Red Bull took responsibility for Max Verstappen’s crash during the Austrian Grand Prix qualifying. The Dutch driver collided at the end of Q3, but according to Laurent Mekies, he is fine after the impact.
Verstappen lost control of the RB22 at turn 9 during his final run in Q3, ran through the gravel trap, and struck the barrier. The four-time champion climbed out of the car on his own and finished the session in fifth on the starting grid.
Mekies stated that the team detected a loss of aerodynamic performance at the rear of the car at the moment of the crash. Isack Hadjar, Verstappen’s teammate, floated the idea that the rear wing in its straight-line mode may not have closed in time, which could have contributed to the loss of vehicle control.
“The most important thing after this eventful qualifying is that Max is okay,” Mekies said. “He delivered an excellent first lap in Q3, and his final attempt was very fast until he lost the car at turn 9. The dynamics of the incident were quite unusual, and we suffered a loss of aerodynamic performance at the car’s rear, which left Max with no chance to save it. As a team, we take full responsibility for this and apologize to him.”
The Red Bull chief also commented on the risk taken in Q2, when Verstappen made only one attempt and progressed in tenth, just 0.040 seconds ahead of Pierre Gasly. “Not sending Max for a second lap in Q2 was certainly a tight decision,” Mekies said.
According to him, the choice was part of the strategy for the race. Red Bull decided to approach qualifying with only three fresh sets of Soft tires, aiming to preserve options for the Austrian Grand Prix.
