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Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen has opened up about his crash in Q3 of the Austrian Grand Prix qualifying session, revealing after Sunday’s race that he had “knocked” his knees.
Verstappen started the race at the Red Bull Ring from P5 and battled his way through 71 laps to secure second place. He came under intense pressure from Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli in the last four or five laps as the 19-year-old was taking nearly half a second out of Verstappen each lap.
Speaking to David Coulthard after the Austrian GP, Verstappen was asked about the qualifying crash from the previous day. Coulthard enquired if he carried an injury, given the way he got out of his car. Verstappen answered:
“I knocked my knees, you hit your bones, so it was not nice. It was okay today.”
MONTE-CARLO, MONACO – JUNE 06: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing looks on in the garage during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco at Circuit de Monaco on June 06, 2026 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202606060355 // Usage for editorial use only //
Verstappen was on his flying lap to secure a potential pole position when he spun out on the exit of the penultimate corner and struck the barrier. He told Sky Sports after the crash that there were no signs that the car would behave that way:
“Not in that corner at all. I mean, just that lap already in Turn 6 on the entry, big moment.
“So that was a bit weird, because the whole weekend I’ve never had something like that. And then I arrived to Turn 9, I turned in and I’m immediately gone. Not even a small correction, I was just immediately full lock off.
“So that’s a bit odd, but we’ll have a look.”
Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies said Verstappen’s RB22 lacked downforce when he spun out and crashed. He told Motorsport.com:
“The dynamic of the incident was quite unusual. We lost aero performance on the rear of the car and it gave Max no chance to survive. As a team we take full responsibility for it and apologise to him.”
Verstappen said later that he lost aero performance, which eventually led to the crash:
“In T9 there was a big loss of rear end grip and the car spun out at high speed. I had an uncontrollable spin and the wheel fully locked.
“We lost aero performance due to some damage on the rear of the car, which caused the issue. The car spun off and the situation was out of my hands unfortunately.”
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Verstappen started the race at the Red Bull Ring from P5 and battled his way through 71 laps to secure second place. He came under intense pressure from Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli in the last four or five laps as the 19-year-old was taking nearly half a second out of Verstappen each lap.
Speaking to David Coulthard after the Austrian GP, Verstappen was asked about the qualifying crash from the previous day. Coulthard enquired if he carried an injury, given the way he got out of his car. Verstappen answered:
“I knocked my knees, you hit your bones, so it was not nice. It was okay today.”
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MONTE-CARLO, MONACO – JUNE 06: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing looks on in the garage during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco at Circuit de Monaco on June 06, 2026 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202606060355 // Usage for editorial use only //
What Happened During the Austrian GP Qualifying?
Verstappen was on his flying lap to secure a potential pole position when he spun out on the exit of the penultimate corner and struck the barrier. He told Sky Sports after the crash that there were no signs that the car would behave that way:
“Not in that corner at all. I mean, just that lap already in Turn 6 on the entry, big moment.
“So that was a bit weird, because the whole weekend I’ve never had something like that. And then I arrived to Turn 9, I turned in and I’m immediately gone. Not even a small correction, I was just immediately full lock off.
“So that’s a bit odd, but we’ll have a look.”
Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies said Verstappen’s RB22 lacked downforce when he spun out and crashed. He told Motorsport.com:
“The dynamic of the incident was quite unusual. We lost aero performance on the rear of the car and it gave Max no chance to survive. As a team we take full responsibility for it and apologise to him.”
Verstappen said later that he lost aero performance, which eventually led to the crash:
“In T9 there was a big loss of rear end grip and the car spun out at high speed. I had an uncontrollable spin and the wheel fully locked.
“We lost aero performance due to some damage on the rear of the car, which caused the issue. The car spun off and the situation was out of my hands unfortunately.”
Continue reading...
