Max Verstappen was handed a public rebuke by his own engineer on Sunday when he blamed Red Bull's strategy for finishing a frustrated fifth after surviving a collision with Lewis Hamilton at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The drivers' championship leader and three-time world champion crashed into Hamilton on lap 63 of the 70-lap race.
Verstappen, 26, then remonstrated on team radio and was told not to "be childish" by his race engineer.
The Dutch driver was summoned to the stewards office to explain his part in the accident, but no further action was taken by the officials.
Verstappen had ranted in a series of radio messages, many including profanities, about his car, strategy and the accident that most observers promptly said was his fault.
When Verstappen blamed Hamilton for the collision, by moving in his 'braking zone', his normally mild-mannered engineer Gianpiero Lambiase replied angrily.
"I am not even going to get into a radio fight with the other teams, Max," he said. "We'll let the stewards do their thing. It's childish on the radio, childish."
Verstappen defended his behaviour.
"I don't know why people think that you can't be vocal on a radio," he said. "This is a sport and if some people don't like that - then stay home," he added.
'Racing incident'
This came after a series of notable incidents involving Verstappen, all of which suggested he and Red Bull are struggling with the pressure as McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari close down their performance and points advantage.
Oscar Piastri won the race ahead of McLaren team-mate Lando Norris with Hamilton finishing third, leaving Verstappen and Red Bull without a win in three races and with three wins in their last eight.
Verstappen, who was briefly airborne after crashing into Hamilton as he attempted to launch his car down the inside at Turn One, was in defiant mood.
"I went for a move that was fully on, but when I was in the middle of the braking zone and already committed, he keeps warping right," he said.
"If I hadn't turned while braking straight, I would have made contact with him."
Told of Verstappen's explanation after the race, Hamilton smiled.
"Ultimately, I think he was much quicker. I moved a little to defend and I left enough space on the inside and he locked up and then obviously couldn't turn.
"So he came under a different trajectory and he clipped my wheel.
"I saw him coming from a long way back and he was able to brake a lot later than me, but he sent it up the inside.
"I stayed still and he clipped the wheel and went over so I think a racing incident," he added.
Verstappen's advantage was trimmed to 76 by Norris.
His Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez finished seventh after starting from 16th on the grid 24 hours after team boss Christian Horner had lambasted him for his fourth Q1 exit in seven qualifying sessions, adding "you can't win a race on one leg".
World Championship Standings: Top 10
- 1. Max Verstappen - 265 points
- 2. Lando Norris - 189
- 3. Charles Leclerc - 162
- 4. Carlos Sainz (ESP) - 154
- 5. Oscar Piastri - 149
- 6. Lewis Hamilton - 125
- 7. Sergio Perez - 124
- 8. George Russell - 116
- 9. Fernando Alonso - 45
- 10. Lance Stroll - 24
AFP