Max Verstappen suffered a dramatic crash in Australian Grand Prix qualifying after his Red Bull’s rear axle locked up on braking. The Dutchman will start near the back of the grid as George Russell took pole position for Mercedes.
Max Verstappen declared he has “never experienced in my life” the issue with his Red Bull saw him crash out of qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix. The Dutchman hadn’t even completed a flying lap when he lost control at turn one and ploughed his car into the barriers, forcing him to start near the rear of the grid on Sunday.
Verstappen was hurt in the crash and went for X-rays on his wrists after keeping his hands on the steering wheel during the incident, but later said nothing was broken and he was good to race on Sunday.
Replays clearly showed the entire rear axle of his machine completely seized up the instant he applied his brake pedal, suggesting a setup issue with potentially excessive brake bias at the rear of his Red Bull. A clearly puzzled Verstappen alluded to this as he attempted but largely struggled to explain what had gone wrong in the media pen.
“I didn’t speak to the team yet and I didn’t look at any data but, to lose the car like that on the braking, I’ve never experienced that in my life,” the confused Dutchman told Sky Sports. “I hit the pedal and suddenly the whole rear axle just completely locked up, so definitely a bit weird.
“I think it already went wrong before the downshift, because I hit the pedal and, a soon as I did – because it quite quickly downshifts, right? – but it immediately locked on the brake pressure. Something very weird, that’s for sure. It’s really weird.”
Recovering to the top 10 to score as many points as he can is now the best that Verstappen can hope for from Sunday’s race. He added: “That’s the target, but there are so many unknowns of course, at the moment, that we still need to get on top of. We’ll see what we can do.”
George Russell claimed pole position as Mercedes delivered a stunning demonstration of their speed, reports the Express. Only team-mate Kimi Antonelli, in a hastily reconstructed Silver Arrow after suffering a major crash in final practice, managed to post a time within seven-tenths of Russell’s quickest lap as Mercedes secured a front-row lockout for the Grand Prix start.
Leading the chasing pack was Isack Hadjar with an excellent debut qualifying performance and outcome as a Red Bull Racing driver, softening the blow from Verstappen’s accident to some extent. The Frenchman offered a somewhat cautious response, however, saying: “It’s the first quali of the year, let’s see how it goes. We need to stay cool, it’s just one quali session.”
When asked what he believes he can accomplish in the race from his elevated grid position, Hadjar added: “We know it’s decent on the long run, our race car. I’m actually quite confident – not enough to beat any Mercedes, that’s for sure, but to at least keep our position. That would be good!”.