Stewards announce their decision regarding Verstappen's bizarre towel incident

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen has been handed a warning after his bizarre towel incident in the second free practice session at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen bizarrely threw out a face towel in the closing stages of the second practice session the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The stewards investigated the incident, and opted against handing out a penalty. Instead, the Red Bull received a warning for leaving an object in Verstappen's cockpit.

The Stewards noted: " Shortly after Car 1 was released from its garage, the driver of Car 1 was observed to have thrown a towel out of the cockpit.

"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. Hence a warning to the team is imposed."