Lewis Hamilton labelled his clash with Max Verstappen at the Hungarian Grand Prix as a "racing incident" after finishing third on Sunday.

Hamilton and Verstappen made contact coming into turn one at the Hungaroring with seven laps of the race remaining.

The Dutchman attempted to go on the inside of his former rival to secure the final podium place, but in doing so locked up his front tyres.

Verstappen and Hamilton made contact, with the three-time world champion briefly sent into the air and off the track as he was overtaken by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

The stewards swiftly placed the incident under investigation and conducted their analysis of it after the race, with the pair both escaping punishment for the collision.

"For me it was a racing incident," Hamilton told Sky Sports.

"Ultimately he was much quicker and he sent it. I moved a little to defend, but I left enough space on the inside and he locked up and obviously then couldn't turn.

"He came at a different trajectory and clipped my wheels. If he was under control he would have gone by."

VERSTAPPEN HAMILTON

A big hit which sent the Red Bull flying and ultimately ended the fight for P3 #F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/I7K2Nu5sgG
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 21, 2024

“It’s nerve-wracking when you see the pace at which they close the gap on corners," Hamilton added of Red Bull's pace.

"You just laugh to yourself because it’s not something I can do, particularly on the last sector they were very very strong, same as the McLarens.

“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 it was a racing incident."

Hamilton's third-place finish saw him claim a 200th podium, the first driver in the history of the competition to reach that milestone.

The seven-time world champion, who claimed 49 of those podium finishes with McLaren, was pleased to see his former team produce their first one-two since the Italian Grand Prix in 2021.

“Big thanks to this amazing crowd and a huge congratulations to the McLarens with the one-two, that’s my old original family so it’s great to see," Hamilton said.

“For us, the team have done a great job at pushing this car ultimately, we didn’t have the pace of the McLarens or of the Red Bulls but we were just able to hold on at the beginning of the race, it was very tough to hold on and make those tyres last."

Legacy. 200 @F1 podiums for @LewisHamilton pic.twitter.com/7hkuK8xWa9
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 21, 2024