F1: Max Verstappen grumbles as he roars to second in ‘undriveable’ car

Second placed Red Bull Racing’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen celebrates with champagne on the podium after the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring racetrack in Mogyorod near Budapest, Hungary, on July 26, 2026. (Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP)

Max Verstappen continued to complain about his car and put pressure on his Red Bull team on Sunday despite securing his second consecutive podium finish and a third in four races.

The four-time champion came in second behind McLaren’s world champion Lando Norris in the Hungarian Grand Prix while grumbling about his car’s gearbox and aerodynamic performance.

He had earlier described the car as “undriveable” a comment repeated by teammate Isack Hadjar, who finished sixth.

Bold and brilliant 💪#F1 #HungarianGP @Max33Verstappen pic.twitter.com/ysh5ZjTl9L

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 26, 2026

“I didn’t expect to be on the podium today, but we worked hard for it,” said Verstappen. “The start was decent, you know, to get through turns one and two, and then after the first stop to get back ahead of Lewis, under braking into Turn One.

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“Then, I was just trying to survive on the compounds, trying to make the right calls with the strategy as well. So, yes, I’ve very happy, considering everything, to be second here.”

He added that his lunge to pass Lewis Hamilton – the move of the race – was his chance to regain the position he had lost when Ferrari pitted the Briton to create an undercut.

“I saw that opportunity as my only one and so I just went for it. We were good on the brakes so that helped! But, it was all under control.”

He was enigmatic about the quality of his car on Sunday after criticising it severely on Saturday when, after spinning in qualifying, he said it was “a big problem.”

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“The weekend in general has been difficult, but when instead of the tyres degrading your car is degrading, then you have a big problem.”

“The car just kept getting worse and worse, lap after lap. So the more laps I did, it was just more and more difficult. We have to fix it because the car is undriveable like this.”

The team had abandoned an experimental ‘Macarena’ rear wing at the Belgian Grand Prix a week earlier when Verstappen described it as “super-dangerous” after crashes in Austria and Britain.

His descriptions of the car during Sunday’s race were laced with profanities.