WATCH: Lewis Hamilton pats Max Verstappen’s back, duo share a handshake after contact in the Hungarian Grand Prix

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was gracious in his gesture towards Max Verstappen after the two rivals had an epic tussle which resulted in a clash during the 2024 Hungarian GP on Sunday. The duo were fighting for the final podium in the race after the seven-time world champion undercut the Dutch driver and took the position.

The three-time world was raging with his team over their strategy calls but eventually made up the time and caught up to the back of Hamilton. But he was unable to make a clean pass and take the position.

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton collided with each other after the former touched the front right of the latter and went airborne. Both drivers were able to continue in the race, with Verstappen settling for P5 and Hamilton getting his second successive podium.

In a video circulating on social media, the Mercedes driver was seen shaking hands and patting his rival in the media pen in Budapest in a gracious gesture after a hard-fought battle between the two.

In his post-race interview, the Red Bull driver was not satisfied with the result and said:

"Obviously, it's not a crisis, but it's been a few races now where things are difficult. The car is obviously not up to pace. I mean, it's not like suddenly next weekend we can have new upgrades on the car. So, yeah, it is a problem."

Lewis Hamilton gives his take on the battle with Max Verstappen

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton stated that his collision with Max Verstappen was a racing incident with neither party to blame.

As per Sky Sports, the 39-year-old said:

"Obviously the close battle we had at the end was a bit hair-raising, but that’s motor racing. It’s not nerve-wracking. When you see the pace at which they closed the gap in certain corners, you just laugh to yourself because it’s not something I can do.

"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. I think a racing incident." he added.

Max Verstappen still sits on top of the driver's championship after 13 races and three Sprints with 265 points and is currently 76 points ahead of his nearest rival Lando Norris in P2 with Charles Leclerc a further P3 with 162 points.