Red Bull chief Helmut Marko belives Lewis Hamilton was to blame for his collision with Max Verstappen at the Hungarian Grand Prix and revealed the Dutchman will ‘no longer run simulations’ late into the night on race weekends.
Verstappen had an eventful weekend at the Hungaroring last time out as he struggled to keep pace with the McLarens.
An error in race strategy saw Verstappen drop back in the field as he aired his frustrations over team radio.
A pent up Verstappen then attempted a lunge down the inside on Hamilton late in the race, which resulted in him locking up.
Max Verstappen crashed with Lewis Hamilton in Hungary
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That led to a collision with Hamilton at Turn One with Verstappen going off track and dropping back down to fifth where he would finish.
The incident was investigated after the race where stewards decided that no punishment was necessary for either driver.
Although it noted that Hamilton ‘could have done more’ to avoid contact between the two of them.
While reviewing last week’s race for Speedweek, Marko suggested Hamilton was to blame for turning in on Verstappen.
“Then there was the last action, when Hamilton and Verstappen were lapping a Williams and Max spotted a gap, immediately jumped into the hole and then there was a collision,” he said.
“I spoke to Verstappen about it: Of course, the wheels of his car locked when braking, but he would have made it through the corner, so there was no question of him losing control of his car.
“Max was ahead, but Hamilton just turned in, everyone could see what happened then.
“So we ended up in fifth place, although we must not forget that in terms of pure speed we were just behind McLaren.”
Verstappen was up until 3am on the day of the Hungarian Grand Prix sim racing with Sky Sports pundits Ted Kravitz and David Croft suggesting it affected his race.
Max Verstappen finished fifth after his collision
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Marko appeared to share the same opinion that it wouldn’t have done Verstappen any good.
And the Red Bull driver has now seemingly been banned from sim racing late into the night on race weekends.
“Max Verstappen was rather thin-skinned this weekend, and of course it didn’t take long for criticism to arise – no wonder, since he spends half the night playing sim racing,” Marko added.
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Max Verstappen will not be allowed to sim race late into nights on race weekends
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“I have to say that in Imola he didn’t go to bed until three in the morning after a sim racing session – and then won the Grand Prix.
“Max has a different sleep pattern, and he had his seven hours of sleep.
“His late-night sim appearance on the Hungary weekend only came about because a driver in his team had dropped out.
“Nevertheless, we agreed that he would no longer run simulations so late in the future.”
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