Max Verstappen says a sudden surge of 150 horsepower was at fault for his crash during the opening segment of qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Verstappen had already set a time quick enough to progress through to Q2 when his RB14 slid sideways exiting Turn 2, and he crashed into the barriers, causing terminal front-left suspension damage.
Verstappen took no further part in the session and returned to the Red Bull garage to study the data, where the unexpected anomaly was uncovered.
“It was unfortunate but I studied the data before I came here [to the media pen] and suddenly we had like 150 horsepower increase which is a bit odd,” he said.
“The corner is not flat out so you’re just feathering the throttle and from one to the other moment it’s like an on and off switch so you’ve got like 150 horsepower and then less, and then again, 150, and then, suddenly it spun up the rear tyres quite aggressively and yeah… spun.”
“150 horsepower extra suddenly when you already thing you are on the limit it’s… it’s quite a lot.”
Verstappen is set to line up from 15th place on the grid as a result of his early exit.
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