Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has confirmed that Max Verstappen is unharmed after his crash during qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix. The Dutchman lost control at turn nine on his final Q3 run, hitting the barrier and triggering yellow flags. He climbed out of the car unaided, and Mekies stated Verstappen was "okay" before apologizing for the accident.
Verstappen Crash and Team Responsibility
Mekies explained: "The most important thing after this eventful qualifying session is that Max is okay. He delivered an excellent first run in Q3, and his final run was very fast until he lost the car in turn nine. The dynamic of the incident was quite unusual, and 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 managed to secure fifth place on the grid despite the crash. Mekies also addressed the decision not to send Verstappen for a second run in Q2, where he barely escaped elimination by finishing 10th, just 0.040 seconds ahead of Pierre Gasly. "Not sending Max out for a second run in Q2 was certainly a close call. But we knew we had to take some risks after deciding to approach qualifying with only three new sets of softs to give ourselves more strategic options for the race," Mekies added.
Charles Leclerc Replaced in FP1
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was replaced by Dino Beganovic during the first free practice session. Beganovic, a member of Ferrari's driver academy since 2020, also replaced Lewis Hamilton in Barcelona two weeks ago. Despite losing one hour of track time, Leclerc qualified second for the Austrian Grand Prix, joining George Russell on the front row.
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur expressed confidence ahead of the race: "We arrive in Austria encouraged by our positive showing over the past few races. We are fully aware that there is still a lot of work to do and that we must continue to focus on ourselves. We will approach this weekend with the same method and mindset that we have adopted since the start of the season. Aiming to put together clean sessions in every respect, from track execution to the strategic decisions taken on the pit wall. We know that every weekend has a different story to tell, which is why we will continue to take the championship one race at a time."
George Russell's Controversial Pole Position
George Russell will start the Austrian Grand Prix from pole position despite controversy surrounding the final qualifying round. After Verstappen's crash triggered yellow flags at turn nine, Kimi Antonelli backed off, believing he saw double yellow flags. However, Russell insisted he saw only a single yellow flag and continued at pace, securing the top spot.
The FIA initially stated that Russell's lap had been deleted, but later clarified that only his in-lap was erased, allowing his final sprint to count. Russell commented: "I saw the yellow, I had a big lift into the corner, went in five-tenths up and came out two-and-a-half-tenths up. It was a single yellow and should be okay."
Antonelli took responsibility for his error: "I don't know why, but I thought it was a double yellow, so I aborted completely and missed the front row. I shouldn't have done that. That was my mistake."
