Max Verstappen has been warned by the FIA for a bizarre incident on Friday at the Hungarian Grand Prix where he threw a rag out of his car.

Red Bull left a rag in Verstappen’s car after making some set-up changes during second practice and the Dutchman threw it out after Turn 3.

He explained to the stewards that was safer rather than driving back to the pit lane as the rag may have got stuck near his pedals.

“It was just a towel you normally wipe your face with when you come back in, so it was still in the car when I went out,” said Verstappen, who was only 14th in second practice and over one second off pace-setter Lando Norris.

“Instead of it potentially flying in between my feet, which was the dangerous part, I drove off line and got rid of it in the safest way possible, so I think the stewards understand.”

The stewards added: “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.”

Bernie: I’ve not seen a towel left before

At the Miami Grand Prix in May, McLaren were warned after they accidently left tools, including a torch, in Norris’ car during practice.

Norris slowly returned to the pit lane after noticing the issue but the stewards determined he left the garage in “unsafe conditions”.

Former Aston Martin head of strategy Bernie Collins said on Verstappen’s incident: “I’ve not seen a towel but tools happen occasionally.

“Sometimes they’re adjusting something, generally in the footwell around the pedals, and something gets left behind. That we have seen in the past, but a towel, no.

“Things do unfortunately get left behind. These guys are working in the garages, it’s a high-pressure environment.

“Although it sounds like it was maybe Max’s fault that it got left there, that he didn’t hand it out to his trainer as he was leaving.

“Of course he’s going to argue that he did the best thing by dropping it at the side of the track, but there is an option to box and get rid of that way.”

Verstappen: Difficult to explain difficult Red Bull performance

Verstappen is set to not feature in the battle for pole position as he was 1.167s behind Norris in second practice and finished the session behind Red Bull team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.

Red Bull have made a big jump in performance throughout this year from Friday to Saturday but their margin to McLaren looks too big to overcome.

“Today was really tough, just a really low grip feeling, not really a balance in the car. It’s difficult to say what is the exact problem,” said Verstappen.

“Nothing really worked, so this is something we have to investigate overnight because so far it’s not been our weekend.”

Red Bull were one of just three teams to bring an upgrade to Budapest as they ran a new front wing on the car. However, Verstappen described the car as “undrivable” during the long runs.

He continued: “I’m sure we can do better but today was quite bad. We need to really understand, first where it is and what’s causing us to have a big problem with the car.

“McLaren look on it, they are flying but I want to be a bit closer to P3.”

Sky Sports F1’s Hungarian GP Schedule

Saturday August 2
9am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Hungarian GP Practice Three
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Hungarian GP Qualifying build-up*
3pm: Hungarian GP Qualifying*

Sunday August 3
7.25am: F3 Feature Race
8.55am: F2 Feature Race
10.40am: Porsche Supercup Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Hungarian GP build-up*
2pm: The HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Hungarian GP reaction

*also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 is in Budapest at the Hungarian Grand Prix for the final race before the sport’s summer break, watch live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. For Sky customers, Sky Sports F1 is now found on channel 407. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime