and this was an outburst, and I'm sure Christian and Helmut Marko talked with him after the race that what he did wasn't right.
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"Max is a pretty smart guy and I think that the emotions got the better of him. Because when you are used to winning, not all the time but quite dominantly, and all of a sudden you're under pressure, you need to do something different."
Verstappen’s frustrations at the Hungaroring culminated in a costly error during a wheel-to-wheel battle with former title rival Lewis Hamilton. The crash at Turn One - caused by an audacious lunge and subsequent lock-up from the Red Bull driver - could have easily left him out of the race altogether.
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Instead, Verstappen was able to salvage a P5 finish with only Leclerc sneaking by as a result of his contact. This should serve as a warning sign for the Dutchman, who could have witnessed an 18-point swing in his championship fight with Norris.
"I don't know if for entertainment it's better he goes back to the thing before, but we don't have to think about us, we have to think about the sport,” Steiner added. "If he stays calm, he can still win the championship. But if he does actions like he did against Lewis in Budapest, he could lose it."
