Max Verstappen lost the lead in a matter of seconds at the start of the 2026 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix after running out of battery.
Verstappen got himself back on the F1 podium, after the 44-lap race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, on Sunday.
Starting from the front-row, the Red Bull driver was eager to get the jump on pole-sitter Andrea Kimi Antonelli. In hindsight, perhaps he was a little too eager.
While Verstappen did pull off an audacious move around the outside of Eau Rouge, he quickly depleted his entire battery pack in the lead up to Les Combes.
Naturally, the 28-year-old was a sitting duck towards the end of the Kemmel straight as both, Antonelli and Charles Leclerc overtook his RB22.
Looking back on that moment, Verstappen likened it to an “aeroplane shunt”.
“Yeah well clearly too much deployment from Turn 1 to Turn 2,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“Then I went through Eau Rouge, I looked at my battery status like ‘well that’s going to be a difficult run to Les Combes!
“I expected, of course, Kimi to come by and then I look in my mirror and I just saw a red rocket coming.
“I was like ‘oh I’ll just hold my line because if I move here we’re gonna have an aeroplane shunt’!”
Max Verstappen delivers “incredible” critique of 2026 regs after F1 Belgian GP
Heading into the race weekend at Spa, many were apprehensive of the racing action given the inherent characteristics of the all-new generation of cars and the layout of the 7.004km-long track.
Friday practice, and especially qualifying exposed that, with de-rating causing drivers to lose as many as 50kmph on the straight in the final sector alone.
Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz later called this out, questioning how the current rule-set was even approved if simulations were run back in 2022.
Verstappen, though not going that far, delivered a remarkable critique calling the sport in 2026 a “jungle”.
“Yeah it was pretty incredible, the differences,” Verstappen said of the differences in battery deployment lap on lap.
“Yeah I mean – welcome to a Formula 1 ’26 – sometimes it can be a jungle.”
Notwithstanding his dislike of the current rule-set, Verstappen seemed highly competitive in the RB22.
With his team-mate Isack Hadjar hopeful for the Hungaroring to be even better in terms of pace, could Verstappen bid for his first win of 2026 right before the summer break, next weekend?
READ MORE – Max Verstappen braced for new Red Bull engineer ahead of Lambiase exit
Discussion about this post