Verstappen scored his Hungaroring podium with mysterious damage on his Red Bull
After a challenging start to the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, Max Verstappen delivered one of his strongest drives of the 2026 Formula 1 season, fighting through handling issues and unexpected car damage to finish second behind McLaren's Lando Norris.
The Red Bull driver admitted afterwards that the result exceeded all expectations, describing the podium as an "overperformance" given how difficult his RB22 had been throughout the weekend.
"I was still struggling with the same things as yesterday, so the car was just extremely oversteery, just degging quite hard at one point as well," Verstappen explained.
"Overall, I still don't really understand how we are second, but I think as a team we performed strongly. I see it as a bit of an overperformance compared to what we expected."
Verstappen made crucial progress at the start of the race, allowing Red Bull to execute its opening strategy. Although he briefly lost track position through an undercut, the Dutchman responded with a decisive overtake on Lewis Hamilton—a move he believes defined the remainder of his afternoon.
"We got undercut, but then I made the move on Lewis, which I think made my second stint a little bit more straightforward."
Red Bull also made the bold decision to switch Verstappen onto the red-walled soft compound for the final stint, despite concerns over tyre life.
"The team also put me onto the Softs, which initially I was like, 'that's going to be a long run to the end,' but we made it work," the four-time world champion continued.
After climbing from the cockpit following the race, Verstappen revealed that his car had also sustained damage during the Grand Prix, making the result even more remarkable.
"I also saw, when I jumped out of the car again, there was damage on the car for whatever reason. So, yeah, it was not made easy for us."
Asked whether the RB22 felt any better than it had in qualifying, Verstappen gave a straightforward answer: "No. It was exactly the same. There's nothing that you can change anyway after qualifying, so I knew that it was going to be tough, and it was very tough."
The four-time world champion went on to describe the Hungarian Grand Prix as one of his most demanding races of the campaign.
"Honestly, I think it was one of the hardest races of this year in terms of how I felt in the car, how I had to manage the balance as well, corner to corner. So, to be on the podium, I think, was an incredible result for us."
His overtake on Hamilton proved to be one of the defining moments of the race. Verstappen knew opportunities would be limited and committed when the chance presented itself.
"I knew that that was my only opportunity as well, because they were not too bad in terms of pace. So, when I saw the opportunity arise, I went for it and it was a good move."
