Verstappen escapes punishment for Grosjean block

Max Verstappen avoided sanction after he was investigated for blocking Romain Grosjean in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Verstappen will start from seventh on the grid at the Hungaroring after Red Bull struggled in wet conditions, although the team will be relieved not to have fallen further back.

Verstappen was moving slowly at the last corner as Grosjean approached, forcing the Haas driver to back off and prompting him to shout over team radio that the Red Bull had "completely f***ed" him.

Red Bull had informed Verstappen that Grosjean was approaching, however the Dutchman was let off without sanction as he had been slowed by the actions of Pierre Gasly further up the road.

Gasly had backed off as he wound up for a flying lap, producing something of a domino effect through Verstappen and into Grosjean.

The stewards found: "The gaps between Gasly, Verstappen and Grosjean changed voer a very short section of the track, and under the conditions the stewards determined that the impeding was not, as the rule states, 'unnecessary impeding'."

Verstappen qualified seventh in a torrential final session of qualifying, but he remains the leading Red Bull after Daniel Ricciardo was caught out by a downpour in Q2.

Both drivers had come into the weekend talking up their chances of winning, but their pace utterly melted away on Saturday, leaving Verstappen particularly frustrated.

"It just did not go well," he said.

"No grip and then in the rain there's not much you can do. The whole year it doesn't go very well in the rain.

"Also, during the restarts, when the tyres are cold, we can't keep up. Just look at Baku and Hockenheim. Compared to last year where we would go on track and set three purple sectors it is different now.

"The car just does not work and I do not know what it is.

"We can make up a little with the strategy. With pure pace we have to be able get passed the Toro Rosso and the Renault. Personally, I don't want it to rain tomorrow because that is not working. We are not fast enough. Without incidents, we should be able to finish fifth tomorrow."