Max Verstappen crashed out of Q3 during qualifying for the 2026 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix after a bizarre moment at Turn 9.
Verstappen suffered a hefty collision with the barriers at the Red Bull Ring during the top 10 shootout, on Saturday.
The 28-year-old had been complaining about understeer throughout the early phases of the session but it was a snap of oversteer into Turn 9 that unravelled his afternoon.
The Red Bull driver described his incident as a “sudden” lack of downforce.
“When I went in to turn 9, as soon as I turned the wheel I was gone, so it felt like a bit of a lack of sudden downforce,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
Verstappen conceded to have pushed the limits of the RB22 on his final flying effort of Q3 but insisted that it wasn’t a “stupid amount more” to warrant his crash.
“I mean you can have oversteer, I didn’t even change anything on the car,” he added.
“You just know there is margin in places, so you try to push a little bit more, but at the same time also not a stupid amount more, but as soon as I turned the wheel I just went away.”
Max Verstappen rues “uncontrollable” F1 Austrian GP qualifying shunt
The Austrian GP layout this year will feature four substantial straight mode (SM) zones.
The short run up to Turn 9 is one of them. Under the current regulations, the SM mechanism deactivates automatically when a driver lifts off the throttle.
But given the inherent characteristics of the high-speed Turn 9 complex, it was suggested that the SM mechanism may have caused Verstappen’s snap.
The Dutchman, however, wasn’t sure that, that was the case. “We are aware of that, I think more teams are aware of that,” he examined.
“You already take measures for that, so I did that, but still it’s somehow… I mean, I think normally you can catch an oversteer, but this was not controllable at all, unfortunately.”
Despite his shunt, Verstappen’s first flying effort, in Q3, will see him start the race on Sunday from fifth on the grid.
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