Max Verstappen in Hungary - Red Bull Contentpool

Red Bull insider dissects Verstappen's unusual towel incident in Hungary

09:39, 14 Aug

Updated: 11:02, 14 Aug

byTobia Elia

Stephen Knowles, Red Bull’s Senior Race strategy engineer, spoke about the bizarre incident involving Max Verstappen during FP2, when he threw a towel out of the cockpit of his RB21 and was later investigated at the end of the session.

In a weekend that didn’t see him in contention for the podium, misfortune also struck Max Verstappen in Hungary.

It’s been some time since the last GP, but many will remember the bizarre moment in FP2, when the four-time world champion was caught on camera tossing a towel out of the cockpit of his RB21, leaving it on the trackside.

The incident drew the attention of the FIA, which launched an investigation into the Dutchman for breaching Article 34.14(c) of the FIA Formula 1 Sporting Regulations, that ultimately resulted in a simple warning.

Verstappen in the GP of Hungary, Red Bull Contentpool

Verstappen at the Hungaroring, Red Bull Contentpool

A 'potentially dangerous' incident

Speaking on the Inside Track podcast, Stephen Knowles, Red Bull’s Senior Race strategy engineer, analyzed the incident: ''I was desperately going back to our records to find something similar and no luck.''

''You think about what the sport and the stewards are trying to do with these penalties, first and foremost, is to act as a deterrent for anything that you should not be doing going forward. And it is fair to say that if you ever send the car from the garage and anything loose in the cockpit, it's potentially dangerous.''

He also added: ''I guess it's a bit of a leap to say that the towel could have made its way down into the footwell and maybe obstructed the pedals or something. In the extreme, it could have been dangerous.

Finally, Knowles added: ''I think it's probably fair for them to issue that lenient, but still minor warning so that everyone else is a reminder for everybody else that you need to be careful not to do that, and the teams have a responsibility to make sure that the cockpits are free of any floating items when they leave the garage.''