Verstappen left frustrated after high‑speed Q3 crash but sees “opportunities” for Austrian GP

Red Bull endured a turbulent qualifying session at their home race in Spielberg, with Max Verstappen salvaging fifth on the grid despite a high‑speed crash that ended his Q3 early and left the RB22 requiring overnight repairs.

The Dutchman had already been navigating a difficult afternoon before the incident, having entered qualifying with fewer fresh sets of soft tyres than his main rivals — a strategic disadvantage that forced him to take risks throughout the knockout stages.

Verstappen narrowly scraped into Q3 by just 0.040s, but once there he immediately re‑established himself as a contender. His first flying lap was sharp and competitive, placing him firmly in the fight for the front row. But the momentum evaporated on his second run, when the RB22 snapped violently in the high‑speed final sector.

“It was a shame what happened in Q3 today but I am all okay,” Verstappen said after the session. “We only had three sets of tyres going into Qualifying and we were pretty tight going into Q3 but it worked out. My laps felt really nice in Q2 and the first lap of Q3 felt strong.”

The turning point came at Turn 6, where a sudden spike of oversteer unsettled the car. Moments later, at Turn 9, the rear end fully let go.

“On my second lap, the car started to feel a bit snappy and I had a big oversteer in T6. 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,” he explained.

“We lost aero performance due to some damage on the rear of the car, which caused the issue. The car span off and the situation was out of my hands unfortunately.”

Despite the crash, Verstappen’s first Q3 lap was strong enough to secure fifth on the grid — a result he believes reflects the car’s true potential more accurately than the dramatic ending.

“It is a shame but, realistically, we wouldn’t have been fighting for Pole. The lap was coming together really nicely and I think I could have been P3.”

The RB22 sustained damage, but Verstappen remains confident the team can complete the necessary repairs without compromising Sunday’s race.

“The car is not that badly damaged, so there is hopefully not too much to change on it,” he said. “We have good mechanics and I trust them to make the changes we need to be competitive tomorrow.”

However, he acknowledged that Red Bull’s race pace has been inconsistent in recent rounds.

“The race pace has been a bit off and we have had a few limitations over the last few races, but we will have to see how we go tomorrow.”