FIA announce penalty verdict after controversial Max Verstappen incident at Hungarian GP

The FIA have announced the stewards verdict after an incident involving F1 champion Max Verstappen at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.

The four-time drivers' title holder was summoned to the stewards at 18:20 local time (CEST) in Budapest over an alleged breach of Article 34.14 c) of the FIA Formula 1 Sporting Regulations on Friday.

Verstappen was investigated for allegedly being released in an unsafe condition after the Dutchman could be seen flinging a Red Bull towel out onto the Hungaroring during FP2 whilst the session was still underway.

A similar incident occurred at the Miami GP earlier this year where McLaren star Lando Norris found that there were still tools and an LED torch in the cockpit of his MCL39.

On that occasion, McLaren were let off by the stewards with a warning as a result of Norris making his way to the pits to remove the items from his car, rather than putting himself and his rivals in a potentially dangerous situation.

In contrast, Verstappen discarded the towel left in his cockpit mid-session, with the rag remaining on the track for the remainder of FP2, telling Sky F1: "It's just a towel that you normally wipe your face with when you come back in, so it's still in the car when I went out.

"So instead of it, of course, maybe potentially flying in between my feet, which is the dangerous part, I drove off line and I got rid of it in the safest way possible. So I think the stewards understand that."

Verstappen penalty verdict in full after FIA towel investigation

After Verstappen and a Red Bull representative visited the stewards, the FIA have announced their verdict following the incident, with the four-time champion avoiding a penalty.

The FIA announcement read: "The driver explained that while in the garage, the face towel had slipped from his lap to the side of the seat and the team was unaware that it remained in the cockpit. When the driver realised it was there, he moved to the far right of the track and attempted to throw it as far away from the car and the track as possible.

"The stewards determine that the towel had the potential to have become lodged in the footwell and to interfere with the driver’s ability to fully control the car and that therefore the car was released in an unsafe condition.

"The stewards consider this case to be distinguishable from a case where a hard (and therefore potentially dangerous) object is left in the cockpit and to be less severe than such a case."

As a result, a warning to Red Bull has been imposed.

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